Use of the jabuticaba (Myrciaria cauliflora) depulping residue to produce a natural pigment powder with functional properties

The aim of this study was to produce a natural pigment powder with functional properties. To optimise the spray-drying process, a central composite design with 17 treatments was used, in which the independent variables were the inlet drying air temperature (138–202 °C), the feed flow rate (20–67 mL/min), and the concentration of the carrier (maltodextrin, 100–300 g/kg of extract). The dependent variables were the moisture content, hygroscopicity, and anthocyanin retention. The samples were analysed by: anthocyanin and phenolic content; antioxidant properties based on the ORAC and DPPH assays; antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enteritidis, and Escherichia coli; and inhibitory activity against arginase, an enzyme produced by Leishmania amazonensis. The experimental design was not significant or predictive in the ranges studied. The selected samples contained high concentrations of anthocyanins and phenolics, and high antioxidant capacities. In addition, they exhibited antimicrobial activity against three of the four microorganisms tested, and some of the samples also exhibited a bactericidal effect. Moreover, the powders exerted inhibitory activity (64–69%) against arginase. The results obtained in this study suggest that the jabuticaba depulping residue could be used to produce a natural pigment with functional properties.     

HeLa cell transfection using a novel sonoporation system

Sonoporation has been shown to have an important role in biotechnology for gene therapy and drug delivery. This paper presents a novel microfluidic sonoporation system that achieves high rates of cell transfection and cell viability by operating the sonoporation chamber at resonance. The paper presents a theoretical analysis of the resonant sonoporation chamber design, which achieves sonoporation by forming an ultrasonic standing wave across the chamber. A piezoelectric transducer (PZT 26) is used to generate the ultrasound and the different material thicknesses have been identified to give a chamber resonance at 980 kHz. The efficiency of the sonoporation system was determined experimentally under a range of sonoporation conditions and different exposures time (5, 10, 15, and 20 s, respectively) using HeLa cells and plasmid (peGFP-N1). The experimental results achieve a cell transfection efficiency of 68.9% (analysis of variance, ANOVA, p < 0.05) at the resonant frequency of 980 kHz at 100 V(p-p) (19.5 MPa) with a cell viability of 77% after 10 s of insonication.     

Physical Properties of Gelatin Films Plasticized by Blends of Glycerol and Sorbitol

ABSTRACT: The addition of plasticizers increases the flexibility and workability of films based on biopolymers. However, the use of some plasticizers cause undesirable results, such as the migration of these additives out the film or crystallization during shelf life. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of blends with different ratios of sorbitol and glycerol, at 2 plasticizer concentrations, on mechanical, viscoelastic, and water vapor barrier properties of films based on gelatin. The films were prepared with 2 g gelatin/100 mL of water and with 25 or 55 g plasticizer/100 g gelatin. The ratio, glycerol to sorbitol, was studied as 0:100, 20:80, 40:60, 60:40, 80:20, and 100:0. The increase of plasticizer concentration from 25 to 55 g plasticizer/100 g gelatin caused an increase of flexibility and reduction of resistance and water vapor barrier as expected. In relation to the effect of the mixture, the increase in the proportion of glycerol caused a reduction of the puncture force, tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, and an increase of the puncture deformation, elongation at break, and water vapor permeability due to the higher plasticizing effect of glycerol. This behavior was explained in terms of molecular weight of the plasticizers, which demonstrated that the studied properties could be considered as functions of the number of molecules of plasticizers in the films.     

Performance in planning: Processes, requirements, and errors.

Planning is not only an aspect of our day-to-day lives, it represents a critical aspect of performance on many high-level tasks. Although few of us would dispute the need for planning, the psychology of planning remains relatively undeveloped. With this point in mind, the intent in the present article was to review the available literature on planning. The authors begin by examining alternative models of planning and delineating their implications for performance. Subsequently, the findings obtained in various studies of planning are reviewed with respect to 8 key questions ranging from when planning is useful to how errors in planning should be minimized. The implications of current answers to these questions are discussed in terms of research needs and development of a more comprehensive theoretical understanding of performance in planning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The paradox of normal neuropsychological function in schizophrenia.

Mounting evidence suggests that compromised neurocognitive function is a core feature of schizophrenia. However, some studies have found neuropsychologically normal schizophrenia patients. To address this apparent contradiction, we blindly rated individual neuropsychological profiles of 75 schizophrenia patients and 91 control participants on the basis of methods developed by L. J. Seidman, S. V. Faraone, W. S. Kremen, J. R. Pepple, M. J. Lyons, and M. T. Tsuang (1993). Almost one-quarter of the patients were classified as neuropsychologically within normal limits (WNL). Despite significantly worse neuropsychological performance, WNL patients had higher estimated premorbid ability than did controls. Compared to a subset of controls matched on overall neuropsychological function, WNL patients had higher estimated premorbid ability and current IQs. Our results favor the view that even neuropsychologically normal schizophrenia patients have compromised cognitive function relative to their presumed expected or premorbid level of intellectual ability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SynBio-SynChem Approaches to Diversifying the Pacidamycins through the Exploitation of an Observed Pictet-Spengler Reaction

A nonenzymatic Pictet-Spengler reaction has been postulated to give rise to a subset of naturally occurring uridyl peptide antibiotics (UPAs). Here, using a combination of strain engineering and synthetic chemistry, we demonstrate that Pictet-Spengler chemistry may be employed to generate even greater diversity in the UPAs. We use an engineered strain to afford access to meta-tyrosine containing pacidamycin 4. Pictet-Spengler diversification of this compound using a small series of aryl-aldehydes was achieved with some derivatives affording remarkable diastereomeric control.     

Social comparison in adjustment to breast cancer.

Investigated 4 theoretical perspectives concerning the role of social comparison in coping with a threatening event, using 78 29–78 yr old females with breast cancer as Ss. It is noted that, according to the supercoper perspective, personal contact with comparison others is often unavailable to patients; in addition, contact with media supercopers (fellow victims presented as adjusting smoothly) may make patients feel inadequate by comparison. According to the similarity perspective, patients select comparison targets who are similar to themselves because those comparisons should be the most informative. The upward comparison perspective is predictive of comparisons to relatively advantaged or superior individuals. The downward comparison perspective leads to the prediction that, under conditions of threat, individuals make comparisons to people who are inferior or less fortunate in order to enhance their self-esteem. Ss were interviewed to determine which perspective had the most validity in terms of their experience with closed-ended questions. Ss offered spontaneous comparisons throughout the interview. Both closed-ended questions and spontaneously offered comparisons yielded a preponderance of downward comparisons. Findings support the value of using naturalistic methods for studying comparisons and suggest a more active and cognitive role for social comparison than is usually portrayed. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Compliance with chemotherapy among breast cancer patients.

Explored the extent of and reasons for noncompliance with intravenously administered chemotherapy among 78 female breast cancer patients (aged 29–78 yrs). Overall, chemotherapy compliance was high (92%). The few cases of noncompliance were indirect. In particular, 2 Ss rejected chemotherapy outright, and 2 alcoholic Ss used alcohol to avoid chemotherapy. The high rate of chemotherapy compliance was judged to be due to its perceived centrality to recovery from cancer, the medical nature of its administration, the ease with which noncompliance could be detected, and Ss' spontaneous use of successful coping techniques. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An intelligent snake growing algorithm for fuzzy shape detection

A novel, robust algorithm for connectivity detection in the shape recognition process has been developed. The algorithm is a simplified version of the snake or active contour technique for object boundary detection. Access to a case base and constraint system is available at all stages of the process which increases the probability that semantically meaningful objects will be detected. The technique has proved valuable for a number of applications from the aerospace industry including shape recognition and fatigue crack detection. The algorithm has also been used to generate an improved version of the STIRS technique for shape recognition.