Effects of supercritical CO2 fluid parameters on chemical composition and yield of carotenoids extracted from pumpkin

Pumpkin is a traditional food that is grown extensively worldwide and is believed to be beneficial to human health due to its high contents of carotenoids. The carotenoids in pumpkin were extracted by organic solvents and by supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂), and then they were identified, quantified, and compared. β-carotene (31 to 40 g per 100 g of total carotenoids) was the predominate carotenoid in pumpkin. Lutein and lycopene contents were much higher in SC-CO₂ extracts than those in organic solvent extract. Cis-β-carotene increased by more than two times in the SC-CO₂ extracts, even at a relatively low temperature of 40 °C, over those in the solvent extracts, indicating both enhanced solubility and isomerization from trans- to cis-β-carotene. The influences of modifier (10 mL/100 mL), temperature (40-70 °C), and pressure (25-35 MPa) of SC-CO₂ extraction on the change of carotenoid yields were also investigated. The highest yield (109.6 μg/g) was obtained at 70 °C and 35 MPa, with a 73.7% recovery. Selective extraction could be achieved by adjusting the temperature and pressure. Higher proportions of all-trans-β-carotene extracts were achieved at 40 °C under both 25 MPa and 35 MPa conditions. In order to extract more cis-isomers, a higher temperature of 70 °C was preferred.     

The scavenging capacity and synergistic effects of lycopene, vitamin E, vitamin C, and β-carotene mixtures on the DPPH free radical

The biological activity of lycopene can be enhanced by the presence of these other active antioxidants such as β-carotene, vitamin E, and vitamin C. Since many of these natural antioxidants are consumed together in foods, the potential for synergistic interactions is high in the human diet. The aim of this study was to determine what concentrations and combinations of antioxidants among lycopene, vitamin E, vitamin C, and β-carotene are capable of producing synergistic antioxidant effects, based on tomato-based food products. Solutions of the scavenging capacities of lycopene, vitamin E, vitamin C, and β-carotene, alone and in different combinations were measured using the stable free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. Three different levels of each antioxidant were used. A comparison of the scavenging capacity (antioxidant activity) of the combinations of antioxidants to the arithmetic sum of the scavenging capacities of the individual antioxidants was used to calculate the synergistic effects (SEs) between the antioxidants. The results showed that the mixture that had the highest SEs (P<0.01) was the solution combining lycopene (15 μmol/L), vitamin E (5.0 μmol/L), vitamin C (0.16 μmol/L), and β-carotene (10.83 μmol/L). The results suggest that the antioxidant property of this combination was substantially superior to the sum of the individual antioxidant effects, and these interactions can enhance the antioxidant effectiveness of natural antioxidants. The results could guide in the formulation and development of functional food products that have high antioxidant potential.     

Ironic processes in the mental control of mood and mood-related thought.

Investigated the mental control of mood and mood-related thought. In Exp 1, Ss reminiscing about a happy or sad event were asked to make their mood positive, were given no instructions, or were asked to make their mood negative. Ss attempting mood control without an imposed cognitive load were successful, whereas those who attempted control while rehearsing a 9-digit number not only failed to control their moods, but also showed self-reported mood change opposite the mood they intended to create. In Exp 2, Ss attempting to control mood-related thoughts under cognitive load showed increased accessibility of those thoughts contrary to the direction of intended control in a Stroop-type color-naming task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using Signal Processing and Semantic Web Technologies to Analyze Byzantine Iconography

A bottom-up approach for documenting art objects processes data from innovative nondestructive analysis with signal processing and neural network techniques to provide a good estimation of the paint layer profile and pigments of artwork. The approach also uses Semantic Web technologies and maps concepts relevant to the analysis of paintings and Byzantine iconography to the Conceptual Reference Model of the International Committee for Documentation (CIDOC-CRM). This approach has introduced three main contributions: the development of an integrated nondestructive technique system combining spectroscopy and acoustic microscopy, supported by intelligent algorithms, for estimating the artworks' paint layers profile; mapping of analytical data pertinent to the diagnosis of art paintings to CIDOC-CRM to demonstrate how Semantic Web technologies can benefit cultural heritage; and the introduction of a practical setting that combines different AI fields.     

Precision characterization of three ultrafine condensation particle counters using singly charged salt clusters in the 1–4 nm size range generated by a bipolar electrospray source

Abstract

Molecular singly charged clusters generated by electrospray sources are commonly used for calibration measurements of ultrafine Condensation Particle Counters (CPCs) in the sub-2?nm size range. This technique has been limited to the smallest singly charged clusters. In this study, we used a bipolar electrospray source combining two electrosprays of opposite polarities to generate singly charged clusters of ammonium salts dissolved in acetonitrile, i.e., tetra-heptyl ammonium bromide (THABr) and tetra-butyl ammonium iodide (TBAI) clusters. A high-resolution UDMA acts as a classifier for positively and negatively charged clusters which are used as mobility standards for the measurement of the complete ascent of the detection efficiency curve of three ultrafine CPCs. The CPCs characterized in this work are two laminar flow-type CPCs using n-butanol (TSI UCPC Model 3776, TSI Inc., Minneapolis, MN USA) and diethylene glycol (DEG) (TSI UCPC Model 3777, TSI Inc.) as working fluid and the turbulent mixing-type DEG-based Particle Size Magnifier (Airmodus A10 PSM). The clusters generated by the bipolar electrospray source are analyzed for their elemental composition using the Atmospheric Pressure interface Time-Of-Flight mass spectrometer (ioniAPi-TOF, Ionicon Analytik GmbH, Austria) in positive and negative ion mode. We present mobility-dependent mass spectra from experiments using the UDMA and the ioniAPi-TOF in series for the analysis of positively charged clusters when operating the electrospray source in unipolar and in bipolar mode to demonstrate the charge reduction and purity of the sample.     

Characterization of historic silk by polarized attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for informed conservation

When assessing historic textiles and considering appropriate conservation, display, and storage strategies, characterizing the physical condition of the textiles is essential. Our work has concentrated on developing nondestructive or micro-destructive methodologies that will permit this. Previously, we have demonstrated a correlation between the physical deterioration of unweighted and "pink" tin (IV) chloride weighted silk and certain measurable spectroscopic and chromatographic signatures, derived from polarized Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy (Pol-ATR) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) microsampling analyses. The application of the Pol-ATR technique to aged silk characterization has now been extended to include a more comprehensive range of weighting methods and aging regimes. This was intended to replicate the full spectrum of states of deterioration observed in silk textiles, from pristine to heavily degraded. Breaking strength was employed as a measure of the physical integrity of the fibers, and, as expected, decreased with aging. An orientational crystallinity parameter, reflecting the microstructural ordering of the fibroin polymer within the fibers, was derived from the Pol-ATR spectra. A good correlation was observed between the breaking strength of the variety of fibers and this parameter. This suggests that the physical state of historic silk fabrics might be adequately characterized for conservation purposes by such indirect micromethodology.     

Degradation kinetics of folate (5-methyltetrahydrofolate) in navy beans under various processing conditions

The 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5MTHF) is the predominate folate form that exists in navy beans and possesses health benefit to human beings. Understanding the degradation kinetics of 5MTHF during navy bean processing would provide useful information that characterizes the influence of processing conditions in order to minimize folate degradation and to maintain overall products quality during the beans’ production. The bio-specific procedures were used for sample preparation and purification, and HPLC techniques were subsequently used for identification and quantitative analysis of 5MTHF in the different treated bean samples. Losses of 5MTHF have been observed in all processed navy beans. Experimental results showed that the soaking time and the seed-to-water ratio were the two most critical factors that affected the stability of 5MTHF during the soaking process. The longer soaking times with larger amounts of soaking water caused higher degradation of 5MTHF. Cooking time and cooking media also played a key role in the degradation of 5MTHF in beans. Pressurized cooking showed the highest reduction of 5MTHF among all the treated bean samples. The treatment causes greater folate loss mainly through the promotion of water penetration and high diffusion, leading to more folate being released from the bean matrix, and accelerating the oxidation and decomposition of folates during cooking.     

Measures of Population Ageing in Australia from 1950 to 2050

This study utilises annual historic and forecasted population figures from the UN World Population Prospects (2015 Revision) to describe Australia’s population changes for the period 1950–2050. A number of population indices have been employed to describe these changes. Specifically, we constructed population pyramids and computed measures including economic dependency ratios, support ratios, ageing/Billeter indices and coefficients of inflow, outflow and exchange of productive populations. Our results suggest that a combination of factors including declining fertility and mortality have contributed to Australia’s ageing population. The implications of these changes are broad and raise major challenges for Australia’s economy and infrastructure. To tackle both the drivers and impacts of population ageing, multi-faceted approaches are needed together with prompt evaluation to ensure that current and future challenges posed by population changes in Australia are fully contained.     

Unsupervised digital movie restoration with spatial models of color

In this paper, we present an efficient approach to digital color restoration, based on the idea of recovering the appearance of color rather than the original color signal, since, in most of the cases, for old films the original reference is missing, and new films or digital coding can be subject to severe gamut transformations. This approach is based on the application of algorithms inspired by the capabilities of the Human Vision System of automatically adjust to the variation of color and lightness in the scene. The proposed method allows more unsupervised restoration. We present an overview of the approach, characteristics of this family of algorithms, and restoration examples.