Preferences and determinants for organic, conventional and conventional-plus products – The case of occasional organic consumers

As a result of continuous growth in the organic market, organic food is increasingly available in conventional retail outlets, where organic products are placed alongside both conventional and so called conventional-plus products. Conventional-plus products are food products with particular attributes that also apply to organic products, such as ‘no artificial additives or flavours’. This overlap provokes the question whether conventional-plus products might compete with organic products.The aim of our study was to identify occasional organic consumers’ preferences and underlying determinants in relation to organic, conventional and conventional-plus milk, fruit yoghurt and apples in Germany and Switzerland. To achieve these objectives, we conducted purchase simulations combined with face-to-face interviews. The data were analysed using contingency tables and multinomial logit models.In the purchase simulations, a large proportion of consumers who usually buy conventional products switched to conventional-plus products. This indicates that conventional-plus products compete with conventional rather than with organic products. Consumer attitudes towards the attributes ‘from pasture-raised cows’, ‘no preventive use of antibiotics’, ‘no use of genetically modified organisms’, ‘organic production’, ‘domestic production’ and ‘higher price for higher quality’ determined their preferences for organic, conventional and conventional-plus products. Differences in attitudes between organic and conventional buyers were generally larger than those between conventional-plus and conventional buyers.     

Residue 75 of Interleukin‐8 is Crucial for its Interactions with Glycosaminoglycans

The interactions between regulatory proteins such as interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) and glycosaminoglycans are of great interest both for the general understanding of regulatory processes in biology and for the development of implant coatings and innovative materials that suppress undesired immune responses and improve wound healing. In previous work, a number of residues of IL‐8 that interact strongly with several glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) have been identified. In particular, the negatively charged Glu75 was reported to be involved in interactions with charged GAGs. To improve understanding of the role of this residue, we generated a selectively ¹⁵N‐labeled E75K variant of IL‐8(1–77) by expressed protein ligation. NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with molecular modeling were applied to evaluate the particular role of residue 75 in interactions with GAGs. Remarkably, more residues in the variant responded to GAG binding than in the wild‐type. For the first time, we identified amino acids 34 to 36 as additional residues in the loop region of IL‐8(1–77) that participate in the interactions with GAGs. These findings indicate that the N terminus of the E75K variant is more important as a second binding site for GAGs than that of the wild‐type IL‐8(1–77).     

Free radical generation in uncooked carrot (Daucus carota) root tissue after cell disruption – A model for chemical reactions during mastication

Free radical processes resulting from cell disruption of carrot hypocotyl root stock have been investigated at various developmental stages and positions using EPR spectroscopy in combination with chemical spin traps, in order to simulate reactions that might occur in the mastication process when eating raw carrot tissue. With the spin trap PBN, EPR spectra corresponded to a carbon-centred radical adduct of the spin trap and the N-(t-butyl)aminoxyl radical, an oxidative breakdown product of the spin trap. When 4-POBN was used, an oxidation product of the spin trap was observed along with the N-(t-butyl)aminoxyl radical. These oxidation reactions were strongest in the root tips. Additional measurements with spin traps DEPMPO and DPPMPO showed the formation of hydroxyl radical adducts. Thus oxidative free radical production occurs on cell disruption, especially in rapidly developing tissue, a result which suggests that free radicals might not be detrimental components of foods.     

Coating material innovation in conjunction with optimized deposition technologies

Concentrating on physical vapour deposition methods several examples of recently developed coating materials for optical applications were studied for film deposition with optimized coating technologies: mixed evaporation materials for ion assisted deposition with modern plasma ion sources, planar metal and oxide sputter targets for Direct Current (DC) and Mid-Frequency (MF) pulsed sputter deposition and planar and rotatable sputter targets of transparent conductive oxides (TCO) for large-area sputter deposition.Films from specially designed titania based mixed evaporation materials deposited with new plasma ion sources and possible operation with pure oxygen showed extended ranges of the ratio between refractive index and structural film stress, hence there is an increased potential for the reduction of the total coating stress in High-Low alternating stacks and for coating plastics.DC and MF-pulsed sputtering of niobium metal and suboxide targets for optical coatings yielded essential benefits of the suboxide targets in a range of practical coating conditions (for absent in-situ post-oxidation ability): higher refractive index and deposition rate, better reproducibility and easier process control, and the potential for co-deposition of several targets.Technological progress in the manufacture of rotatable indium tin oxide (ITO) targets with regard to higher wall-thickness and density was shown to be reflected in higher material stock and coater up-time, economical deposition rates and stable process behaviour. Both for the rotatable ITO targets and higher-dense aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) planar targets values of film transmittance and resistivity were in the range of the best values industrially achieved for films from the respective planar targets. The results for the rotatable ITO and planar AZO targets point to equally optimized process and film properties for the optimized rotatable AZO targets currently in testing.     

Reduced Colonic Mucosal Injury in 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin Poly ADP-Ribose Polymerase (TIPARP/PARP7)-Deficient Mice

Poly-ADP-ribose polymerases (PARPs) are important regulators of the immune system, including TCDD-inducible poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (TIPARP), also known as poly-ADP-ribose polymerase 7 (PARP7). PARP7 negatively regulates aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling, both of which have been implicated in intestinal homeostasis and immunity. Since the loss of PARP7 expression increases AHR and IFN-I signaling, we used a murine dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis model to investigate the effect of PARP7 loss on DSS-induced intestinal inflammation. DSS-exposed Parp7^−/− mice had less body weight loss, lower disease index scores, and reduced expression of several inflammation genes, including interleukin IL-6, C-x-c motif chemokine ligand 1 (Cxcl1), and lipocalin-2, when compared with wild-type mice. However, no significant difference was observed between genotypes in the colonic expression of the AHR target gene cytochrome P450 1A1 (Cyp1a1). Moreover, no significant differences in microbial composition were observed between the genotypes. Our findings demonstrate that the absence of PARP7 protein results in an impaired immune response to colonic inflammation and suggests that PARP7 may participate in the recruitment of immune cells to the inflammation site, which may be due to its role in IFN-I signaling rather than AHR signaling.     

纱罗织造——用新技术革新老工艺

纱罗组织由于织造复杂且产品收益率低,多年来一直未受重视,但近年来纺织工程的发展重振了纱罗组织的生产.报道了为揭示纱罗织物的潜力和织造设备对纱罗织物各参数的影响所做扎实的研究工作,这些工作是扩大纱罗织物生产的基础.     

Hydrophobic,pellicular, monolithic capillary columns based on cross-linked polynorbornene for biopolymer separations

Monolithic capillary columns were prepared by transition metal-catalyzed ring-opening metathesis copolymerization of norborn-2-ene and 1,4,4a,5,8,8a-hexahydro-1,4,5,8-exo,endo-dimethanonaphthalene inside a silanized 200-microm-i.d. fused-silica capillary using a mixture of toluene and 2-propanol as porogen and Cl2(PCy3)2Ru(=CHPh) as initiator. The synthesized columns allowed the rapid and highly efficient separation of single- and double-stranded nucleic acids by ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and of proteins by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Compared to 3-mm-i.d. analytical columns synthesized from an identical polymerization mixture, a considerable improvement in the peak widths at half-height of oligonucleotides in the order of 60-80% was obtained. Significant differences in morphology between the capillary column, where the surface of the monolith was rather soft and rugulose, and the analytical column, where the surface was very sharp and smooth, were observed, most probably due to differences in polymerization kinetics. The synthesized monoliths were successfully applied to the separation of the diastereomers of phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotides. To confirm the identity of the eluting compounds on the basis of their intact molecular masses, the chromatographic separation system was on-line hyphenated to electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.