Antioxidant and Prooxidant Activity Behavior of Phospholipids in Stripped Soybean Oil-in-Water Emulsions

Phospholipids have been reported to inhibit lipid oxidation in bulk oils, but very little is known about their influence on oxidation in oil-in-water emulsions. In the present study, the impact of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) on lipid oxidation was studied in 1% stripped soybean oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions as a function of DOPC concentration and pH (3 and 7). At pH 7.0, DOPC inhibited lipid oxidation in O/W emulsions, while DOPC was prooxidative at pH 3.0. DOPC did not affect emulsion droplet charge or size at either pH 3.0 or 7.0. The antioxidant activity at pH 7.0 was observed in a series of phospholipids (PL) that varied in fatty acid unsaturation level and chain length as well as type of phosphate head group. Overall, phosphatidylcholine with either oleic or palmitic acid were the most effective at inhibiting lipid hydroperoxide and hexanal formation of all of the PL tested. Antioxidant mechanism of PL could not be ascribed to their ability to decompose lipid hydroperoxides. It might be possible that, at pH 7.0, the PL antioxidant activity is related to their ability to form structures within the lipid phase of the emulsions droplets or to chelate metals.     

Trust models in ubiquitous computing

We recapture some of the arguments for trust-based technologies in ubiquitous computing, followed by a brief survey of some of the models of trust that have been introduced in this respect. Based on this, we argue for the need of more formal and foundational trust models.     

Gold nanoparticles capped by peptides

Two dipeptides (GK and GC) and two 15-aminoacid peptides (GK15 and GC15) were used as capping agents in the preparation of monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (MPCs). They were characterized by TEM microscopy, UV–vis, NMR and IR spectroscopy.     

Estimation of land subsidence in deltaic areas through differential SAR interferometry: the Po River Delta case study (Northeast Italy)

ABSTRACT

River deltas are very complex environments vulnerable to flooding. Most of the world’s deltas are facing the immediate threat of land subsidence that jeopardizes the safety of millions of people worldwide. In Italy, the Po River Delta (PRD) (Northeast Italy) is an area historically affected by high rate of subsidence due to natural and anthropic factors. Even if the subsidence rates remarkably reduced during the last three decades, this process continues to be alarming in particular in low-lying sectors and along the coastline, where the loss of elevation, combined with the sea-level rise, increases the risk related to flooding. In this study, we monitored the subsidence affecting the entire PRD area with advanced differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (A-DInSAR) techniques applied to three C-band SAR data sets acquired by the European Remote Sensing satellites, Environmental Satellite, and Sentinel-1A satellite in the last 25 years (from 1992 to 2017). The results of the interferometric processing, consisting of both mean velocity and displacement time series along the satellite line of sight, validated by comparison with levelling and global positioning system measurements, show increasing subsidence moving from the inland to the coastline, with maximum deformation velocities, for the most recent data, in the order of ?30 mm year^?1. In particular, many embankments near the coastal area are affected by high values of subsidence, which increase the flooding hazard of the entire deltaic territory. This work shows the importance of adopting A-DInSAR techniques to update the knowledge of the extent and rates of deformation of subsiding areas in low-lying territories such as river deltas. The outputs of such monitoring can be of primary importance for the future protection of the territory and the flooding risk mitigation.     

An axiomatization of the algebra of Petri net concatenable processes

The concatenable processes of a Petri net N can be characterized abstractly as the arrows of a symmetric monoidal category (N). However, this is only a partial axiomatization, since it is based on a concrete, ad hoc chosen, category of symmetries Sym_N. In this paper we give a completely abstract characterization of the category of concatenable processes of N, thus yielding an axiomatic theory of the noninterleaving behaviour of Petri nets.