Effects of low-level hydrophobic substitution on conditioning properties of cationic cellulosic polymers in shampoo systems

A new class of cationic conditioning polymers (Polymer SL) has been prepared and evaluated in shampoo formulations. Polymer SL is a family of high viscosity quaternized hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) polymers with cationic substitution of trimethyl ammonium and dimethyldodecyl ammonium (Figure 1). SL compositions benefit from hydrophobic character to deliver superior conditioning performance in hair care applications. At the same time, low levels of hydrophobes have been chosen to assure good compatibility with surfactant systems without the complications of associative thickening. The polymers have been evaluated in clear shampoo formulations and two-in-one silicone containing shampoos using objective lab methods and subjective panel evaluation on hair tresses. Commercial conditioning polymers: Polyquaternium-10 (PQ-10) (UCARE Polymer LR-30 M™3) and Guar Hydroxypropyltrimethylammonium Chloride (Jaguar C-13S^®4) were used as performance benchmarks. The new hydrophobically-modified cationic polymers demonstrated superior performance in all major categories of conditioning and showed improved silicone deposition from two-in-one systems. Moreover, they retained other good qualities of their PQ-10 structural analogs such as enabling crystal clear formulations and showing no build-up or volume-down effects on hair. These new polymers were also found to be efficient conditioning agents in different surfactant systems with or without silicones. Supplied by Rhodia.     

Influence of Texture on Taste: Insights Gained During Studies of Hardness, Juiciness, and Sweetness of Apple Fruit

Apple flesh can be considered as a living structure within which juice and tastants are encapsulated in individual cells. The breakdown of this structure and release of juice varies between hard and soft apples. We hypothesized that the texture of the fruit and the way it releases juice during chewing would therefore influence the perception of sweetness. Time‐intensity (TI) techniques were used by a trained panel to study the temporal changes in the intensity of “juiciness” and “sweetness” during consumption of apples that varied in mechanical hardness (measured by puncture test). All apple samples had a similar water content, but the pattern of juice release was markedly different. Juice was released into the mouth in a pattern of increasing and then deceasing intensity. The maximum intensity (Imax), duration of the stimulus (DUR), and area under the TI curve (AUC) were significantly higher for hard compared with soft apples. The impact of juice release on perception of sweetness was examined using apples in which the Imax and AUC for juiciness of soft apples were half the value of those for firm apples. There was no consistent difference in Imax, DUR, or AUC for sweet taste in these 2 sets of apples. We concluded that sufficient juice was released from soft and less juicy apples to ensure that sweetness perception was maximized. These results are discussed in relation to earlier studies that demonstrated that texture (thickening agents) suppresses flavor perception in solutions and juices.     

The utility of video-assisted thoracic surgery in the diagnosis of pulmonary metastases from renal cell carcinoma

To assess the clinical usefulness of serum pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (Pro-GRP) as a tumor marker for small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), we measured serum levels of Pro-GRP with a newly developed ELISA and measured serum levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in 44 patients with untreated SCLC and 77 patients with untreated non-SCLC. We prospectively measured serum levels of Pro-GRP and NSE in SCLC patients after initial treatment until relapse. The sensitivity (70%) and specificity (91%) of Pro-GRP were similar to those of NSE (70 and 86%). Thirty-nine % of patients who had a partial response still had elevated serum levels of Pro-GRP at the time of restaging after initial treatment. In follow-up study, 94% of patients had elevated serum levels of Pro-GRP again at the time of relapse, whereas 37% of patients showed elevated levels of NSE. Levels of Pro-GRP increased a median of 35 (-95 to 151) days before clinical evidence of relapse was detected with successive physical examinations and imaging studies, whereas levels of NSE increased 20 (-85 to 124) days after relapse was detected (P < 0.05). Pro-GRP was helpful as a diagnostic aid and a marker for therapeutic effect and relapse in patients with SCLC, supplemented to serum NSE.     

Choices, values, and frames.

Discusses the cognitive and the psychophysical determinants of choice in risky and riskless contexts. The psychophysics of value induce risk aversion in the domain of gains and risk seeking in the domain of losses. The psychophysics of chance induce overweighting of sure things and of improbable events, relative to events of moderate probability. Decision problems can be described or framed in multiple ways that give rise to different preferences, contrary to the invariance criterion of rational choice. The process of mental accounting, in which people organize the outcomes of transactions, explains some anomalies of consumer behavior. In particular, the acceptability of an option can depend on whether a negative outcome is evaluated as a cost or as an uncompensated loss. The relationships between decision values and experience values and between hedonic experience and objective states are discussed. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

LATE CENOZOIC THERMAL GRADIENTS IN DEAD SEA TRANSFORM SYSTEM BASINS

Coal-rank measurements and heat-flow data from three rhomb-shaped grabens along the continental portion of the Dead Sea Transform—the Hula Depression, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea Graben—reveal contrasting thermal regimes. The coalification profile the Hula Depression indicates a relatively high thermal gradient, averaging 40C/km, throughout the Late Cenozoic. Similarly, a relatively high heat flow, approx 1.77 HFU, was reported in the Sea of Galilee, 35 km to the south. Coalfieation profile, heat flow data and BHT measurements on the Dead Sea Graben (200 km to the south) reveal a considerably lower thermal regime (approx 0.7 HFU, 2OC/km) that has prevailed since the mid-Miocene.
However, the differences in the thermal regime do not represent different mechanisms of basin formation. With the corroboration of hydrological and geophysical data, it is suggested that the high thermal regime in the two northern basins reflects a regional phenomenon associated with the nearby extensive Golan-Jeble Druze young volcanic terrain. Therefore, it has no relationship to the mechanism of rhomb-shaped graben formation, and should not be cited in support of kinematic models requiring a high thermal regime.     

Influence of nitrate concentration on carbon tetrachloride transformation by a denitrifying microbial consortium

A denitrifying consortium capable of transforming carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) was cultured from an aquifer soil isolated sample from the DOE Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. Experiments were performed to determine the effects of nitrate concentration on CCl₄ transformation by these microbes. The microorganisms were cultured under two different experimental conditions, both of which gave similar cell growth. Under conditions where both the electron donor (acetate) and electron acceptor (nitrate) were present at all times, little CCl₄ transformation was observed. However, transformation was observed if the nitrate concentration was reduced to a level where it was periodically depleted. These results are discussed in relation to the design of an in situ bioremediation system.     

The major volatile constituents of the scent mark of a South American primateSaguinus fuscicollis,Callithricidae

The major volatile constituents of the scent mark of a South American primate, the marmosetSaguinus fuscicollis have been isolated and identified to be a series of saturated, mono- and diunsaturated fatty alcohols esterified withn-butyric acid. Squalene was also found in the scent mark. The identification and possible significance of these components in marmoset chemical communication are discussed.     

Optimal time byzantine agreement for t <n/8 with linear-messages

Summary.  This paper presents a Byzantine Agreement protocol with n=8t+1, optimal number of rounds (namely min{ f+2, t+1} where f is number of actual faults), and messages of linear size (namely m≦n+O(log n), where m stands for message size). All previous protocols that stop in optimal time and tolerate t=O(n) faults require messages of size at least O(n ²). The new protocol uses a novel technique called Reconstructed Traversal which is based on the Reconstruction Principle and on the Coordinated Traversal protocol. Received: August 1992/Accepted: January 1995l