Physico-chemical characterization of protein fraction from stabilized wheat germ

Food Science and Biotechnology - Wheat germ shows the highest nutritional value of the kernel. It is highly susceptible to rancidity due to high content of unsaturated fat and presence of oxidative...     

Thermal stability of catechin and epicatechin upon disaccharides addition

Influence of sucrose and trehalose addition on epimerisation and thermal degradation of catechin and epicatechin have been studied. Sucrose addition accelerated epimerisation of catechin and epicatechin at 80 and 100 °C. Addition of trehalose had protective effect on epimerisation of catechin and epicatechin. Considering thermal degradation, it was confirmed that thermal degradation of catechin and epicatechin follows the first‐order kinetics. Increasing the temperature causes shorter half‐lives of catechin and epicatechin. Addition of sucrose had negative effect on catechin stability. However, in samples with epicatechin, sucrose impact was temperature dependent. Trehalose addition had positive impact on preventing catechin and epicatechin degradation almost doubling the half‐life of studied compounds. Data presented in this study could help to predict chemical conversions of investigated phenolics in various food systems and to prolong their shelf life in thermally processed foods.     

Schizophrenic symptoms, work adjustment, and behavioral family therapy.

Investigated work adjustment among 41 recently exacerbated patients (aged 21–42 yrs) with schizophrenia who were randomly assigned to receive either customary care alone or behavioral family therapy (BFT) and customary care. At baseline, most Ss were unemployed and evidenced poor work adjustment. Negative schizophrenic symptoms were more strongly associated with current work dysfunction than were indices of other psychopathology. At 1 yr, significantly fewer Ss participating in BFT had evidenced psychotic exacerbations. However, vocational adjustment in both groups was still poor, with few benefits of BFT on work functioning noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Incubation phenomena during UV‐pulse excimer laser processing of silicone elastomers

Observations of the interaction of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) sheet (210 μm thick) with KrF excimer laser irradiation (λ = 248 nm), with low energy of 50 mJ/pulse are presented. The negative ablation or swelling of the material caused by low frequency pulse irradiation is characterized by optical microscopy, μ‐Raman spectrometry and X‐ray micro‐tomography. The appearance of defected areas in the form of cones inside the sheet and changes of material chemistry are discussed. These phenomena are considered as a precursor of the ablation occurring after passing a threshold of absorbed laser irradiation energy. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44541.     

Ternary Blends to Improve Heat Distortion Temperature and Rheological Properties of PVC

Summary: Binary and ternary blends of PVC mixed with α‐methylstyrene/acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene copolymer (AMS‐ABS) and ethylene/vinyl acetate/carbon monoxide terpolymer (EVA‐CO) are investigated, with the aim to obtain a new PVC based material with an improved heat distortion temperature and good processability. Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA) reveals that ternary PVC/AMS‐ABS/EVA‐CO blends exhibit two glass transition temperatures: the lower T_g corresponds to a PVC/EVA‐CO phase and the higher one to a PVC/AMS‐ABS phase. An analysis of PVC respective interactions with AMS‐ABS and EVA‐CO leads to assert that the distribution of PVC in the ternary PVC/AMS‐ABS/EVA‐CO system is basically controlled by the binary immiscible blend composition, taken as Φ AMS‐ABS/Φ EVA‐CO ratio. The inclusion of AMS‐ABS and EVA‐CO to form ternary blends based on PVC, allows to improve heat distortion temperature (owed to the presence of AMS‐ABS), maintaining a low viscosity in the molten state, due to the plasticizing effect of EVA‐CO.

Viscosity function obtained at T = 170 °C from extrusion capillary measurements.     

EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION AND MODELLING OF LIQUID-SOLID MASS TRANSFER COEFFICIENTS IN A THREE-PHASE REACTOR

Apparent mass transfer coefficients for solid dissolution in a liquid with and without a chemical reaction were experimentally determined in a fixed bed three phases reactor with downward cocurrent gas and liquid flows. The chemical system selected was benzoic acid, sodium hydroxide in aqueous solution, and atmospheric air. Continuous gas, pulse and dispersed bubble regimes were studied and the results were correlated obtaining apparent mass transfer coefficient as a function of liquid and fluid volumetric flow. It was found that gas flow effect on mass transfer coefficient was small over continuous gas and dispersed bubble regimes, but appreciable over pulse regime. Additionally, it was found that the mathematical model that best described the mass transfer process under pulse regime, by using the increment factor due to the instantaneous chemical reaction, is the film theory     

Surface textures induced by convection in thin films of polymeric and polymerizable fluids

Thin liquid layers of polymer solutions, oligomers and monomers, and oligomer–monomer bilayers were used as model systems to explore the mechanism of formation of surface textures in solid coatings and films. It was shown that under particular conditions vertical temperature gradients imposed on these fluid layers induce in them various types of convection. We demonstrated that hexagonal patterns with a high degree of order and symmetry are generated in fluid films undergoing surface tension-driven convection. Various non-equilibrium textures have been trapped in the solid state either by vitrification induced by solvent evaporation from the fluid layer, or by carefully performed polymerization of monomers and oligomers. Finally, we demonstrated that convection patterns can be replicated in convection-passive fluids by bringing them in contact with a fluid layer undergoing convection.     

Reducing the formation of FIB-induced FCC layers on Cu-Zn-Al austenite

The irradiation effects of thinning a sample of a Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloy to electron transparency by a Ga(+) focused ion beam were investigated. This thinning method was compared with conventional electropolishing and Ar(+) ion milling. No implanted Ga was detected but surface FCC precipitation was found as a result of the focused ion beam sample preparation. Decreasing the irradiation dose by lowering the energy and current of the Ga(+) ions did not lead to a complete disappearance of the FCC structure. The latter could only be removed after gentle Ar(+) ion milling of the sample. It was further concluded that the precipitation of the FCC is independent of the crystallographic orientation of the surface.     

An Overview of Oxidative Stress,Neuroinflammation, and Neurodegenerative Diseases

Oxidative stress has been linked with a variety of diseases, being involved in the debut and/or progress of several neurodegenerative disorders. This review intends to summarize some of the findings that correlate the overproduction of reactive oxygen species with the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Oxidative stress was also noted to modify the inflammatory response. Even though oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are two totally different pathological events, they are linked and affect one another. Nonetheless, there are still several mechanisms that need to be understood regarding the onset and the progress of neurodegenerative diseases in order to develop efficient therapies. As antioxidants are a means to alter oxidative stress and slow down the symptoms of these neurodegenerative diseases, the most common antioxidants, enzymatic as well as non-enzymatic, have been mentioned in this paper as therapeutic options for the discussed disorders.