An international quality assurance scheme for the quantitation of daidzein and genistein in food,urine and plasma

This quality assurance (proficiency testing) scheme was commissioned to enable the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to determine the quality of analytical results submitted by researchers measuring the concentrations of phytoestrogens in foods and biological fluids in FSA-funded research projects, and also, to demonstrate that FSA-funded laboratories are producing consistent and precise results. Non-FSA-funded laboratories from around the world were also invited to join in the scheme to increase the number participants. A secondary objective was to highlight the most successful methodologies used to analyse phytoestrogens.     

"Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory: Self-esteem differences in the experience and anticipation of success": Correction to Wood et al (2005).

Reports an error in "Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory: Self-Esteem Differences in the Experience and Anticipation of Success" by Joanne V. Wood, Sara A. Heimpel, Ian R. Newby-Clark and Michael Ross (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2005[Nov], Vol 89[5], 764-780). There are typographical errors in Table 2 (certain values should not have been in bold face). The corrected table is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2005-15658-009.) Successes--defined broadly as meeting important standards or receiving positive evaluations--are widely assumed to be enjoyed equally by people with high self-esteem (HSEs) and low self-esteem (LSEs). Three studies examined the contradictory hypothesis that HSEs react more favorably to success than do LSEs and that success brings about certain unfavorable consequences for LSEs. Undergraduate participants reacted to a laboratory-manipulated success (Studies 1 and 2) or imagined highly positive events in the future (Study 3). Self-esteem differences emerged in anxiety, thoughts about the self, and (in Study 3) thoughts about non-self-related aspects of the event. LSEs were more anxious than HSEs after succeeding, success improved HSEs' self-relevant thoughts but not LSEs', and LSEs focused more on success's negative aspects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of nickel in the high-temperature oxidation of Fe-Cr-Ni alloys in oxygen

The oxidation of several largely austenitic Fe-Cr-Ni alloys in 1 atm oxygen at 800–1200°C has been studied thermogravimetrically, metallographically, and in detail by electron probe micro analysis. Fe-Cr-Ni alloys of this type are protected by Cr₂O₃-healed scale, which thickens slower than on the corresponding binary Fe-Cr and Ni-Cr alloys, presumably because nickel and iron ions dope the Cr₂O₃ more effectively together than singly and/or because the alloy composition and ability to absorb cation vacancies are such as to produce a smaller vacancy activity gradient or level in the scale, or voids within it. The scale adhesion, as on Ni-Cr alloys, is generally good after long times, at least partly due to the convoluted alloy-oxide interface, in some cases to large intergranular Cr₂O₃-rich stringers, and possibly to the general specimen mechanical properties. Nonprotective stratified scale development is relatively unusual and often produces nickel-rich, alloy-particle-containing nodules, as on Fe-Ni alloys. Careful selection of ternary and more complex alloys with appropriate alloy interdiffusion coefficients and oxygen solubilities and diffusivities should permit development of materials with the best compromise between ease of Cr₂O₃ establishment, avoidance of breakaway, and readiness of scale healing.     

Acetophenone as an Anti-attractant for the Western Pine Beetle, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Dendroctonus Brevicomis</Emphasis> LeConte (Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Host location and colonization by bark beetles is dependent upon the relative and absolute amounts of attractant and antiattractant compounds available. Many investigations have lead to use of antiattractants for the management of these pests and have been especially focused on verbenone. However, recent studies have identified new antiattractants for several species of bark beetles. We report results of recent investigations of the response of western pine beetle, Dendroctonus brevicomis LeConte, to two recently identified antiattractants, acetophenone, and fenchyl alcohol, with verbenone as a standard of comparison, in northern California. Release of both acetophenone and verbenone resulted in significantly lower trap catches of D. brevicomis in aggregation pheromone-baited traps, while fenchyl alcohol was inactive. Acetophenone was the only antiattractant that did not reduce numbers of the most abundant predator of D. brevicomis, Temnochila chlorodia (Mannerheim), responding to the attractant pheromone of its prey. Aggregation pheromone-baited traps with acetophenone also had the highest predator/prey ratio. Our results suggest that acetophenone may be part of the intra- and interspecific interactions among sympatric species of bark beetles and may have application in their control.     

Increasing Volumetric CO2 Uptake of Hypercrosslinked Polymers through Composite Formation

To overcome the drawbacks of solid microporous materials for CO₂ capture, this proof‐of‐concept study demonstrates a low‐cost and rapid method for producing composites consisting of hypercrosslinked polymers (HCP) with a polyethyleneimine (PEI) binder. The resulting materials capture CO₂ through physical and chemical absorption simultaneously. Compared with HCP, the composites exhibit higher CO₂ uptake, higher volumetric density, and improved tolerance to water which is attributed to the PEI binder.     

Aromatase and dual aromatase-steroid sulfatase inhibitors from the letrozole and vorozole templates

Concurrent inhibition of aromatase and steroid sulfatase (STS) may provide a more effective treatment for hormone‐dependent breast cancer than monotherapy against individual enzymes, and several dual aromatase–sulfatase inhibitors (DASIs) have been reported. Three aromatase inhibitors with sub‐nanomolar potency, better than the benchmark agent letrozole, were designed. To further explore the DASI concept, a new series of letrozole‐derived sulfamates and a vorozole‐based sulfamate were designed and biologically evaluated in JEG‐3 cells to reveal structure–activity relationships. Amongst achiral and racemic compounds, 2‐bromo‐4‐(2‐(4‐cyanophenyl)‐2‐(1H‐1,2,4‐triazol‐1‐yl)ethyl)phenyl sulfamate is the most potent DASI (aromatase: IC₅₀=0.87 nM ; STS: IC₅₀=593 nM ). The enantiomers of the phenolic precursor to this compound were separated by chiral HPLC and their absolute configuration determined by X‐ray crystallography. Following conversion to their corresponding sulfamates, the S‐(+)‐enantiomer was found to inhibit aromatase and sulfatase most potently (aromatase: IC₅₀=0.52 nM ; STS: IC₅₀=280 nM ). The docking of each enantiomer and other ligands into the aromatase and sulfatase active sites was also investigated.     

Kinetic model development and simulation of simultaneous hydrodenitrogenation and hydrodemetallization of crude oil in trickle bed reactor

One of the more difficult tasks in the petroleum refining industries that have not been considered largely in the literature is hydrotreating (HDT) of crude oil. The accurate calculations of kinetic models of the relevant reaction scheme are required for obtaining helpful models for HDT reactions, which can be confidently used for reactor design, operating and control. In this work, an optimization technique is employed to evaluate the best kinetic models of a trickle bed reactor (TBR) process utilized for hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) and hydrodemetallization (HDM) that includes hydrodevanadization (HDV) and hydrodenickelation (HDNi) of crude oil based on pilot plant experiments. The minimization of the sum of the squared errors (SSE) between the experimental and estimated concentrations of nitrogen (N), vanadium (V) and nickel (Ni) compounds in the products is used as an objective function in the optimization problem to determine the kinetic parameters.A series of experimental work was conducted in a continuous flow isothermal trickle bed reactor, using crude oil as a feedstock and the commercial cobalt-molybdenum on alumina (Co-Mo/γ-Al₂O₃) as a catalyst.A three-phase heterogeneous model based on two-film theory is developed to describe the behaviour of crude oil hydroprocessing in a pilot-plant trickle bed reactor (TBR) system. The hydroprocessing reactions have been modelled by power law kinetics with respect to nitrogen, vanadium and nickel compounds, and with respect to hydrogen. In this work, the gPROMS (general PROcess Modelling System) package has been used for modelling, simulation and parameter estimation via optimization. The model simulations results were found to agree well with the experiments carried out in a wide range of the studied operating conditions. The model is employed to predict the concentration profiles of hydrogen, nitrogen, vanadium and nickel along the catalyst bed length in three phases.     

Kinetic parameter estimation and simulation of trickle-bed reactor for hydrodesulfurization of crude oil

Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of crude oil has not been reported widely in the literature and it is one of the most challenging tasks in the petroleum refining industry. In order to obtain useful models for HDS process that can be confidently applied to reactor design, operation and control, the accurate estimation of kinetic parameters of the relevant reaction scheme are required. In this work, an optimization technique is used in order to obtain the best values of kinetic parameters in trickle-bed reactor (TBR) process used for hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of crude oil based on pilot plant experiment. The optimization technique is based on minimization of the sum of the square errors (SSE) between the experimental and predicted concentrations of sulfur compound in the products using two approaches (linear (LN) and non-linear (NLN) regressions).A set of experiments were carried out in a continuous flow isothermal trickle-bed reactor using crude oil as a feedstock and the commercial cobalt–molybdenum on alumina (Co–Mo/γ-Al₂O₃) as a catalyst. The reactor temperature was varied from 335 to 400 °C, the hydrogen pressure from 4 to 10 MPa and the liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) from 0.5 to 1.5 h⁻¹, keeping constant hydrogen to oil ratio (H₂/oil) at 250 L/L.A steady-state heterogeneous model is developed based on two-film theory, which includes mass transfer phenomena in addition to many correlations for estimating physiochemical properties of the compounds. The hydrodesulfurization reaction is described by Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetics. gPROMS software is employed for modelling, parameter estimation and simulation of hydrodesulfurization of crude oil in this work. The model simulations results were found to agree well with the experiments carried out in a wide range of the studied operating conditions. Following the parameter estimation, the model is used to predict the concentration profiles of hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur along the catalyst bed length in gas, liquid and solid phase, which provides further insight of the process.