Prolonged and monosymptomatic dysphasic status epilepticus

Dysphasic seizures are an infrequent form of epilepsy, and their serial appearance as a partial status epilepticus is quite exceptional. The young patient reported here had a partial dysphasic status epilepticus of 3 weeks' duration without other temporal lobe seizures. Simultaneous serial electroencephalograms, tape recordings of the seizures, and repeated neuropsychologic ictal examinations permitted studies of increased impairment of neuropsychologic function on testing and the appearance of new irritative discharges on encephalography.     

Composition,preparation procedure and physical properties of linear homogeneous polyurethanes for membranes

Linear polyurethanes (PUs) were prepared in solution in two steps. In the first step, toluene‐diisocyanate (TDI) 80:20 (T) was reacted with a short‐chain poly(oxypropylene) diol (V) to obtain prepolymers characterized by various ratios of R = [T]°/[V]°. In the second step, the prepolymers were reacted with the extender 1,4‐cyclohexanedimethanol (E) with various extension ratios R_E = (R ? 1)[V]°/[E]°. The PU properties were analyzed by various techniques. In particular, the molecular weights determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), the thermal properties such as glass transition temperature T_g and specific heat variation ΔC_p measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the chemical composition of the PUs and the various types of hydrogen bonds present in the polymers evidenced by Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, the monophasic structure evidenced by small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS), and the existence of only one T_g confirmed that these PUs were linear, amorphous and monophasic. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) analysis showed that the mean volume of the nanoholes increased with increasing temperature, but was not dependent on the composition, as expected for a monophasic system. A stoichiometric semi‐empirical model was proposed that relates the PU blocks' micro‐composition to the R and R_E macro‐parameters, chosen for the synthesis. The polymer assumes various expressions of the general formula X? [(TV)_k? (TE)_n]_m? X for different values of the R and R_E ratios. The micro‐parameters k and m have a direct connection with the experimental mean molecular weights of the prepolymer and the polymer, respectively: n depends only on R. The model could foresee the density of hydrogen bonds and distinguished the bonds connected to either V or E, which could be shown by FTIR analysis. This paper shows that, when using stereo‐irregular diols and blends of 2,4‐ and 2,6‐TDI, non‐stereoregular PUs are obtained. If low‐molecular‐weight diols are used and R < 3.3, it is quite improbable that the PU blocks separate into macrophases and therefore monophasic amorphous PUs are obtained. Monophasic PUs can be useful for applications such as in the field of membrane gas and vapour separation. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

A reappraisal of the bladder cumulative method as a reliable technique for the measurement of glomerular filtration rate

Neurooncology requires the integration of the clinical history, physical examination, neuroimaging studies, neuropathology, surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy in order to properly diagnose and treat patients with suspected brain tumors. The review herein serves to illustrate and emphasize the pitfalls that can potentially occur during each step of the process of managing patients with malignant gliomas. Familiarity with these pitfalls will enhance the neurologist's ability to successfully manage patients with neurooncological disease.     

Amino Acid Composition of Granules and Spots in Grana Padano Cheeses

Amino acids concentrated in Grana Padano cheese in two different physical forms, granules and spots. The major amino acid in the granules was tyrosine followed in concentration by phenylalanine and glutamic acid.Composition of spots was predominantly leucine and iso-leucine with tyrosine essentially absent. Composition of the free amino acids in the granules differed from that in the whole cheese. Bacterial populations were much higher in amino acid localization than in cheese as a whole, suggesting that bacterial action is a major contributing factor to the phenomenon of amino acid localization.     

Evaluation of antioxidant capacity of some fruit and vegetable foods: efficiency of extraction of a sequence of solvents

All methods for assessing the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of food samples are strongly affected by the solvents used during extraction. In recent years a sequential solvent extraction procedure utilising water and acetone has been widely used for TAC measurements of foods. To better understand the efficiency of this procedure in terms of the amount of extracted antioxidants and the subsequent measurement of TAC, two vegetables (onion and spinach) and two fruits (orange and tomato) were sequentially extracted with water, acetone and chloroform. Each extract fraction was analysed separately for its content of known antioxidant compounds by specific procedures and for its TAC by the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assay. The results showed that the compounds in the water and acetone extracts were the main contributors to TAC. The chloroform extracts did not contribute to TAC, with the exception of the spinach extract, owing to the presence of low levels of carotenoids. In conclusion, the analysed extraction procedure was more effective for foods rich in water‐soluble antioxidants than for those rich in lipid‐soluble antioxidants. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Technological,nutritional and sensory properties of pasta fortified with agro-industrial by-products: a review

Reducing food waste is a priority to move towards more sustainable food systems. Since agro-food by-products are often rich in healthy compounds, such as fibre, phytochemicals, protein, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, the waste valorisation could move through their transformation into ingredients useful for the formulation of functional foods. Pasta is a staple food widely consumed all over the world representing an optimal carrier for nutrients delivery. The incorporation of ingredients of a high added value obtained by agro-industrial by-products in pasta can improve its nutritional value and provides several health benefits. At the same time, the inclusion of new ingredients could modify the physical, chemical and textural properties determining the change of the organoleptic characteristics of fortified pasta, affecting its acceptability. Thus, the preparation of new pasta formulations with high nutritional properties, good technological and sensory characteristics represents a challenge for the food industry.     

Characterisation of the volatile profile of orange juice contaminated with Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris

A rapid and reliable analytical method, based on the characterisation of the volatile profile by dynamic headspace extraction followed by gas chromatography mass–spectrometry, was developed in order to early detect Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris spoilage in orange juice. Gas chromatographic peak areas were submitted to multivariate statistical analysis (principal component and linear discriminant analysis) in order to visualise clusters within samples and to detect the volatile compounds able to differentiate contaminated from not-contaminated samples. Significant differences in the volatile profile of the analysed samples were found, assessing the reliability of the proposed method to detect the A. acidoterrestris contamination in orange juice.     

Epicuticular waxes of maize as affected by the interaction of mutantgl8 withgl3, gl4 andgl15

Chemical composition of epicuticular waxes from double mutants of maizegl2gl8, gl3gl8, gl4gl8 andgl15gl8 is compared to that of the wild type and of the single mutants. The wax composition was moderately affected in the double mutants studied. Meanwhile, free fatty acids became a normal class constituent of the waxes. The sites of action of the single mutants as deduced from previous studies are confirmed. The influence ofgl2, gl3 andgl4 on the terminal steps of the chain elongation process ingl2gl8, gl3gl8 andgl4gl8 genotypes is presented and discussed. The study ofgl3gl8 waxes also confirms that the mutantgl3 induces a metabolic defect defiitely different from those ofgl2 andgl4. The pattern of alkanes fromgl15gl8 is unusual, supporting the thesis thatgl15 controls mainly alkane synthesis. However, based on variations induced on wax composition, its manner of action is difficult to account for. Taken together, the available data on single and double mutants affecting wax synthesis in maize suggest that elongases might be heteromeric enzymes.