Nutritional and physicochemical characteristics of wholemeal bread enriched with pea flour

In this work, wholemeal bread enriched with hydrated and nonhydrated pea flour was investigated. Moreover, hydrocolloids, such as hydroxypropylcellulose, agar‐agar and guar seed flour, were added to the bread to improve its organoleptic properties. The bread samples were analysed from the nutritional, microstructural and textural properties point of view, and their correlations were also evaluated. Results showed that guar gum at 2% gave the better results. In particular, the overall quality of the bread enriched with hydrated pea flour and guar gum was statistically similar to that of the CTRL reference sample (7.70). The fibres and ash content of all pea‐enriched bread samples were significantly higher compared with the CTRL sample; moreover, all functional bread samples recorded significantly lower glycaemic response with respect to the CTRL sample. In addition, the mixture of both guar gum and hydrated pea flour significantly improved the dough properties and reduced the firmness of the bread.     

Effects of hydrocolloids on chemical properties and cooking quality of gluten‐free spaghetti

The effects of different hydrocolloids on chemical composition and cooking quality of spaghetti based on maize and oat flours were investigated. Rheological and texture properties of the gluten‐free dough were also assessed. Amount of 2% of gellan gum, carboxymethylcellulose, pectin, agar, egg protein powder, tapioca starch, guar seed flour and chitosan were separately added to the formulation. The samples enriched with hydrocolloids generally showed a different rheological behaviour compared with the control samples. As regards chemical composition, spaghetti with chitosan showed a value of insoluble dietary fibres (8.0%) higher than the control ones (3.9%). Moreover, results highlighted that most hydrocolloids improved cooking quality and texture properties of spaghetti (adhesiveness, cooking loss, hardness), thus supporting their application in gluten‐free pasta.     

Heterogeneous Photooxidation of Phenol by Catalytic Membranes

In this work the heterogenization in polymeric membranes of decatungstate, a photocatalyst for oxidation reactions, was reported. Solid state characterization techniques confirmed that the catalyst structure was preserved within the polymeric membranes. The catalytic membranes were successfully applied in the aerobic photo-oxidation of phenol, one of the main organic pollutants in wastewater, providing stable and recyclable photocatalytic systems. The dependence of the phenol degradation rate by the catalyst loading and transmembrane pressure was shown. By comparison with homogeneous reaction, the catalyst heterogenised in membrane appears to be more efficient concerning the rate of phenol photodegradation and mineralization.     

The electrical state of NAFION coated electrodes emersed from liquid electrolytes

Electrodes were coated with a perfluorosulfonate polymer (NAFION). After equilibration in liquid electrolytes they were withdrawn from the electrolytes under potentiostatic control (“emersed”). The apparent work functions of the emersed coated electrodes were determined from measurements of Volta potential differences. They were conducted with Kelvin's method of the vibrating capacitor plate. The apparent work functions at constant emersion potential show the linear correlation with the logarithm of the solution concentration expected for the equilibrium potential drop across the membrane-electrolyte interface (the Donnan potential). From comparison with the apparent work function of the electrolyte, at the same potential, the surface dipole potential of the solvated polymer after the emersion is derived.     

Novel cinnamyl hydroxyamides and 2-aminoanilides as histone deacetylase inhibitors: apoptotic induction and cytodifferentiation activity

Four novel series of cinnamyl-containing histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors 1-4 are described, containing hydroxamate (1 and 3) or 2-aminoanilide (2 and 4) derivatives. When screened against class?I (maize HD1-B and human HDAC1) and class?II (maize HD1-A and human HDAC4) HDACs, most hydroxamates and 2-aminoanilides displayed potent and selective inhibition toward class?I enzymes. Immunoblotting analyses performed in U937 leukemia cells generally revealed high acetyl-H3 and low acetyl-α-tubulin levels. Exceptions are compounds 3?f-i, 3?m-o, and 4?k, which showed higher tubulin acetylation than SAHA. In U937 cells, cell-cycle blockade in either the G?/M or G?/S phase was observed with 1-4. Five hydroxamates (compounds 1?h-l) effected a two- to greater than threefold greater percent apoptosis than SAHA, and in the CD11c cytodifferentiation test some 2-aminoanilides belonging to both series 2 and 4 were more active than MS-275. The highest-scoring derivatives in terms of apoptosis (1?k, 1?l) or cytodifferentiation (2?c, 4?n) also showed antiproliferative activity in U937 cells, thus representing valuable tools for study in other cancer contexts.     

Electric Field Assisted Microfluidic Platform for Generation of Tailorable Porous Microbeads as Cell Carriers for Tissue Engineering

Injection of cell‐laden scaffolds in the form of mesoscopic particles directly to the site of treatment is one of the most promising approaches to tissue regeneration. Here, a novel and highly efficient method is presented for preparation of porous microbeads of tailorable dimensions (in the range ≈300–1500 mm) and with a uniform and fully interconnected internal porous texture. The method starts with generation of a monodisperse oil‐in‐water emulsion inside a flow‐focusing microfluidic device. This emulsion is later broken‐up, with the use of electric field, into mesoscopic double droplets, that in turn serve as a template for the porous microbeads. By tuning the amplitude and frequency of the electric pulses, the template droplets and the resulting porous bead scaffolds are precisely produced. Furthermore, a model of pulsed electrodripping is proposed that predicts the size of the template droplets as a function of the applied voltage. To prove the potential of the porous microbeads as cell carries, they are tested with human mesenchymal stem cells and hepatic cells, with their viability and degree of microbead colonization being monitored. Finally, the presented porous microbeads are benchmarked against conventional microparticles with nonhomogenous internal texture, revealing their superior performance.     

Exploring the Potential and the Boundaries of the Rolling Horizon Technique for the Management of Reservoir Systems with over-Year Behaviour

The paper presents a set of experiments on the Rolling Horizon Technique (RHT), applied to the management of a multi-reservoir, multipurpose water resources system with over-year behaviour. In the RHT, decisions on releases from reservoirs are taken for a number of time steps ahead (the Forecasting Horizon – FH) through an optimization model, based on the present water availability in reservoirs and on some forecasts of future inflows over the FH. Only the decision concerning the first time step (the current month) is then implemented, as new information on reservoir levels and forecasts becomes available so that the process can start again with updated information. The paper investigates how the quality of forecasts and the length of the FH impact on the effectiveness of the decisions taken. The evaluation exercise is carried out in two different demand scenarios considering some deficit-related indices, such as TSSD, the Sum of Squared Standardized Deficits, over an Operation Horizon (OH) of forty years. The scenarios are designed to evaluate the role of different demand levels (corresponding to higher/lower stress) on system’s behaviour. Results show that in systems with over-year behaviour, effective forecasts (here simulated through the best possible: actually occurred inflows from the current month up to the end of water year) seem to add little value to system’s operation compared to the most naive forecast (average monthly values), especially in contexts characterized by high pressure on resources. Where there is less pressure on resources, good-quality forecasts are more effective to improve operation. A FH of 24 months seems to enhance significantly system’s performances compared to a FH of 12 months, while FHs longer than two years produce no improvements in system’s performances. The paper also tries to define the limits of a finite-horizon operation technique such as the RHT by benchmarking it with an idealistic release schedule obtained by a model that performs allocation with Perfect Foresight over the whole Operation Horizon.     

Magneto‐Plasmonic Au‐Fe Alloy Nanoparticles Designed for Multimodal SERS‐MRI‐CT Imaging

Diagnostic approaches based on multimodal imaging are needed for accurate selection of the therapeutic regimens in several diseases, although the dose of administered contrast drugs must be reduced to minimize side effects. Therefore, large efforts are deployed in the development of multimodal contrast agents (MCAs) that permit the complementary visualization of the same diseased area with different sensitivity and different spatial resolution by applying multiple diagnostic techniques. Ideally, MCAs should also allow imaging of diseased tissues with high spatial resolution during surgical interventions. Here a new system based on multifunctional Au‐Fe alloy nanoparticles designed to satisfy the main requirements of an ideal MCA is reported and their biocompatibility and imaging capability are described. The MCAs show easy and versatile surface conjugation with thiolated molecules, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed X‐ray tomography (CT) signals for anatomical and physiological information (i.e., diagnostic and prognostic imaging), large Raman signals amplified by surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) for high sensitivity and high resolution intrasurgical imaging, biocompatibility, exploitability for in vivo use and capability of selective accumulation in tumors by enhanced permeability and retention effect. Taken together, these results show that Au‐Fe nanoalloys are excellent candidates as multimodal MRI‐CT‐SERS imaging agents.