Enriching breakfast sausages by feeding pigs with CLA supplemented diets

Approaches for improving the profile of functional unsaturated fatty acids in pork products include dietary supplementation of pigs with functional oils. Little information is available to indicate the benefit of this approach in a processed and cooked pork product such as breakfast sausages. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to examine the fatty acid profile and oxidation level in cooked pork sausages, produced following dietary supplementation with CLA compared to sunflower oil (SFO). Fat and moisture percentages, total fatty acid profiles and TBARS were analysed. Fatty acid profiles were altered in the sausages following all treatments. While a stronger effect was seen for CLA treatments, addition of SFO in the diet also resulted in linear increases of CLA in the sausages. CLA supplementation resulted in increased saturated fatty acid content; however, all treatments were within the recommended polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acid ratio of above 0.4. Improved oxidative stability was observed in sausages from CLA supplemented diets.     

The Effect of Concentration on Lubricating Properties of Aqueous Solutions of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Ethoxylated Sodium Lauryl Sulfate

The objective of this study was to formulate new ecological lubricating substances, primarily water-based, and to verify their tribological and physicochemical properties. Initially, simple binary solutions were investigated. Then, various additives were added depending on application targets. Two alkyl sulfates were selected as additives modifying lubricating properties of water: sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and ethoxylated sodium lauryl sulfate (ESLS). They have an identical hydrophobic part in the form of an alkyl chain consisting of 12 carbon atoms. The SO₄ ²⁻ anion forms the hydrophilic part in SLS molecules, whereas an ESLS molecule also contains two mers of ethylene oxide which cause an increase in its hydrophilicity relative to SLS. Both SLS and ESLS exhibit high surface activity measured by their surface tension. Micelles form in aqueous solutions of alkyl sulfates at low concentrations of the order of 1%, whereas the presence of liquid crystalline phases can be found at the concentrations of 40 and 70%. High surface activity and formation of structures in the solutions (micelles, mesophases) formed the basis for application of the compounds as additives modifying lubricating properties. Tribological properties of aqueous solutions of alkyl sulfates were verified with a four-ball machine (T02 tester) at a constant load of 2 kN. The values of friction coefficient (μ) were a measure of motion resistance, while the wear scar diameter (d) was a measure of wear. Alkyl sulfates significantly improve tribological properties of water. The coefficient of friction decreased sixfold and the wear scar diameter decreased by as much as twofold relative to the base. Non-monotonic changes in the tribological properties measured were observed as a function of concentration of additives. An attempt was made to relate those atypical changes with the presence of micelles and mesophases in both the surface phase and the bulk phase. In the model proposed the whole concentration range was divided into four areas in which tribological properties correspond well with physicochemical properties, particularly with the structures formed in solutions and at the interface.     

Characterization of multiphase gas–solid flow and accuracy of turbulence models for lower stage cyclones used in suspension preheaters

This study involved the analysis and characterization of the multiphase flow phenomenon inside the lower stage cyclone separator used in the clinker burning process. The analysis was performed using both CFD and experimental research methods. Very few studies are devoted to such types of cyclone separators, which in addition to their basic functions are also responsible for the technological process. Due to the atypical working conditions of these cyclone separators, they are characterized with a complex geometry, which significantly differs from that of the traditional separators.Furthermore, the evaluation of the accuracy and level of reliability of the two models of turbulence closure—k-e RNG and RSM(RANS), and the LES. The results obtained led to the conclusion that for the lower stage cyclone separators, the LES model proved to be the most accurate(both in the case of forecasting the separation efficiency and pressure drop). The performance parameter(in particular the separation efficiency) values obtained for the RSM model were also characterized by high accuracy. The k-e RNG model was characterized by significantly larger deviations.     

Clinico-electroencephalographic observations in epileptic patients during long-term treatment with benzonal

Benzonal was given to 52 epileptics. In 50 cases the duration of treatment ranged from 3 months to 7 years (mean 18 months) in doses of 100-500 mg daily, in 2 cases it had to be withdrawn after a short-term treatment because of intolerance. In all cases the drug was given together with other anticonvulsants: hydantoin, derivatives, mysodin, Tegretol, pheneturid or Ospolot in place of previously administered phenobarbital. It was found that benzonal reduced significantly the frequency of partial simple seizures (in 6 out of 20 cases) and grand mal seizures (in 24 out of 34 cases), while its action on the partial complex seizures was much weaker (improvement in only 7 out of 20 cases). The drug was usually well tolerated, side effects of greater intensity developed in 2 cases only, transient somnolence was observed in another 6 cases. In EEG records a slight favourable effect was exerted on pathological background activity with absent effect in focal changes and increase of seizure activity. The authors believe that in view of its favourable clinical action and good tolerance the drug may be widely used in properly selected cases of epilepsy.     

Structure-activity relationship studies of chalcones as SRS-A receptor antagonists

A simple, reliable and highly sensitive bioassay with sensitized longitudinal strips of guinea pig ileum was used for screening the receptor antagonists of slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis (SRS-A). The SRS-A receptor antagonistic activities of 17 chalcones were studied. Most compounds in these chalcones were found to have SRS-A receptor antagonistic action at the concentration of 10(-4) mol.L-1. Among them, compounds 5, 13 and 17 were highly effective with IC50s of 7.5 x 10(-6), 7.5 x 10(-6) and 6.8 x 10(-5) mol.L-1, respectively. Under the same conditions, the IC50 of FPL 55712, a known leukotriene D4 receptor antagonist, was shown to be 3 x 10(-4) mol.L-1. It would appear that compounds 5, 13 and 17 were 40, 40 and 4.4 times more potent, respectively, than FPL 55712. From analysis of structure-activity relationship of chalcones, these results suggest that the following factors may be important for an active antagonist of SRS-A receptors: (a) There is a system of pi, pi conjugation in the molecule; (b) The ester group in the B ring of chalcones is more favorable than the carboxyl group; (c) Antagonism for meta- or para-substituted derivatives of carboxyl or ester group in the B ring are more potent than ortho-substituted compounds; (d) The length of carbon chain of alkyl group in the A ring of chalcones is more effective for 1, 4 or 6 carbon atoms than for 10 or 14 carbon atoms.     

In vitro release of 5-fluorouracil with cyclic core dendritic polymer

This paper describes the first synthesis of a series of dendritic polymers with a core of 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane. This core was allowed to react with methyl acrylate through a Michael addition and was then amidated with ethylenediamine. Repeating the two steps led to controlled molecular weight increasing and branching on the molecular level and produced four direction poly(amide-amine) dendrimers. We successfully synthesized dendrimers from generation 0. 5 to generation 5.5. Each generation was analyzed by Fourier- transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, 1H NMR and elemental analysis. Titrimetry was also used to determine the number of -NH2 of each full generation (2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0). SEC (size exclusion chromatography) was performed to test the purity of G-3.0, G-4.0 and G-5.0. Parts of the outer layer -NH2 groups of the dendrimers generation 4 and generation 5 were acylated by acetic anhydride. The solubility in water of the dendrimer was thus greatly enhanced. The acetylated dendrimers were then reacted with 1-bromoacetyl-5-fluorouracil to form dendrimer-5FU conjugates. Hydrolysis of the conjugates in a phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4) at 37 degreesC will release free 5FU. Different generation of dendrimer-5FU conjugates exert marking influence on the amount of 5FU released. The dendritic polymer seems to be a promising carrier for the controlled release of antitumor drugs.     

Optimal Doping Density for Quantum-Well Infrared Photodetector Performance

We present a systematic study on a set of n-type GaAs-AlGaAs quantum-well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) with varying Si doping density in the wells. It is revealed that the increase in doping density enhances proportionally the absorption efficiency and responsivity while increasing exponentially the dark current and hence the dark current noise. We experimentally confirm the theoretically predicted optimum conditions for background-limited infrared performance temperature and detector-noise-limited detectivity. It is suggested that, to achieve the optimal QWIP performance, the doping density in the wells should be determined according to application and the desired operating temperature. We point out that a simulation is highly recommended to achieve the best possible performance since the choice of doping may not be obvious. As shown here, an optimized doping for temperature is actually the worst for detectivity for the particular set of samples.     

Electronic Raman scattering from holes in InAs/GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

A report is presented on the observation of hole excitations in unintentionally p-doped self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots by resonant Raman spectroscopy. The small difference in the valence intraband energy values obtained by Raman and PL spectra is explained by the Coulomb interaction between electrons and holes. However, the reason why the maximum resonance occurs at a slightly higher energy than that of the hole excitation seen in Raman spectra is unknown.