Continuous-Flow UV Liquid Food Pasteurization: Engineering Aspects

Ultraviolet (UV)-C treatments are a promising technology for liquid food pasteurization as an alternative to heat treatments. However, the design of efficient UV reactors to reduce pertinent microorganisms and comply with current food safety goals is still an engineering challenge due to the low penetration depth of UV light in liquid foods with high UV absorbance and suspended particles, and the variations in the residence time of the product in the UV reactors. This review focuses on physical aspects of UV radiation related to the essential product and processing parameters for the design of UV reactors. The UV equipment available for liquid food processing is described and the main drawbacks and advantages are discussed.     

Performance of a New Microbial Test for Quinolone Residues in Muscle

Concerns regarding the presence of drug residues in foods include allergic reactions, toxicity, technological problems in fermented products and the development of antibiotic resistance in human pathogens. The analysis of antimicrobial residues in foods is generally carried out, in a first step, through microbiological screening tests. These tests commonly use Geobacillus stearothermophilus as target specie but show a low ability to detect quinolones. The goal of our study was to evaluate the performance of a new microbiological test (Equinox) for detection of quinolone residues in muscle. The kit contains an ampoule with a standardized number of freeze-dried Escherichia coli and must be diluted with a specific detection medium containing a redox indicator. Microbial growth will modify the redox potential of the medium being observed through a colour change (from blue to brown/orange). Equinox limits of detection for most of tested quinolones (enrofloxacin, norfloxacin, sarafloxacin, marbofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, danofloxacin and difloxacin) were below or around maximum residue limit (MRL) UE and CCβ values obtained corresponded with the determined sensitivities. In contrast, flumequine could not be detected at MRL UE levels. Moreover, Equinox displayed a low sensitivity to other antimicrobials. Sensitivity data obtained in vitro were consistent when testing incurred muscle samples. Matrix constituents, test batch and animal species did not affect the performance of the test. Equinox could be easily automated enabling a large numbers of simultaneous analysis, and a photometric reading can be applied for a precise interpretation. The results obtained in this study prove that Equinox is a useful tool when screening for quinolone residues or can be combined with other methods for screening of unknown samples.     

Biodiesel Production by Enzymatic Catalysis Process Using Two Analytical Ways： Gas Chromatography and Total Glycerol Determination

Currently, biodiesel is presented as one of the best alternatives for gradually replacing the use of fossil fuels, but it has some factors that make it economically impractical if it does not have a government support. For this reason, research efforts focused on this area have been responsible for optimizing the process of biodiesel production by different catalytic routes to achieve greater efficiency at a lower cost. In this case, the biggest problem has been the high cost generated by an investigation, which in many occasions is the main factor to decide if an investigation could be carried out. Trying to reduce these costs, in the current study, we are using a technique of glycerol quantification by volumetric methods and comparing obtained results with the chromatographic method, which is conventionally used and comparatively much more expensive. Biodiesel employee was obtained by an enzymatic catalysis process varying one of three process variables：oil：alcohol molar ratio, temperature and proportion of catalyst. The numerical differences obtained between the two quantification methods generated relative errors lower than 10%, resulting in some occasions lower than 1%. By gas chromatography analysis the best yield was obtained at the same conditions of the volumetric method, a temperature of 45 ℃, an oil：alcohol ratio 1：4 and 8 wt.% of catalyst, but a yield of 95.5% and 97.1%, respectively. Due to the high precision of gas chromatography, this method is used to carry out a surface response analysis obtaining as ideal operating conditions a temperature of 43.5 ℃, 8.9 wt.%. of catalyst and an oil：alcohol ratio 1：4.     

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid-Enriched Lipid Fingerprint of Glioblastoma Proliferative Regions Is Differentially Regulated According to Glioblastoma Molecular Subtype

Glioblastoma (GBM) represents one of the deadliest tumors owing to a lack of effective treatments. The adverse outcomes are worsened by high rates of treatment discontinuation, caused by the severe side effects of temozolomide (TMZ), the reference treatment. Therefore, understanding TMZ’s effects on GBM and healthy brain tissue could reveal new approaches to address chemotherapy side effects. In this context, we have previously demonstrated the membrane lipidome is highly cell type-specific and very sensitive to pathophysiological states. However, little remains known as to how membrane lipids participate in GBM onset and progression. Hence, we employed an ex vivo model to assess the impact of TMZ treatment on healthy and GBM lipidome, which was established through imaging mass spectrometry techniques. This approach revealed that bioactive lipid metabolic hubs (phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylethanolamine plasmalogen species) were altered in healthy brain tissue treated with TMZ. To better understand these changes, we interrogated RNA expression and DNA methylation datasets of the Cancer Genome Atlas database. The results enabled GBM subtypes and patient survival to be linked with the expression of enzymes accounting for the observed lipidome, thus proving that exploring the lipid changes could reveal promising therapeutic approaches for GBM, and ways to ameliorate TMZ side effects.     

2015年世博会卡里塔斯展馆及埃内尔展馆 意大利米兰

正Piuarch建筑师事务所负责设计了2015年米兰世博会埃内尔(意大利国家电力公司)展馆及卡里塔斯展馆。为了将客户想表达的含义与价值观更好地传达给观众,Piuarch选择了一种特殊的建筑语言来体现两个展馆的特点。埃内尔展馆沿东西大街而建,占地900平方米。设计体现出智能电网这一概念,传达出以智能科技优化世博会整体用电的理念。     

Polypyrrole and platinum deposited onto carbon substrate to enhance direct methanol fuel cell electrodes behaviour

The aim of this work is to study the ability of polypyrrole to reduce the platinum load of low temperature methanol fuel cell electrodes. Platinum was deposited onto carbon paper and a layer of polypyrrole electrodeposited onto carbon paper, using electron beam evaporation and electrodeposition by pulses. Subsequently, the morphology and electrochemical behaviour of the synthesised samples were analysed in sulphuric acid solution, determining their electrochemically active surface area; and in a solution of sulphuric acid and methanol, to analyse their catalytic performance. The electrochemical measurements showed that the electrochemically active surface area and the catalytic performance of the electrodes prepared by evaporating platinum are increased when prepared on the polypyrrole film. Electrodes prepared using the pulse electrodeposition technique presented fairly homogeneous coatings that led to the reduction of the oxidation potential of methanol and the increase of their resistance to CO poisoning.     

Effect of additive distribution in H2 absorption and desorption kinetics in MgH2 milled with NbH0.9 or NbF5

This paper presents a comparative study of H₂ absorption and desorption in MgH₂ milled with NbF₅ or NbH_0.9. The addition of NbF₅ or NbH_0.9 greatly improves hydriding and dehydriding kinetics. After 80 h of milling the mixture of MgH₂ with 7 mol.% of NbF₅ absorbs 60% of its hydrogen capacity at 250 °C in 30 s, whereas the mixture with 7 mol.% of NbH_0.9 takes up 48%, and MgH₂ milled without additive only absorbs 2%. At the same temperature, hydrogen desorption in the mixture with NbF₅ finishes in 10 min, whereas the mixture with NbH_0.9 only desorbs 50% of its hydrogen content, and MgH₂ without additive practically does not releases hydrogen. The kinetic improvement is attributed to NbH_0.9, a phase observed in the hydrogen cycled MgH₂ + NbF₅ and MgH₂ + NbH_0.9 materials, either hydrided or dehydrided. The better kinetic performance of the NbF₅-added material is attributed to the combination of smaller size and enhanced distribution of NbH_0.9 with more favorable microstructural characteristics. The addition of NbF₅ also produces the formation of Mg(H_xF_1-x)₂ solid solutions that limit the practically achievable hydrogen storage capacity of the material. These undesired effects are discussed.     

Biogenic amines assessment during different stages of the canning process of skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)

The present research focused on the biogenic amines (BAs) formation in skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) throughout the whole canning process. In agreement with its wide employment on this species, on‐board brine immersion freezing (BIF) was tested as post‐mortem processing. The study included fish samples corresponding to different stages of the canning process such as frozen, thawed, cooked and canned; after cooking, two kinds of tuna muscles were considered, that is, whole fillets (main product) and grated muscle (off‐product arising from small pieces). For the BAs (tryptamine, putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, spermidine and spermine) assessment, an HPLC‐DAD method was developed and validated in skipjack tuna samples, in agreement with different parameters such as suitability, linearity, limits of detection and quantification, precision, accuracy and robustness. Tuna submitted on‐board to BIF procedure provided low levels of spermine and spermidine (up to 27.6 mg kg^?1), while contents on the remaining BAs maintained below the limit of detection. Throughout the different stages of the canning process, skipjack tuna showed a low formation of most BAs; interestingly, histamine content was found below 10.6 mg kg^?1 level. The highest values were obtained for spermidine, these related to cooked grated tuna (from 22.6 to 66.7 mg kg^?1) and canned grated tuna (from 70.6 to 104.4 mg kg^?1). Values for pH assessment in all kinds of tuna samples corroborated the results obtained for BAs determination. BIF procedure proved to be an amenable post‐mortem processing to guarantee the quality of canned skipjack tuna.     

Plutonium measurements on the 1 MV AMS system at the Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA)

Plutonium isotopes have been recently added to the list of radionuclides that can be measured with the new generation of compact AMS facilities. In this paper we present first experimental results concerning the development of the plutonium AMS technique at 680 kV on the 1 MV AMS system at the Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (CNA) in Sevilla, Spain. This is the first compact AMS machine designed and manufactured by High Voltage Engineering Europa. As we demonstrate, the obtained backgrounds for ^239,240Pu, of about 10⁶ atoms, and the ²³⁹Pu/²³⁸U mass suppression factor, in the range of 10⁻⁹, compare to the ones achieved on other AMS facilities. With the measurement of reference materials provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA-375, IAEA-Soil-6, IAEA-381) and samples already studied on the 600 kV compact ETH/PSI AMS system at Zürich, we show that the CNA system can be perfectly used for the routine measurement of plutonium isotopes at environmental levels.