Structural changes in sardine (Sardina pilchardus) muscle during iced storage: Investigation by DRIFT spectroscopy

Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy has been used for the first time to evaluate the postmortem changes in structure of components from sardine muscle in relation to quality loss. Sardines (Sardina pilchardus) were stored in ice for up to thirteen days. The spectroscopic study was focussed on the structural changes produced on the lipids and proteins.     

Radiographic findings in Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and its complications in HIV patients

Despite their increasing representation in the population, little is known about the neuropsychological test performance of the oldest old, particularly those who live in residential settings. Limited published data and clinical experience suggest that this group is more likely to perform in the impaired range on standardized tests when cut-offs developed with younger groups are used. We examined the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) performance of 82 nondemented nursing home residents, aged 80 to 99, with a mean education level of 11 years. Using published norms and cutoffs, a large percentage of this sample performed in the impaired range, particularly on the initiation and conceptualization subtests and on the total score. Education, but not age, was significantly related to performance in this sample. Percentages of patients misclassified were substantial in all groups, but were higher in those with less than 13 years of education. Using a lower total-score cutoff of 110 reduced the percentage of misclassifications markedly. We recommend the development and use of revised cutoff scores for the evaluation of very elderly nursing home residents.     

Stability of the lipid fraction of milk‐based infant formulas during storage

A study is made of the effects of storage (time and temperature) on the lipid fraction of four milk‐based adapted infant formulas with basically the same composition, though differing in the iron salt added (lactate or sulfate) and/or the vitamin E source (α‐tocopherol or α‐tocopherol acetate). Peroxide value, hydroperoxide C₁₈ percentage and thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substance (TBARS) content were used as indicators of lipid peroxidation. Fat contents remained stable throughout storage. Peroxide values increased from the first storage month and were affected by storage time, although they exhibited irregular behavior. Storage time and temperature affected hydroperoxide percentage, which was seen to be the earliest indicator of lipid oxidation, being measurable in newly manufactured formulas. TBARS values were only affected by storage time. No statistically significant differences were found among the four infant formulas for any of the lipid oxidation indicators.     

Evaluation of the in Vitro Activity of Several Antacid Preparations

The physicochemical properties of antacid preparations determine their activity in vivo. It is possible to determine in a laboratory several physicochemical parameters related to the activity of such preparations. In this work, in vitro activity is determined for the most common antacid suspensions in Spain.     

Integrated Methodology for Project Risk Management

This article presents a generic project risk management process that has been particularized for construction projects from the point of view of the owner and the consultant who may be assisting the owner. The process could also be adapted to the needs of other project participants, and many points referred to in the article can be directly applied to them. Any project risk management process must be tailored to the particular circumstances of the project and of the organization undertaking it. First, the article explains a complete or generic project risk management process to be undertaken by organizations with the highest level of risk management maturity in the largest and most complex construction projects. After that, factors influencing possible simplifications of the generic process are identified, and simplifications are proposed for some cases. Then the application to a real project is summarized. As a final validation, a Delphi analysis has been developed to assess the project risk management methodology explained here, and the results are presented.     

Effect of treatment with α‐galactosidase,tannase or a cell‐wall‐degrading enzyme complex on the nutritive utilisation of protein and carbohydrates from pea (Pisum sativum L.) flour

The effect of treatment with α‐galactosidase, tannase or a cell‐wall‐degrading enzyme complex under optimal conditions of pH, temperature and length of incubation time on the chemical composition and nutritive utilisation of protein and carbohydrates from pea (Pisum sativum L.) flour was studied. Soaking of pea flours in combination with enzyme treatment led to reductions of 77–90% in the levels of α‐galactosides, and of 60–80% in the levels of trypsin inhibitor activity, increasing the content of total available sugars, which was highest in the pea flour treated with the cell‐wall‐degrading enzyme complex. All the treatments assayed caused a significant improvement in daily food intake, whereas the nutritive utilisation of protein was not increased in any of the pea products tested when compared to the raw pea flour. However, all the soaking and enzymatic treatments led to a significant improvement in daily weight gain associated with a higher dietary intake of food and total available sugars. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Inhibition of bovine pericardium calcification: A comparative study of Al3+ and lipid removing treatments

The biological heart prostheses present midterm and long term problems owing to the progressive deterioration and calcification of the tissue. In the attempt to study the latter problem, we have compared the effectiveness of anticalcification treatments in calf pericardium samples implanted into female Wistar rats after undergoing the following procedures: Group I, control, treatment with glutaraldehyde; group II, treated with 0.1m Al³⁺ for 24 h; and group III, subjected to lipid removal by chemical treatment with chloroform/methanol for 1 h. Positive results were obtained with both treatments, but the results after 60 days of implantation were more favourable with lipid removal than with Al³⁺ treatment.     

Spectral study and classification of worldwide locations considering several multijunction solar cell technologies

Multi‐junction solar cells are widely used in high‐concentration photovoltaic systems (HCPV) attaining the highest efficiencies in photovoltaic energy generation. This technology is more dependent on the spectral variations of the impinging Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) than conventional photovoltaics based on silicon solar cells and consequently demands a deeper knowledge of the solar resource characteristics. This article explores the capabilities of spectral indexes, namely, spectral matching ratios (SMR), to spectrally characterize the annual irradiation reaching a particular location on the Earth and to provide the necessary information for the spectral optimization of a MJ solar cell in that location as a starting point for CPV module spectral tuning. Additionally, the relationship between such indexes and the atmosphere parameters, such as the aerosol optical depth (AOD), precipitable water (PW), and air mass (AM), is discussed using radiative transfer models such as SMARTS to generate the spectrally resolved DNI. The network of ground‐based sun and sky‐scanning radiometers AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) is exploited to obtain the atmosphere parameters for a selected bunch of 34 sites worldwide. Finally, the SMR indexes are obtained for every location, and a comparative analysis is carried out for four architectures of triple junction solar cells, covering both lattice match and metamorphic technologies. The differences found among cell technologies are much less significant than among locations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changes in soil sealing in Guadalajara (Spain): cartography with LANDSAT images

The great urban and industrial development of the towns surrounding Madrid has caused an irreversible and rapid soil loss. In this paper, soil sealed evolution in Guadalajara province during the past 15 years, mainly in the capital, industrial district and small municipalities near Madrid, has been studied. This province has experimented a sharp reduction of the most fertile soils, located on the Henares valley, due to the action of new models of local and regional development. The main goal of this paper is the mapping of the covered soils in a pilot area of Spain. Supervised classification of Landsat images from 1989 to 2002 has been carried out. Geo-referred image analysis allows us to detect precisely the amount of covered soils and where this phenomenon has taken place.