Retrogradation—Digestibility Relationship of Selected Glutinous and Non-Glutinous Fresh and Stale Cooked Rice

This study examined the retrogradation and digestibility relationship of fresh and stale cooked rice of three rice varieties: glutinous (TDK11) and non-glutinous (Doongara and floating rice). The effect of rice variety, degree of milling and retrogradation (staling) of cooked rice on the estimated glycaemic index was determined. Although high-glycaemic index values were obtained for fresh cooked rice of all varieties, staling rice at 4^oC for 24 h showed positive effect on floating rice only, yielding intermediate-glycaemic index. The effect of staling on retrogradation rates was corroborated by changes in x-ray diffraction peaks. The thermal and textural properties of rice samples showed higher pasting temperature, final viscosity, and hardness, and lower peak viscosity and adhesiveness for fresh cooked non-glutinous varieties, which were also significantly affected by degree of milling, in terms of hardness, after retrogradation.     

Antibacterial agents and cystic fibrosis: synthesis and antimicrobial evaluation of a series of N-thiomethylazetidinones

The increasing emergence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms is one of the greatest challenges in the clinical management of infectious disease. New antimicrobial agents are therefore urgently required, particularly in the treatment of chronic and recurrent infections often associated with antibiotic-resistant pathogens, as in the case of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. This study reports the antibacterial activity of a series of monocyclic β-lactams with an alkylidenecarboxyl chain or electron-withdrawing groups such as 4-OAc, 4-SAc, and 4-SO(2)Ph at the C4 position of the ring. N-Unsubstituted and N-thiomethyl derivatives were compared. A total of 33 azetidinones were tested for their activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial clinical isolates. The combination of an N-thiomethyl group and a benzyl ester on the 4-alkylidene side chain were found to increase the potency against Gram-positive bacteria. The N-thiomethyl group clearly elevated the activity of 4-acetoxyazetidinones relative to the corresponding NH derivatives. The most active compounds showed minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 4 and 8 mg L(-1) against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from pediatric patients with CF.     

Design,Synthesis, and Evaluation of WC5 Analogues as Inhibitors of Human Cytomegalovirus Immediate‐Early 2 Protein,a Promising Target for Anti‐HCMV Treatment

Although human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is mostly asymptomatic for immunocompetent individuals, it remains a serious threat for those who are immunocompromised, in whom it is associated with various clinical manifestations. The therapeutic utility of the few available anti‐HCMV drugs is limited by several drawbacks, including cross‐resistance due to their common mechanism of action, i.e., inhibition of viral DNA polymerase. Therefore, compounds that target other essential viral events could overcome this problem. One example of this is the 6‐aminoquinolone WC5 , which acts by directly blocking the transactivation of essential viral Early genes by the Immediate‐Early 2 (IE2) protein. In this study, the quinolone scaffold of the lead compound WC5 was investigated in depth, defining more suitable substituents for each of the scaffold positions explored and identifying novel, potent and nontoxic compounds. Some compounds showed potent anti‐HCMV activity by interfering with IE2‐dependent viral E gene expression. Among them, naphthyridone 1 was also endowed with potent anti‐HIV activity in latently infected cells. Their antiviral profile along with their innovative mechanism of action make these anti‐HCMV quinolones a very promising class of compounds to be exploited for more effective antiviral therapeutic treatment.     

A project scheduling approach to production planning with feeding precedence relations

In Manufacturing-to-Order or Engineering-to-Order systems producing complex and highly customised items, each item has its own characteristics that are often tailored for a specific customer. Project scheduling approaches are suitable for production planning in such environments. However, when we consider the production of complex items, the distinct production operations are often aggregated into activities representing whole production phases. In such cases, the planning and scheduling problem works on the aggregate activities, considering that, in most cases, such activities also have to be manually executed. Moreover, simple finish-to-start precedence relations no longer correctly represent the real production process, but overlapping among activities should be allowed. In this paper, a project scheduling approach is proposed for production planning in Manufacturing-to-Order systems. The Variable Intensity formulation is used to allow the effort committed to the execution of activities to vary over time. Feeding precedences are developed to model generalised precedence relations when the execution mode of activities is not known a priori. Two mathematical formulations of these precedence relations are proposed. The formulations are applied both to randomly generated instances and to an industrial system producing machining centres and are compared in terms of computational efficiency.     

Relationship Between Chemical Markers and Sensory Score of Traditional Balsamic Vinegars Using a Screening Approach Combined with Rapid Assessment Methods

In this study, 200 samples of traditional balsamic vinegar (TBV) of Reggio-Emilia, a typical Italian “aged dressing” with Protected Denomination of Origin, were analyzed to model the relationship between sensory scores with some pre-selected compounds/parameters, such as Brix value, water activity (a _w), titratable acidity, color, polymeric compounds, and electronic nose signal. Statistical techniques, such as nonlinear regression and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used to model the relationship among vinegars composition. The sensory score of panelists was mainly correlated with Brix (r?=?0.85) followed by brown color at 445 nm (r?=?0.74) and water activity (a _w) (r?=??0.79), whereas the polymeric compounds content showed a negative correlation with water activity (r?=?–0.73). In particular, the water activity of TBVs at different Brix values followed a nonlinear trend with good fitting (r?=?0.857) with K?=?3.10 that was consistent with the value reported in the literature for fructose and glucose. Electronic nose (enose) data from TBVs and six marker compounds (acetic acid, butyric acid, vanillin, ethyl-phenylacetate, phenylethyl alcohol, and furfural) combined with PCA revealed a pattern related to the ageing of TBVs.     

A one-pot ultrasound-assisted water extraction/cyclodextrin encapsulation of resveratrol from Polygonum cuspidatum

The ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of resveratrol and other polyphenols from Polygonum cuspidatum has been carried out with the aim of developing an efficient and eco-friendly extraction process. The finely milled roots were sonicated (titanium horn, 19.5 kHz) in methanol, in different cyclodextrin water solutions [β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) or hydroxypropyl β-CD (HPβ-CD)] and also in pure water. UAE dramatically increased the yields and cut down extraction times compared to conventional extraction under stirring. Outstanding results have been achieved with the β-CD solution (1.5% w/w); in fact HPLC analysis showed that the selective inclusion properties of CDs toward phenolic stilbenes gave a much cleaner analytical extract profile. This green method gave 7.51 mg of total resveratrol (free + cleaved polydatin glucoside) per gram of dry plant. Thanks to polyphenol encapsulation within CDs, this extract showed excellent water dispersibility, higher stability and an antioxidant power which is comparable to that of the MeOH extract (DPPH, ORAC_FL). These important features should pave the road for its application in food supplements or phytochemical preparations.     

An implantable telemetry platform system for in vivo monitoring of physiological parameters

This paper describes a microcontroller-based multichannel telemetry system, suitable for in vivo monitoring of physiological parameters. The device can digitalize and transmit up to three analog signals coming from different sensors. The telemetry transmission is obtained by using a carrier frequency of 433.92 MHz and an amplitude-shift keying modulation. The signal data rate is 13 kb/s per channel. The digital microcontroller provides good flexibility and interesting performance, such as the threshold monitoring, the transmission error detection, and a low power consumption, thanks to the implementation of a sleep mode. The small overall size (less than 1 cm3), the power density compatible with current regulations for the design of implantable devices, and the dedicated packaging make the system suitable for in vivo monitoring in humans. The design, fabrication, operation, packaging, and performance of the system are described in this paper. An in vivo pressure monitoring case study is described as well.     

Tribological issues during quick plastic forming

Quick plastic forming (QPF) was developed as a high-volume, hot blow forming process for automobile components, enabling larger volume applications than traditional superplastic forming (SPF). One critical aspect of the process is the tribological interaction between the forming tool and the aluminum blank, as this impacts formability, surface quality, and tool durability. While QPF has been successfully implemented for automobile components, many opportunities exist for improving the tribological condition during the process, including the die coating or treatment, the lubricant, and the fundamental understanding of aluminum/iron adhesion under QPF conditions (450 °C). This work reviews key tribological issues affecting QPF and identifies areas where additional research is required. This paper was presented at the International Symposium on Superplasticity and Superplastic Forming, sponsored by the Manufacturing Critical Sector at the ASM International AeroMat 2004 Conference and Exposition, June 8–9, 2004, in Seattle, WA. The symposium was organized by Daniel G. Sanders, The Boeing Company.     

Pitting Corrosion Within Bioreactors for Space Cell-Culture Contaminated by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Paenibacillus glucanolyticus</Emphasis>, a Case Report

Performing cell biology experiments in space imposes the use of hardware that essentially allows fluid exchange in a contained environment. Given the technical and logistical peculiarities, the limited opportunities and the high cost of access to space, a great effort during mission preparation of scientific studies is devoted to preventing loss of the experiment. The European Space Agency (ESA) requires, at the end of the preparation phase, the execution of an Experiment Sequence Test (EST), a dry-run version of the space experiment to check all procedures. At conclusion of the EST of our experiment ‘ENDO’ (ESA ILSRA-2009-1026), we found pitting corrosion of metal parts and biofilm formation within the cell-culture devices. The subsequent chemical (spectral assays), instrumental (OGP SmartScope) and microbiological (MALDI-TOF, 16S rRNA gene sequencing) investigations allowed the identification in contaminated material of Paenibacillus glucanolyticus, a ubiquitous, aerobic, facultative anaerobic, endospore forming, acid-producing, Gram-positive microorganism. A concurrence of P. glucanolyticus contamination and galvanic corrosion determined massive fouling, rust precipitation and damage to cells and cell-culture devices being, to our knowledge, the association between this microbe and corrosion never reported before in literature. As a consequence of the episode a critical procedure of experiment set up, i.e. hardware sterilization, was modified. The ENDO experiment was successfully launched to the International Space Station on September 2nd 2015 and returned to the PI laboratory on September 13th, with all cell culture samples in optimal condition.     

Allergenicity of different apple cultivars assessed by means of skin prick test and sensitisation to recombinant allergens Mal d 1 and Mal d 3 in a group of Italian apple‐allergic patients

To evaluate differences in skin prick test response to apple cultivars in patients with apple allergy, 19 patients (10 adults and 9 children) underwent prick‐to‐prick skin prick test with eleven commercial and noncommercial apple cultivars, and evaluation of specific IgE to apple and recombinant apple allergens Mal d 1 and Mal d 3. The results show that different reactions might be evoked in a single patient by different apple cultivars and also separately for the peel and the pulp of a single cultivar. The cultivars were ranked according to their allergenicity level, being Jonathan, Jonagold, Golden Delicious and Fiesta the most allergenic when considering the pulp and Gala, Fiesta and Golden Delicious for the peel. Further investigations are needed to clarify if a single patient can be allergic only to well‐defined apple cultivars and which allergometric tests are necessary to ascertain this.