Biochemical,microbiological and sensory changes in shrimp (Panaeus aztecus) dipped in different solutions using face‐centred central composite design

Biochemical, microbiological and sensory changes during shelf‐life at ?1 °C were determined in shrimp (Panaeus aztecus) previously dipped in ascorbic acid, citric acid, potassium sorbate and 4‐hexyl resorcinol solutions using face‐centred central composite design. Microbiological count, trimethylamine and hypoxantine production were measured. The lowest level of the total psychrotrophic bacteria, hypoxantine and trimethylamine were found in samples dipped in all containing chemicals solutions comparing to control treatment. Sensory studies showed that treatment A (ascorbic acid 4.50, citric acid 0.12, potassium sorbate 18.60 and 4‐hexyl resorcinol 0.25, all g L^?1) and B (ascorbic acid 4.37, citric acid 1.26, potassium sorbate 7.03 and 4‐hexyl resorcinol 0.25, all g L^?1) did not alter the typical sensory features of shrimp and were effective at delaying the bitter off‐flavour formation for 26 days. This study constitutes a promising alternative to extent shelf‐life of shrimp kept at ?1 °C without freezing.     

Superhydrophobic properties of cotton fabrics functionalized with ZnO by electroless deposition

Cotton fabrics were coated with arrays of ZnO hexagonal prisms using an electroless (catalytic/autocatalytic) deposition process. A typical three step method, similar to those used for electroless deposition of metals on insulating substrates, consisting of pre-activation, activation and deposition steps was employed. The low-dimensional ZnO particles were grown from an aqueous solution containing zinc nitrate as source of zinc ions and dimethylamineborane as reducing agent. The as-obtained ZnO-coated cotton fabrics were characterized from the point of view of structure by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD studies demonstrate that the ZnO particles have a hexagonal wurtzite crystalline structure. The SEM observations prove that the cotton fibers are homogeneously covered by hexagonal prisms which have uniform base size of approximately 500 nm and height of 1 μm. Optical spectroscopy measurements show that the functionalization with ZnO strongly decreases the transmittance in the UV–vis region of the cotton fabrics. An important characteristic is that the ZnO-functionalized cotton fabrics exhibit superhydrophobicity, with water contact angles exceeding 150°. The technique described is highly reproducible, easy scalable and cheap, allowing a wide range of applications.     

Liposomes as Carriers of Antimicrobial Drugs

Liposome are promising drug carrier systems being developed. Their successful use in the treatment of several diseases demonstrates that a solid rationale for clinical development of liposomes as antimicrobial drug carriers can be established. There are a number of potential drug candidates for liposome encapsulation. The involvement of several biotechnology companies has culminated in the design and licensing of formulations for the treatment of certain microbial infections and cancers. Understanding of liposome behavior in the body and of the physicochemical mechanisms involved in the interaction of liposome, drug, and cellular targets is essential for their future applications.     

Hawaiian and Azorean volcanic aggregates: a preliminary study of the potential alkali-silica reaction

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - The alkali-silica reaction (ASR) is a chemical deterioration of concrete that involves reactive forms of silica. Volcanic glass is one of the...     

Effect of Sample Solubilized Aliquot Volume and Concentration on Hydroperoxide Detection in PUFA-Rich Fish Oil

The objective of this work was to study the effect of sample oil concentration and volume on hydroperoxide determination in n-3 PUFA-rich sardine-anchovy oil. Oil samples were stored at??20°C, 6 d, air-free (T1); and 20°C, 2 d in air (T2). Significant differences between storage conditions were observed on hydroperoxide concentration. High reproducibility was obtained even in sample concentrations as low as 5 mg oil/mL of propan-1-ol. A high correlation was observed between the modified ferrous oxidation-xylenol orange method (FOX2) and AOAC peroxide value analysis methods, although FOX2 was faster, more sensitive, and precise when analyzing small hydroperoxide concentrations.     

Synthesis and characterization of polyurethane cationomer/MMT hybrid composite

BACKGROUND: The development of polymeric nanocomposites incorporating intercalated or exfoliated layered silicate clays into the organic matrix has been substantially motivated by the significant improvements induced by the presence of the inorganic component. Moreover, understanding and controlling the dispersion of inorganic layers into segmented polyurethane matrices by means of ionic interactions, and exploiting these interactions to enhance physicomechanical behaviour, could be of great interest in the field of polymer nanocomposites. RESULTS: New cationic polyurethane elastomers were prepared starting from poly(butylene adipate)diol (M_n = 1000 g mol^?1), 4,4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate, 1,4‐butanediol and N‐methyldiethanolamine or N,N′‐β‐hydroxyethylpiperazine, used as potential quaternizable moieties. The characterization of the polymers was achieved using specific analyses employed for the macromolecular samples (Fourier transform infrared and ¹H NMR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), gel permeation chromatography). An extension of our research on polymers reinforced with organically modified montmorillonite (OM‐MMT) in order to prepare hybrid composites with improved properties was performed and the resulting materials were characterized using TGA, X‐ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Also, the mechanical properties of the cationic polyurethane/OM‐MMT composites were investigated in comparison with the pristine ionic/non‐ionic polymers and their composites containing non‐ionic polymer blended with OM‐MMT or ionic polymer and unmodified MMT. CONCLUSION: The insertion of the organically modified clay into the polymeric matrix gave an improvement of the mechanical properties of the polyurethane composites, especially the tensile strength and stiffness of the hybrid materials. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Adsorption of Zn(II) by crosslinked acrylic copolymers with amine functional groups

Adsorption of Zn(II) ions from diluted aqueous solutions by the acrylic copolymer based on ethylacrylate : acrylonitrile : divinylbenzene matrix with different crosslinking degrees and ethylenediamine and triethylenetetramine functional groups was investigated. Adsorption experiments were carried out by batch method. The effects of the pH, initial concentration of zinc, time of contact, and the crosslinking degree of the copolymers were studied. On the basis of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, the parameters that characterize the adsorption were determined. The maximum Zn(II) retention capacity value (500 mg g^?1) was obtained for the acrylic copolymer with 2% crosslinking degree and ethylenediamine, as functional groups. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 803–808, 2004     

Enhancing the electrochemical Cr(VI) reduction in aqueous solution

In this study we present the cathodic Cr(VI) reduction using electrodissolution of iron anode. In batch experiments we tested four different cathodic materials; the best conditions were found when copper was used. It is observed that when more current is applied into the electrochemical cell faster reduction rates are achieved. Continuous experiments also reveal that Cr(VI) reduction could be done in a very efficient way. To confirm the experimental data, cyclic voltammetry was used and it was found that the cathodic Cr(VI) reduction is taking place.     

The lower and upper approximations in a hypergroup

This paper presents a relationship between rough sets and hypergroup theory. We analyze the lower and upper approximations of a subset, with respect to an invertible subhypergroup and we consider some particular situations. Moreover, the notion of a rough subhypergroup is introduced. Finally, fuzzy rough subhypergroups are introduced and characterized.