Logit modeling for classification of monocultivar olive oils from southwest Spain: A preliminary study

A characterization study of the main olive oil cultivars of southwest Spain (Picual, Arbequina, and Verdial) has been performed in order to establish logistic regression models. Several quality characteristics (free acidity, peroxide value, K₂₃₂, K₂₇₀, oxidative stability index) and chemical data (fatty acids, sterols, erythrodiol–uvaol composition) were measured. Logit regressions were used to evaluate the correlation of the parameters and to create models that allow saving costs on identifying oils as Arbequina, Picual, or Verdial type. Multiple logit regression models were developed: one for Arbequina, three models for Picual, and two models for Verdial cultivar, allowing in this way to minimize the cost for classifying oil samples. Practical application: The olive oil marketing is increasingly focused on the chemical differentiation and characterization of the product because the chemical composition of these virgin oils is responsible for their valuable sensory and nutritional properties. Here we present a characterization study (quality characteristics and chemical data) from the main olive oil cultivars of southwest Spain, Picual, Arbequina, and Verdial, as a first step for the traceability of these three types of monocultivar virgin olive oils. The results may be used as a training to create models for other olive oil cultivars.     

Evaluation of a hydrothermal process for pretreatment of wheat straw—effect of particle size and process conditions

BACKGROUND: Hydrothermal processes are an eco‐friendly processes that provide an interesting alternative for chemical utilization of lignocellulosic materials, in which water and crop residues are the only reagents. In this work the effect of process conditions (size distribution of the wheat straw, temperature and time) was evaluated against production of fermentable products. RESULTS: The use of milled wheat straw fractions as a raw material containing blends of different particle size distribution showed that the latter had an influence on the final sugars in the hydrolysate. Improved values of glucose (21.1%) and xylose yields (49.32%) present in the hydrolysate were obtained with treatment severity factors of 2.77 and 3.36, respectively. Mathematical models were developed aimed at establishing the effect of process conditions on monosaccharide concentration and its degradation in the liquor. CONCLUSION: This work shows that the use of wheat straw blends with various particle sizes has a significant effect on the extraction of fermentable products. The effect of treatment severity, which takes into account both processing time and temperature was also evaluated. These results are of importance for process design. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Poly(L‐lactic acid) with added α‐tocopherol and resveratrol: optical,physical, thermal and mechanical properties

Poly(L ‐lactic acid) (PLLA) films containing various concentrations of two natural antioxidants, α‐tocopherol and resveratrol, were fabricated by a melt compounding and compression molding process. The influence of the antioxidants on the optical properties such as color and UV‐visible light transmission was analyzed. The thermal, mechanical, rheological and physical properties of PLLA films with added antioxidants were assessed. PLLA films with added α‐tocopherol and resveratrol showed a yellowish brown color and the lightness was influenced by the presence of the antioxidants. The glass transition and melting temperatures were significantly reduced with the addition of antioxidants while enhanced thermal stability was observed, which could be a benefit and important for processing and production. PLLA films with added antioxidants were slightly more hydrophobic than neat PLLA. The combination effect of plasticizing and enhancement of the elastic modulus with differing concentrations of two antioxidants played a critical role in the mechanical and thermomechanical properties of PLLA films. The melt viscosity of the PLLA films with added antioxidants was substantially higher than that of neat PLLA. The higher melt viscosity and G′(ω) could be an indication of formation of entanglement between PLLA and the two antioxidants. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Influence of β‐nucleation on polymorphism and properties in random copolymers and terpolymers of propylene

The competition between α, β, and γ polymorphs has been studied in several random copolymers and terpolymers of propylene, by performing X‐ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry experiments. Formation of β‐crystals, achieved by the addition of a β‐nucleating agent, was found to be highly dependent on comonomer type and crystallization conditions. Additionally, the mechanical properties have been evaluated from stress‐strain, microhardness and dynamic‐mechanical thermal analyses. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

A cross‐cultural comparison of colour emotion for two‐colour combinations

Psychophysical experiments were conducted in the UK, Taiwan, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Argentina, and Iran to assess colour emotion for two‐colour combinations using semantic scales warm/cool, heavy/light, active/passive, and like/dislike. A total of 223 observers participated, each presented with 190 colour pairs as the stimuli, shown individually on a cathode ray tube display. The results show consistent responses across cultures only for warm/cool, heavy/light, and active/passive. The like/dislike scale, however, showed some differences between the observer groups, in particular between the Argentinian responses and those obtained from the other observers. Factor analysis reveals that the Argentinian observers preferred passive colour pairs to active ones more than the other observers. In addition to the cultural difference in like/dislike, the experimental results show some effects of gender, professional background (design vs. nondesign), and age. Female observers were found to prefer colour pairs with high‐lightness or low‐chroma values more than their male counterparts. Observers with a design background liked low‐chroma colour pairs or those containing colours of similar hue more than nondesign observers. Older observers liked colour pairs with high‐lightness or high‐chroma values more than young observers did. Based on the findings, a two‐level theory of colour emotion is proposed, in which warm/cool, heavy/light, and active/passive are identified as the reactive‐level responses and like/dislike the reflective‐level response. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2012     

Dendritic Nanotheranostic for the Delivery of Infliximab: A Potential Carrier in Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy

Antibodies are macromolecules that specifically recognize their target, making them good candidates to be employed in various therapies. The possibility of attaching a drug to an immunoglobulin makes it possible to release it specifically into the affected tissue as long as it overexpresses the target. However, chemical coupling could affect the functionality (specificity and affinity) of the antibody. It has been observed that the use of intermediaries, such as dendrimers, could resolve this issue. Because carbosilane dendrimers have aroused great interest in the field of biomedicine, this report describes the synthesis of an anionic carbosilane dendrimer with a fluorochrome on its surface that then forms a conjugate with an antibody. It has been used as immunoglobulin and infliximab, whose target is TNF-α, which is a cytokine that is overexpressed in the inflamed area or even in the blood of patients with autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, the integrity and functionality of the antibody has been studied to see if they have been affected after the chemical coupling process.     

Ternary Blends of Renewable Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil,Advanced Bioethanol,and Marine Gasoil as Potential Marine Biofuel

An alternative for reducing emissions from marine fuel is to blend bio-oil from lignocellulose non-edible feedstocks to diesel fossil fuels. Phase diagrams of the ternary systems were built to represent the transition from heterogeneous regions to homogeneous regions. Four homogeneous blends of bio-oil of eucalyptus-bioethanol-marine gasoil were experimentally characterized with respect to the most important fuel parameters for marine engines: water content, flash point, low heating value, viscosity, and acidity. Blends with closer properties to marine gasoil replacement, lower costs, and environmental impacts should be tested for large engines.     

Design and optimization of an extrusion die for the production of wood–plastic composite profiles

In this work, the optimization of an extrusion die designed for the production of a wood–plastic composite (WPC) decking profile is investigated. The optimization was performed with the help of numerical tools, more precisely, by solving the continuity and momentum conservation equations that govern such flow, and aiming to balance properly the flow distribution at the extrusion die flow channel outlet. To capture the rheological behavior of the material, we used a Bird‐Carreau model with parameters obtained from a fit to the (shear viscosity versus shear‐rate) experimental data, collected from rheological tests. To yield a balanced output flow, several numerical runs were performed by adjusting the flow restriction at different regions of the flow‐channel parallel zone cross‐section. The simulations were compared with the experimental results and an excellent qualitative agreement was obtained, allowing, in this way, to attain a good balancing of the output flow and emphasizing the advantages of using numerical tools to aid the design of profile extrusion dies. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:1849?1855, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Project design abacus for wall base ventilation drying systems to control dampness

Dampness is an important degradation issue especially in old buildings and monumental heritage, particularly a rising one as the result of capillary movement of water in the lower sections of walls and other ground-supported structures by capillary action. There are several methods to treat this kind of dampness among which is the wall base hygro-regulated ventilation system an interesting solution for high thick walls with considerable heterogeneity.

A significant number of studies have been undertaken around this method which have been implemented and validated in several heritage buildings. Such achievement has led to the adoption of the HUMIVENT patent system which aims to increase evaporation through peripheral channels on the base of the ventilated walls. A pre-sizing design program was also created and was called HUMIVENT PREDIM.

This study aims to develop a set of auxiliary abacus for pre-sizing wall base ventilation systems. This approach aims to provide fast and expeditious systems sizing in the design and rehabilitation project offices. It allows an easy awareness in the several parameters that influence the wet front and the preliminary ventilation system design. It is a very useful tool for designers allowing them to obtain pre-sizing without extensive knowledge of the program and the associated parameters and with quick understanding of the drying process optimization. For better awareness of the abacus’ potentiality and use, an application example is provided thereof. It is concluded that the abacus can straightforwardly be used for sensitivity studies and for the selection of the best solution in each case.     

A Quinacrine Analogue Selective Against Gastric Cancer Cells: Insight from Biochemical and Biophysical Studies

One of the earliest synthetic antimalarial drugs, quinacrine, was recently reported as interesting for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. Inspired by this and similar findings, we evaluated a set of quinacrine analogues against gastric (MKN‐28), colon (Caco‐2), and breast (MFC‐7) cancer cell lines and one normal human fibroblast cell line (HFF‐1). All the compounds, previously developed by us as dual‐stage antimalarial leads, displayed antiproliferative activity, and one of the set stood out as selective toward the gastric cancer cell line, MKN‐28. Interestingly, this compound was transported across an in vitro MKN‐28 model cell line in low amounts, and approximately 80 % was trapped inside those cells. Nuclear targeting of the same compound and its interactions with calf thymus DNA were assessed through combined fluorescence microscopy, spectroscopy, and calorimetry studies, which provided evidence for the compound's ability to reach the nucleus and to interact with DNA.