Catalytic behaviour and surface properties of supported lanthana

This paper deals with the role of dispersed lanthana as an active phase in several catalytic reactions: CO hydrogenation, CO oxidation, and oxidative dimerization of methane.

Characterization of the prepared catalysts indicates that lanthana can be effectively dispersed on silica and on ceria. While in the case of silica-supported catalysts lanthana appears at the surface, leading to an almost full coverage for loadings higher than 40%, in the case of ceria-based systems, lanthana forms a solid solution with the support.

In all the reactions studied, the presence of lanthana can be related to significant changes in the catalytic properties of the bare supports. Thus, the selectivity towards the total oxidation products observed on pure ceria is decreased, and the low activity shown by silica is enhanced. For the CO+H₂ reaction, the addition of lanthana also generates upgraded products.     

Zum Spannungsrißkorrosionsverhalten rekristallisierter Bleche der AlLi-Legierung 8090-T81

On the stress corrosion cracking behaviour of recrystallized 8090-T81 Sheets The stress corrosion cracking behaviour of a recrystallized sheet of the Al-Li-Cu-Mg-Zr alloy 8090-T81 was studied performing accelerated tests under constant deformation, constant load, and slow strain rate conditions. The used electrolytes were an aqueous 3.5% NaCl solution, an aqueous solution of 2% NaCl + 0.5% Na₂CrO₄ at pH = 3, and synthetic seawater according to ASTM D1141. Alternately immersed in 3.5% NaCl solution according to ASTM G44 the investigated alloy was found to be susceptible to stress corrosion cracking was not promoted by continuous immersion in aerated 3.5% NaCl solution, 3.5% NaCl solution saturated with carbon dioxide, and in acid chromate inhibited 2% NaCl solution. Using the slow strain rate technique with continuously immersed flat tensile specimens stress corrosion cracking was only observed in synthetic seawater. Under specific environmental conditions hydrogen embrittlement can occur in the investigated material.     

Cell lineage in molluscan development.

Cell lineage specification in molluscs is brought about by two mechanism: the segregation of morphogenetic plasms and inductive cell interactions. The evidence for the existence of morphogenetic plasms is largely circumstantial, but in one species, Bithynia, such a plasm has been identified in the polar lobe that forms at first cleavage. Inductive cell interactions are thought to be a prerequisite for the development of a large number of tissues and organs. The most extensively studied example is the specification of the mesodermal stem cell in Lymnaea and Patella, which occurs between 5th and 6th cleavage through an interaction between one macromere and a large number of micromeres. Both segregation and induction are tuned to the animal-vegetal polarity of the egg, at least during early development. This polarity probably arises during oogenesis and is manifest in regional differentiations of the surface architecture of the egg, in the distribution of inner membrane particles in the plasma membrane, in membrane fluidity characteristics, in ionic conductance properties of the plasma membrane, etc. All these phenomena have in common that they represent properties of the egg surface, suggesting that the polarity of the egg is somehow imprinted into the plasma membrane and the cortex of the egg during oogenesis.     

Alternative fatty food simulants for migration testing of polymeric food contact materials.

The amounts of substances migrating from plastics into foodstuffs with high fat contents are in most cases higher than in foodstuffs with water contents. This increase in migration commonly is due to the higher solubility of the migrating organic compounds in fat compared to water. The increase in migration is not necessarily due to an increase in the substance's diffusion coefficient due to interactions between the fat and the plastic as is often assumed. Ethanol is a good simulant for fatty foods because it has little interaction with many plastics, e.g. polyolefins, migrants are readily soluble in it, and because it is easy to work with analytically. The utilizable limits of ethanol and ethanol/water mixtures as food simulants are developed from the physical background of diffusion. The use of ethanol and ethanol/water mixtures is supported by published experimental migration results.     

Parameters affecting the frequencies of transformation and co-transformation with synthetic oligonucleotides in yeast.

Factors influencing the direct transformation of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae with synthetic oligonucleotides were investigated by selecting for cyc1 transformants that contained at least partially functional iso-1-cytochrome c. Approximately 3 x 10(4) transformants, constituting 0.1% of the cells, were obtained by using 1 mg of oligonucleotide in the reaction mixture. Carrier, such as heterogeneous oligonucleotides, enhanced transformation frequencies. Transformation frequencies were dramatically reduced if the oligonucleotides had a large number of mismatches or had terminally located mismatches. Transformation with oligonucleotides, but not with linearized double-strand plasmid, was efficient in a rad52- strain, suggesting that the pathway for transformation with oligonucleotides is different from that with linearized double-strand plasmid. We describe a procedure of co-transformation with two oligonucleotides, one correcting the cyc1 defect of the target allele in the host strain, and the other producing a desired amino acid alteration elsewhere in the iso-1-cytochrome c molecule; approximately 20% of the transformants obtained by co-transformation contained these desired second alterations.     

Comparison of six methylation methods for analysis of the fatty acid composition of albacore lipid

Six methods widely used to produce methyl esters for the gas chromatographic determination of the fatty acid composition of a marine lipid were compared. Four acid-catalyzed methods (1% H₂SO₄: CH₃OH; 5% HCl: CH₃OH; 7% and 14% BF₃: CH₃OH) and two base-catalyzed methods [0.5M NaOCH₃: CH₃OH; (1:4) tetramethylguanidine: CH₃OH] were used.
The use of BF₃: CH₃OH (7% and 14%) gave a lower content of 18:1 n9 than the other methods and produced an artefact (2.7–3.2% of total fatty acid content) eluting between the 20:5 and 24:1 fatty acid methyl esters. No significant differences were obtained between the other four methods.
Accordingly the use of BF₃: CH₃OH for transmethylation of marine lipids is not recommended. Results obtained in the other four methods showed that all are comparable.     

Dough mixing and breadmaking properties of quinoa-wheat flour blends

Flour blends of quinoa-wheat containing 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% of manually dehulled quinoa meal or flour were evaluated for dough mixing and breadmaking properties and liking of the bread by a small panel. Increasing amounts of quinoa meal or flour increased farinograph absorption and dislike of bread for most of the panel. Dough development time increased with increase in meal but decreased with increase in quinoa flour. At 10% inclusion levels differences in liking from control 100% wheat flour bread were smaller for flour or water extracted meal to most of the panel, than with 10% non-extracted meal. This suggests that 10% inclusion of flour or water extracted meal may have potential for further investigation.     

Digestive hemorrhage secondary to fistula between hepatic artery and jejunal stump following duodenocephalopancreasectomy. A clinical case

The authors describe a case of one patient who underwent duodenocephalopancreasectomy for CBD cancer 6 years ago and developed gastrointestinal bleeding caused by a fistula between the hepatic artery and the jejunal stump. They discuss the differential diagnosis problem in the gastrointestinal bleeding syndrome caused by this rare pathology.