Transplantectomy today: indications and complications

Analysis of the indications for transplantectomy and its complications over a 12-year period. Over a total of 159 failure grafts, we performed 53 transplantectomies (33.3%). The percentage of complications was 16.9%. Three patients died (5.6%) during the more or less immediate post-operative period. In our experience, consistent and prolonged maintenance of immunosuppression should avoid the need for transplantectomy in a high percentage of grafts. Only 15 transplantectomies were made on 104 failure grafts after 6 months (14.4%). Our short but successful experience with embolization of 2 rejected grafts confirms the validity of this conservative alternative versus conventional surgical transplantectomy in selected cases.     

Barley Protein Isolate: Thermal, Functional, Rheological, and Surface Properties

Barley protein isolate (BPI) was extracted in 0.015 N NaOH in a 10:1 ratio solvent:flour and was precipitated by adjusting the pH to 4.5 and freeze-dried. The thermal properties of BPI were determined using modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC). BPI with 4% moisture content exhibited a glass transition (T _g) with 140 °C onset, 153 °C middle, and 165 °C end temperatures and a ΔC _p of 0.454 J/g per °C. The high moisture content sample (50%) showed a T _g at 89, 91, or 94 °C and 0.067 ΔC _p. Acetylation had no apparent effect on the foaming and emulsifying properties of protein from barley flour but exhibited the least-stable foam among BPI samples. Foaming capacities of both barley protein isolates were ∼12% less than that of acid-precipitated soy protein isolate reported in the literature. Acetylated BPI showed the highest surface hydrophobicity compared to the other samples. The surface-tension test confirmed that unmodified and modified BPI possessed surface activity. BPI phosphorous oxycloride-crosslinked was the most effective in lowering the surface tension of aqueous NaCl, while the crosslinked BPI was the least effective. The G′ value of BPI suspension was greater than G″ at all frequencies from 0.1 to 100 rad/s. The strain value at which linear behavior ceased and nonlinear behavior began ranged from 3 to 10%. Names are necessary to report factually on available data; however, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) neither guarantees nor warrants the standard of the product, and the use of the name by the USDA implies no approval of the product to the exclusion of others that may also be suitable.     

Improved Solubility and Emulsification of Wet-Milled Corn Germ Protein Recovered by Ultrafiltration–Diafiltration

This study evaluated Ultrafiltration–Diafiltration (UFDF) as a means to improve the extractability of wet-milled corn germ protein and determined its effects on the functional properties of the recovered protein product. Wet germ and dried germ proteins were extracted by using 0.1 M NaCl at 50 °C. Major steps in the method were stirring, centrifugation, UFDF and freeze-drying. For dried germ, the UFDF method showed marginal increase in protein extraction efficiency, while that of wet germ remained similar to what we observed for the baseline method (saline extraction with dialysis instead of UFDF). UFDF protein extracts from both germ samples were significantly more soluble than extracts recovered by the baseline method and showed atypical solubility profiles; i.e., the amount of soluble protein was essentially unchanged under acidic, neutral, and alkaline pH. UFDF-dried germ protein was markedly more soluble than UFDF-wet germ protein (80 vs 50 % soluble protein, respectively) between pH 2 and pH 10. Both of these UFDF-germ proteins also had emulsifying capacities and water-holding capacities that were superior to those of proteins extracted by the baseline method, but this favorable effect by UFDF was not observed for emulsion stability, foaming properties, and heat stability.     

Extraction,Composition and Functional Properties of Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) Press Cake Protein

This study compared two methods for extracting the protein in pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) press cake and determined the composition and functional properties of the protein products. Proteins in pennycress press cake were extracted by using the conventional alkali‐solubilization–acid‐precipitation (AP) method or saline‐based (SE) procedure (0.1 M NaCl at 50 °C). The extraction method has a major influence on the purity and functional properties of press cake protein products. AP had a lower protein yield (23 %) but much higher purity (90 % crude protein) compared with SE (45 % yield, 67 % crude protein). AP protein isolate had high foam capacity (120 ml), high foam stability (96 % foam volume retention) and high emulsion stability (24–35 min), and it was resistant to heat denaturation (3 % loss of solubility at pH 2 and pH 10). On the other hand, SE protein concentrate showed remarkably high solubility (>76 %) between pH 2 and 10 and exceptional emulsifying activity (226–412 m²/g protein), but was more susceptible to heat denaturation at pH 7 and pH 10 (65–78 % loss of solubility). These results strongly demonstrate that higher purity pennycress press cake protein can be produced by either saline extraction or acid precipitation and have functional properties that are desirable for non‐food uses.     

Application of Matrix Solid-Phase Dispersion and Liquid Chromatography–Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry for the Analysis of Pesticide Residues in Fruits

This study presents an application of rapid and sensitive multiresidue method for the analysis of acephate, acetamipride, atrazine, carbendazim, carbaryl, carbofuran, dimethoate, imidacloprid, linuron, malathion, monocrotophos, monuron, propazine, simazine, and tebufenozide in fruits. The method involves an extraction procedure based on matrix solid-phase dispersion using diatomaceous earth as a dispersant and dichloromethane as the eluent. The target pesticides were determined using liquid chromatography–ion trap mass spectrometry. Quantification of the analytes was carried out using the most sensitive ion transition. Ion trap parameters, like activation q and time, were found to have a prominent influence on method sensitivity for some pesticides and they were optimized accordingly. The confirmation of residues detected in real samples was performed by repeated injection and acquiring additional ion transitions besides the ones used for quantification. The method was validated for accuracy, linearity, reproducibility, and sensitivity. Mean values for recoveries were in the range of 70–120 % for all tested matrices. Repeatability of the method, expressed as the relative standard deviation, was in general lower than 20 %. The applicability of the method to routine analysis was tested in real fruit samples with good performance.     

Development and Validation of Europium-Sensitized Luminescence (ESL) Method for the Determination of Tetracycline Residues in Milk

The development of a fast and reliable screening method for the determination of tetracycline residues in milk is described and compared to high-performance liquid chromatography. The method is based on europium-sensitized luminescence: The emissive properties of the lanthanide cation are used as a fingerprint of europium (III) complexation with tetracycline. The optimization of the extraction and purification procedures provided a simple and convenient route to prepare stable tetracycline samples that can safely resist freezing cycles. The method is validated for the first time in milk matrix: The results show that accuracy and precision of the method meet complaints with the criteria of the Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. The proposed method has a false compliant rate (β error) lower than 5%.