A comprehensive study of hazelnut oil composition with comparisons to other vegetable oils,particularly olive oil.

Crude and refined hazelnut oils from different countries were characterised by major and minor compounds. Fatty acids, triacylglycerides, waxes, sterols, methyl-sterols, terpenic and aliphatic alcohols, tocopherols, tocotrienols and hydrocarbons were identified and quantified by gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The levels of these chemical compounds in hazelnut oils together with the equivalent carbon numbers and triacylglyceride carbon numbers, were compared with the results of analyses of samples of other vegetable oils. The statistical procedure of cluster analysis was used to characterise hazelnut oils versus other edible oils.     

Adverse effects of pharmacological therapy for nicotine addiction in smokers following a smoking cessation program.

This multicenter, community-based, prospective, longitudinal study evaluated the safety of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), bupropion, and combined therapy of NRT and bupropion for smokers seeking to quit, when these therapies were used under real-world conditions following a smoking cessation program. Participants were smokers aged 18 years or older who attended five smoking cessation clinics. Evaluations were made at 15, 30, 60, and 90 days. We investigated the possible existence of adverse effects as well as the severity of each adverse effect and its influence on the treatment course. The study included 904 smokers: 370 received NRT, 413 received bupropion, and 121 received combined therapy. At 15, 30, 60, and 90 days, adverse effects were reported by 43.8%, 33.1%, 22.3%, and 5.7% of subjects, respectively. Adverse effects were significantly more frequent in subjects receiving combined therapy or bupropion alone than in NRT-treated subjects at the 15-, 30-, and 60-day follow-ups. A total of 83 smokers (9.3%) withdrew from treatment and 116 (12.8%) stopped temporarily because of adverse effects. No differences were found in the percentages of discontinuation among the different treatment options. Adverse effects rarely were severe (n=10). Nevertheless, 41 subjects (4.5%) discontinued drug therapy indefinitely and 55 (6.1%) discontinued it temporarily because of mild adverse effects. Pharmacological therapies for smoking cessation are safe as long as they are appropriately prescribed and supervised by clinicians according to clinical practice guidelines. Adverse effects are primarily mild. Nonetheless, mild adverse effects may be perceived by patients as a serious enough problem to cause them to discontinue treatment.     

High pressure gelation of soy proteins: Effect of concentration, pH and additives

The global demand for soybean protein has increased dramatically over the last few years due to its versatility. High pressure (HP) processing is emerging as an effective alternative to thermal processing of foods. The HP treatment of protein solutions at different process conditions can cause partial unfolding of proteins that can lead to the irreversible gelation of the product. In this study, the influence of protein concentration (5–20% w/v), pH (3–7), sugar (5% w/v), CaCl₂ (5% w/v), pressure level (up to 650 MPa) and holding time (0.1 and 10 min), and process temperature (20 and 40 °C) on the dynamic rheology of soybean protein concentrate (SPC) solutions was evaluated. Furthermore, the protein structural changes caused by HP were studied, through the use of the extrinsic fluorescence of the probe 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonic acid (ANS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Results indicated a strong influence of protein concentration on both elastic (G′) and viscous (G″) moduli, increasing with concentration. Increase in pressure and holding time produced an increase on both G′ and G″ for SPC concentrations higher than 10%; at 15% SPC concentration, a relatively low pressure treatment of 250 MPa achieved the cross-over of G′ over G″. The structure of the soybean proteins suffered limited changes after HP treatment; hydrophobicity increased, as well as the relative proportion of random coil, while the β-sheet content decreased. HP treatment can be used to enhance the viscoelastic behavior of SPC after which SPC can be used to enrich both protein content and textural properties of foods.     

水舍精品酒店

正坐落在上海南外滩老码头新规划区内的水舍,是一座仅有19个客房的四层精品酒店。建筑本身由建造于上世纪三十年代三层楼高的日本武装总部改建而成。酒店濒临黄浦江,与闪烁着璀璨灯光的浦东天际线隔江相对。如恩设计研究室(NERlHU DESIGN AND RESEARCH OFFICE)对这一建筑的改造设计理念基于"新"与"旧"的融合。对历史构造的选择性保留与新设计的完美拼合,让这座建筑本身重焕新生。     

Evaluation of thermodynamic properties using GAB model to describe the desorption process of cocoa beans

The desorption isotherms and thermodynamic properties of cocoa beans were obtained during the drying process of this product. The isotherms were determined by dynamic method for various temperature (25, 35, 45 and 55 °C) and relative humidity (RH) conditions (30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80%). Equilibrium moisture content data were correlated by the Guggenheim–Anderson–de Boer (GAB) model, which presented good fit to the data, according to statistical procedures. Equilibrium moisture content ranged from 5.90 to 16.67 d.b.; it increased with an increment in the RH and decreased with increased temperature at a constant RH. Enthalpy values for each model coefficient were encountered, ranging from ?90.05 to 545.96 kJ kg^?1. The integral isosteric heat of desorption and differential entropy increased with decreased equilibrium moisture content, a tendency also found for Gibbs free energy.     

Differential effect of common ligands and molecular oxygen on antimicrobial activity of silver nanoparticles versus silver ions

The antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is partially due to the release of Ag(+), although discerning the contribution of AgNPs vs Ag(+) is challenging due to their common co-occurrence. We discerned the toxicity of Ag(+) versus a commercially available AgNP (35.4 ± 5.1 nm, coated with amorphous carbon) by conducting antibacterial assays under anaerobic conditions that preclude Ag? oxidation, which is a prerequisite for Ag(+) release. These AgNPs were 20× less toxic to E. coli than Ag(+) (EC??: 2.04 ± 0.07 vs 0.10 ± 0.01 mg/L), and their toxicity increased 2.3-fold after exposure to air for 0.5 h (EC??: 0.87 ± 0.03 mg/L) which promoted Ag(+) release. No significant difference in Ag(+) toxicity was observed between anaerobic and aerobic conditions, which rules out oxidative stress by ROS as an important antibacterial mechanism for Ag(+). The toxicity of Ag(+) (2.94 μmol/L) was eliminated by equivalent cysteine or sulfide; the latter exceeded the solubility product equilibrium constant (K(sp)), which is conducive to silver precipitation. Equivalent chloride and phosphate concentrations also reduced Ag(+) toxicity without exceeding K(sp). Thus, some common ligands can hinder the bioavailability and mitigate the toxicity of Ag(+) at relatively low concentrations that do not induce silver precipitation. Furthermore, low concentrations of chloride (0.1 mg/L) mitigated the toxicity of Ag(+) but not that of AgNPs, suggesting that previous reports of higher AgNPs toxicity than their equivalent Ag(+) concentration might be due to the presence of common ligands that preferentially decrease the bioavailability and toxicity of Ag(+). Overall, these results show that the presence of O? or common ligands can differentially affect the toxicity of AgNPs vs Ag(+), and underscore the importance of water chemistry in the mode of action of AgNPs.     

Polymerisation of styrene using Y, USY and β zeolites as catalysts

The homopolymerisation of styrene is studied in the presence of Y, USY and beta zeolites. High molecular weight polymers, in the range 0.7 × 10⁶–1 × 10⁶, are obtained in good yields. The activity of zeolite beta is only slightly increased by calcination of the as-synthesised material, pointing to an important role of the zeolite outer surface. The influence of the catalyst acidity upon the polymer molecular weight is evaluated by the use of dealuminated zeolites. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

In-situ Mössbauer spectroscopic study of the behaviour of tin(II) chloride during coal hydrogenation

In-situ Mössbauer spectroscopy has been used to study the catalytic role of SnCl₂ and its interaction with the IL6 coal during hydrogenation. The measurements have been recorded under three different atmospheres of nitrogen, hydrogen, and hydrogen in the presence of a heavy distillate solvent SRC-II. The study has shown that both tin and chlorine can enter the coal structure at an early stage of hydrogenation. The presence of chlorine has been shown to cause the cleavage of ether-oxygen linkages in the coal. Tin (II) sulphide is the predominant form of the catalyst after the hydrogenation and is the product of the scavenging of coal sulphur by tin. The study has also shown the formation of FeCl₂ · xH₂0 (x = 1, 2) as a result of the reaction between pyrrhotites (Fe_(1?x)S, formed by the decomposition of FeS₂) and hydrochloric acid in the nitrogen and the hydrogen atmospheres.     

Synthesis of asymmetric diglycidyl ester compounds. Reaction with aromatic diamines

New diglycidyl esters coming from the corresponding diacids and epichlorohydrin were synthetized using a quaternary ammonium salt as a catalyst. The new asymmetric compounds were characterized by spectroscopic methods and employed as starting monomers in a crosslinking process. The course of the reactions was followed by IR spectroscopy. Some intermediate species were identified in the onset of the reactions by recording ¹³C-NMR spectra until the products became insoluble in the usual deuterated solvents. The thermal behaviour of these cured epoxy resins was also studied.