Carotenoid composition of kale as influenced by maturity,season and minimal processing

The principal carotenoids of kale were identified by chemical reactions, high‐performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and high‐performance liquid chromatography/photodiode array detection and were quantified by the last technique. In kale taken from conventional farms, the β‐carotene and lutein contents were significantly higher in the mature leaves, violaxanthin was at an unusually high level in the young leaves, and neoxanthin had practically the same concentration at both stages of maturity. In samples taken from an organic farm, the carotenoid contents were essentially the same in the young and the mature leaves. Except for β‐carotene, which did not differ with season, the carotenoid concentrations of marketed minimally processed kale were found to be significantly higher in the summer than in the winter, reflecting seasonal rather than processing effects. In minimally processed kale monitored during 5 days of storage at 7–9 °C, β‐carotene, lutein, violaxanthin and neoxanthin were reduced by 14, 27, 20 and 31% respectively. Thus minimal processing, seasonal and maturity factors were found to have an influence on the carotenoid content of kale. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Tackling 4G challenges with "TACT" - Design and optimization of 4G radio receivers with a transceiver architecture comparison tool (TACT)

Current integration trends imposed by the market are pushing toward the software radio paradigm. 4G radio receivers, where different wireless standards converge, make RF engineers face harder and harder challenges. Electronic design automation (EDA) tools play an increasing role in the design and verification of wireless system. This article presents a transceiver architecture comparison tool (TACT) which is a hierarchical, user-friendly, Matlab-based tool. It automates the design-space exploration procedure for 4G (fourth generation) wireless receivers. An example that considers a multistandard wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA)/wireless local area network (WLAN) receiver was also presented to illustrate the capabilities of TACT     

Characterization of α-Al2O3 supports modified with CeO2 and ZrO2

α-Al₂O₃ is a catalytic support adequate by its high stability, availability, and low cost, although it presents as principal disadvantage its limited surface area and reactivity. These disadvantages in the support lead to catalysts of low metallic dispersion and with weak interaction metal-support. According to characterization results obtained in this work, the addition of small amounts of Ce and Zr oxides to α-Al₂O₃ leads to Ce_xZr_1 ? xO₂ composites, thus conferring higher reactivity to the surface due to the presence of basic nature sites. This fact together with the well known oxygen storage capacity of these mixed oxides present in composites allow to obtain supports of optimal properties to prevent the sintering and the formation of superficial carbon present in the catalytic deactivation.     

When good news is bad news: Medical wellness as a nonevent in undergraduates.

Study 1 demonstrated that information about healthy functioning can amplify health concerns and erode diagnostic confidence. Undergraduate Ss received a hypothetical test showing some level of cells associated either with pathology or with its absence. The moderate wellness result produced low confidence in one's health estimate and was distressing to receive. Wellness information may represent an ambiguous nonevent when testing for disease. Study 2 tested this thesis by adding Ss who adopted a recovering role to those adopting an illness role. Judgmental uncertainty was greatest and equivalent among recovering Ss given the moderate illness result and among ailing Ss given a moderate wellness result, and both groups were most willing to consider taking a risky treatment for the disease. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Serologic responses to Rhodococcus equi in individuals with and without human immunodeficiency virus infection

Thirty healthy blood donors, 15 workers from horse-breeding farms, 69 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative persons at risk for HIV infection, 125 HIV-infected subjects without Rhodococcus equi infection, and nine HIV-infected patients with Rhodococcus equi pneumonia were evaluated in order to detect serum antibodies to Rhodococcus equi precipitate-soluble antigen by an enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Whereas EIA values for healthy donors, horse farm workers, individuals at risk for HIV infection, and HIV-positive subjects without Rhodococcus equi infection were comparable, HIV-infected patients with rhodococcal disease had significantly higher Rhodococcus equi antibody levels (p < 0.0001). The clinical outcome of Rhodococcus equi pneumonia was more severe in subjects who had low levels of specific antibodies, whereas patients who recovered had elevated Rhodococcus equi antibody levels over time. Immunoblot studies showed that both Rhodococcus equi-infected patients and foals recognized a protein band of approximately 60 kDa in the Rhodococcus equi precipitate-soluble antigen. On the other hand, the Rhodococcus equi-infected patients did not react with the diffuse 15 to 17 kDa virulence-associated proteins that represent important virulence factors both in mice and horses.     

Pushing the Limits of Medical Management in HCM: A Review of Current Pharmacological Therapy Options

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common monogenic cardiac disease with a highly variable phenotypic expression, ranging from asymptomatic to drug refractory heart failure (HF) presentation. Pharmacological therapy is the first line of treatment, but options are currently limited to nonspecific medication like betablockers or calcium channel inhibitors, with frequent suboptimal results. While being the gold standard practice for the management of drug refractory HCM patients, septal reduction therapy (SRT) remains an invasive procedure with associated surgical risks and it requires the expertise of the operating centre, thus limiting its accessibility. It is therefore with high interest that researchers look for pharmacological alternatives that could provide higher rates of success. With new data gathering these past years as well as the development of a new drug class showing promising results, this review provides an up-to-date focused synthesis of existing medical treatment options and future directions for HCM pharmacological treatment.     

Tunable infrared absorption and visible transparency of colloidal aluminum-doped zinc oxide nanocrystals

Plasmonic nanocrystals have been attracting a lot of attention both for fundamental studies and different applications, from sensing to imaging and optoelectronic devices. Transparent conductive oxides represent an interesting class of plasmonic materials in addition to metals and vacancy-doped semiconductor quantum dots. Herein, we report a rational synthetic strategy of high-quality colloidal aluminum-doped zinc oxide nanocrystals. The presence of substitutional aluminum in the zinc oxide lattice accompanied by the generation of free electrons is proved for the first time by tunable surface plasmon absorption in the infrared region both in solution and in thin films.     

Role of CeO<Subscript>2</Subscript> in Rh/α-Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> Catalysts for CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Reforming of Methane

Abstract  

The Rh/α-Al₂O₃ catalyst was modified by CeO₂ in order to improve the thermal stability and the carbon deposition resistance during the CO₂ reforming of methane The carbon formation was determined by TPO, TEM and Raman spectroscopy. Characterization results showed that the incorporation of Ce in the support inhibits the carbon deposition, increasing the useful life and the stability of the Rh base catalysts.