Neutralization of gaseous emissions in the petrochemical,chemical, and gas industries

Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 5, pp. 30–32, May, 1990.     

Epidemiological evidence for the impact of whole grains on health

Current dietary advice suggests consumers increase consumption of whole‐grain products because of their potential role in prevention of chronic disease. Whole grains are important sources of nutrients that are in short supply in our diet, including dietary fiber, resistant starch, trace minerals, certain vitamins, and other compounds of interest in disease prevention, including phytoestrogens and antioxidants. Despite dietary recommendations to increase intake of whole grains, little epidemiological evidence is available to support the physiological importance of whole‐grain intake. Most epidemiological studies focus on nutrients, rather than whole foods, so little attempt has been made to evaluate the contribution of whole grains in disease. Further, studies on vegetarians that show decreased risk of degenerative diseases are unable to separate the contribution of fruit and vegetable intake when compared with whole‐grain intake and protection from disease. The few epidemiological studies that have evaluated a role for whole grains suggest that they may have an important role in disease prevention and deserve more study.     

Potential Relationships Between Fatty Acid Compositions and Phytochemicals of Selected Low Linolenic Soybeans Grown in Maryland

Eight soybean genotypes grown in Maryland were analyzed for total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, isoflavone composition, lutein content, tocopherol composition, and fatty acid profile. The soybean samples consisted of seven low α-linolenic (18:3n-3) genotypes and 1 standard genotype for comparison. 18:3n-3 levels were positively correlated with palmitic acid (16:0) content, and negatively correlated with oleic acid (18:1n-9) concentration. Daidzein and genistein concentrations were positively correlated with 18:3n-3 levels. α-Tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, and total tocopherol contents were negatively correlated with that for 18:3n-3. Two of the reduced 18:3n-3 genotypes contained significantly higher lutein levels than the non-modified genotype. All genotypes contained similar antioxidant capacity to the non-modified genotype. There were not significant differences among genotypes in relative 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH·) scavenging capacity or oxygen radical absorbing capacity. No correlation was observed between 18:3n-3 and antioxidant capacity. The results of this study show that the Maryland-grown low 18:3n-3 soybeans are sources of phytochemicals and antioxidants with potential health benefits. Specific genotypes may be selected for food production to obtain the most desirable combination of nutritional, nutraceutical, and chemical properties. The reduction in 18:3n-3 may also influence the levels of other fatty acids and antioxidant compounds in soybeans.     

Fatty acid profile, thymoquinone content, oxidative stability, and antioxidant properties of cold-pressed black cumin seed oils

Six different batches of cold-pressed black cumin seed oils (BCSO) were evaluated for their fatty acid profiles, thymoquinone contents, oxidative stability, and antioxidant properties. Linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acids were the major fatty acids in the tested oils. The cold-pressed BCSO samples differed in their oxidative stability measured as the oxidative stability index (OSI). The greatest OSI was about 155 h, and the lowest OSI was proximately 76 h, reflecting a 2-fold difference in their oxidative stability. These BCSO contained significant level of phenolic components with a concentration ranging from 1.02 to 1.40 mg gallic acid equivalents/g oil. In addition, BCSO contained about 3.48-8.73 mg/g thymoquinone and trace amount of dithymoquinone. Electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis showed that cold-pressed BCSO contained natural antioxidants and was able to suppress radical mediated lipid peroxidation in fish oil. The methanol extracts of BCSO could directly react with and quench DPPH radicals, which further confirmed the antioxidant property of these BCSO. The results from the present study suggest that cold-pressed black cumin seed oil may serve as an excellent dietary source of thymoquinone and natural antioxidants.     

Permanent and specific transplantation tolerance induced by a nonmyeloablative treatment to a wide variety of allogeneic tissues: I. Induction of tolerance by a short course of total lymphoid irradiation and selective elimination of the donor-specific host lymphocytes

The long-term success of organ transplantation is limited by complications resulting from consistent nonspecific immunosuppression. Induction of stable, donor-specific tolerance remains the main goal of transplantation immunology. In this article, a new, nonmyeloablative method is described for induction of transplantation tolerance to fully mismatched bone marrow cells (BMC), bone marrow stromal precursors, heart muscle, and skin allografts. The method is based on pretransplant conditioning with no postgraft immunosuppression, and consists of a short course (six daily fractions of 200 cGy) of total lymphoid irradiation (sTLI), followed by selective elimination of donor-specific alloreactive cells of the host escaping low-dose sTLI. Donor-specific alloreactive cells were activated by intravenous inoculation with a high dose of donor BMC (3 x 10(7) cells) 1 day after sTLI, and eliminated by a single intraperitoneal dose (200 mg/kg) of cyclophosphamide given 1 day after cell transfer. Infusion of a low number of T cell-depleted BMC (3 x 10(6) cells) after tolerogenic preconditioning converted recipients to stable mixed chimeras free of graft-versus-host disease. The same treatment provided long-lasting acceptance of heterotopically transplanted allografts of the heart muscle and of the stromal precursors to the hematopoietic microenvironment. This treatment also led to acceptance and life-long survival of full-thickness donor skin allografts. However, skin allografts survived only in mice that received donor T cell-depleted BMC after cyclophosphamide and had 20-50% donor cells in the blood. Our results suggest that after sTLI, additional selective clonal deletion of residual host cells induces a state of long-lasting specific tolerance to a wide variety of donor-derived tissues.     

Visual cues and the handwriting of older adults: A kinematic analysis.

Kinematic techniques determined the nature of any age-related changes in the fluency of handwriting movements and also the extent to which any changes can be related to a differential utilization of visual feedback. To quantitatively document the kinematics of handwriting movements, 24 young and 24 older adults were compared by having them write simple cursive letter Is 4 times on a graphics tablet, under 4 different visual conditions (no ink, ink, lines, and goggles). Pen tip position was sampled at 200 Hz, from which kinematic indexes of movement efficiency and consistency were derived. Quantitative differences in movement trajectories were found in the older adults, who produced less efficient movements with a concomitant increased utilization of external visual cues. Older adults made a differential use of visual feedback to modify movement trajectories, rather than to control the effects of neural noise. Handwriting movements of older adults resembled only to a limited extent those of patients with Parkinson's disease. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)