Influence of yeast strain on ochratoxin A content during fermentation of white and red must

The aim of this work was to examine whether the yeast strains, responsible for alcoholic fermentation, have an influence on the concentration of ochratoxin A (OTA) in wine. Before the fermentation, OTA was added to musts up to a concentration of about 2 microg/l. OTA content was determined in white and red wines resulting from respective musts and in methanolic extract of the yeast lees (MEL). Data showed a significant reduction of OTA at the end of alcoholic fermentation. However, depending on the yeast strain involved in the fermentation, there was a difference in the content of OTA in the wines. The percentage of OTA removal during the fermentation was between 46.83% and 52.16% in white wine and between 53.21% and 70.13% in red wine. The absence of degradation products suggested an adsorption mechanism. OTA concentration in MEL resulting from red must fermentation was higher than in white. A significant amount of OTA was not recovered either from wine or from MEL.     

Production of biogenic amines by lactic acid bacteria: screening by PCR, thin-layer chromatography, and high-performance liquid chromatography of strains isolated from wine and must

Biogenic amines are frequently found in wine and other fermented food. We investigated the ability of 133 strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from musts and wines of different origins to produce histamine, tyramine, and putrescine. We detected the genes responsible for encoding the corresponding amino acid decarboxylases through PCR assays using two primer sets for every gene: histidine decarboxylase (hdc), tyrosine decarboxylase (tdc), and ornithine decarboxylase (odc); these primers were taken from the literature or designed by us. Only one strain of Lactobacillus hilgardii was shown to possess the hdc gene, whereas four strains of Lactobacillus brevis had the tdc gene. None of the Oenococcus oeni strains, the main agents of malolactic fermentation, was a biogenic amine producer. All PCR amplicon band-positive results were confirmed by thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography analyses.     

Calf respiratory disease and pen microenvironments in naturally ventilated calf barns in winter

Relationships between air quality, a variety of environmental risk factors, and calf respiratory health were studied in 13 naturally ventilated calf barns during winter. A minimum of 12 preweaned calves were randomly selected and scored for the presence of respiratory disease in each barn. An air sampling device was used to determine airborne bacteria colony-forming units per cubic meter (cfu/m³) of air in calf pens and central alleys within the barns. Airborne bacteria samples were collected on sheep blood agar (BAP) and eosin methylene blue (EMB) agar plates. Temperature and relative humidity were recorded in each calf pen, the barn alley, and outside the barn. Samples of bedding were collected in each pen and DM was measured. Pen bedding type and a calf nesting score (degree to which the calves could nestle into the bedding) was assigned to each barn. Calf numbers, barn and pen dimensions, ridge, eave, and curtain openings, and exterior wind speed and direction were determined and used to estimate building ventilation rates. Factors that were significantly associated with a reduced prevalence of respiratory disease were reduced pen bacterial counts (log₁₀ cfu/m³) on BAP, presence of a solid barrier between each calf pen, and increased ability to nest. Individual calf pen bacterial counts were significantly different from barn alley bacterial counts on both BAP and EMB. Significant factors associated with reduced calf pen bacterial counts on BAP were increasing pen area, increasing number of open planes of the calf pen, decreasing pen temperature, and wood-particle bedding. Significant factors associated with reduced alley bacterial counts on BAP were increased ventilation changes per hour, increased barn volume per kilogram of calf, reduced pen bacterial counts, and barn type.     

An investigation of particle deposition mechanisms during impregnation of dual‐scale fabrics with micro particle image velocimetry

Injection moulding processing of composite materials most often includes infiltration of a thermoset resin into a multi‐scale porous fabric. Controlling the fluid flow within the multi‐scale fabric is essential for the quality of the final composite material, since the transport of fluid between regions with different scales is of importance for phenomena such as void formation and filtration of particle doped resins. Hence, the transient flow behaviour in dual scale porous media is investigated in detail with Micro Particle Image Velocimetry. These experiments show that the fluid transport between the two scales can be controlled by the injection velocity. Validation of the measured velocity fields furthermore shows excellent agreement with theory and that transport between the two scales can be substantial at the flow front but negligible up‐stream it. POLYM. COMPOS., 31:1232–1240, 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Dithizone modified gold nanoparticles films for potentiometric sensing

For the first time, application of a membrane composed of gold nanoparticles decorated with complexing ligand for potentiometric sensing is shown. Gold nanoparticles drop cast from a solution form a porous structure on a substrate electrode surface. Sample cations can penetrate the gold nanoparticles layer and interact with ligand acting as a charged ionophore, resulting in Nernstian potentiometric responses. Anchoring of complexing ligand on the gold surface abolishes the necessity of ionophore application. Moreover, it opens the possibility of preparation of potentiometric sensors using chelators of significantly different selectivity patterns further enhanced by the absence of polymeric membrane matrix. This was clearly seen, for example, for gold nanoparticles stabilizing the applied ligand-dithizone-thiol conformation leading to a high potentiometric selectivity toward copper ions, much higher than that of ionophores typically used to induce selectivity for polymeric ion-selective membranes.     

Connecting dopant bond type with electronic structure in N-doped graphene

Robust methods to tune the unique electronic properties of graphene by chemical modification are in great demand due to the potential of the two dimensional material to impact a range of device applications. Here we show that carbon and nitrogen core-level resonant X-ray spectroscopy is a sensitive probe of chemical bonding and electronic structure of chemical dopants introduced in single-sheet graphene films. In conjunction with density functional theory based calculations, we are able to obtain a detailed picture of bond types and electronic structure in graphene doped with nitrogen at the sub-percent level. We show that different N-bond types, including graphitic, pyridinic, and nitrilic, can exist in a single, dilutely N-doped graphene sheet. We show that these various bond types have profoundly different effects on the carrier concentration, indicating that control over the dopant bond type is a crucial requirement in advancing graphene electronics.     

Cancer‐Cell‐Specific Induction of Apoptosis Using Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as Drug‐Delivery Vectors

Targeted delivery of the chemotherapeutic agent methotrexate (MTX) to cancer cells using poly(ethyleneimine)‐functionalized mesoporous silica particles as drug‐delivery vectors is reported. Due to its high affinity for folate receptors, the expression of which is elevated in cancer cells, MTX serves as both a targeting ligand and a cytotoxic agent. Enhanced cancer‐cell apoptosis (programmed cell death) relative to free MTX is thus observed at particle concentrations where nonspecific MTX‐induced apoptosis is not observed in the nontargeted healthy cell line, while corresponding amounts of free drug affect both cell lines equally. The particles remain compartmentalized in endo‐/lysosomes during the time of observation (up to 72 h), while the drug is released from the particle only upon cell entry, thereby inducing selective apoptosis in the target cells. As MTX is mainly attached to the particle surface, an additional advantage is that the presented carrier design allows for adsorption (loading) of additional drugs into the pore network for therapies based on a combination of drugs.     

Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry in the Analysis of Pesticide Residues in Food

The analysis of pesticide residues in food is nowadays an increasingly important task. Quality control has to be very strict in order to safeguard the consumers’ health. One of the most important goals of food quality assurance is testing food for residues and contaminants. Among chemical hazards, the contamination of food with pesticides has been characterized as a significant source of many serious diseases. Consumption of food containing pesticide residues may cause cancer, malformations, and damage to the endocrine, nervous, and immune system. In order to assure human food safety, The European Community has established maximum residue limits (MRL) of pesticides permitted in products of animal or vegetable origin that are intended for human consumption. In the EU, Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005 of the European Parliament and Council on pesticide residues established the levels of pesticide residues allowed in food and feed. To ensure the compliance of marketed food commodities with the law on food safety, sensitive and reliable analytical methods for the determination of pesticide residues are required. Multiresidue liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods (LC-MS) are widely recognized as an ideal, highly specific, and extremely sensitive technique for testing food products. This review discusses LC-MS approaches applied most widely to pesticide residue analysis over the last few years. The main ionization methods and MS detectors used as analytical tools in quantification and/or identification/confirmation of pesticide residues in food are presented.