Gasification of waste tires in a circulating fixed-bed reactor within the scope of waste to energy

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Thermochemical decomposition of waste tires was evaluated in order to produce solid and gaseous products within the aim of waste-to-energy concept....     

Mesoaxial complete syndactyly and synostosis with hypoplastic thumbs: an unusual combination or homozygous expression of syndactyly type I?

Syndactyly type I is an autosomal dominant condition with complete or partial webbing between the third and fourth fingers or the second and third toes or both. We report here a previously undescribed phenotype of severe mesoaxial syndactyly and synostosis in patients born to affected parents. The characteristic features of these severe cases are (1) complete syndactyly and synostosis of the third and fourth fingers; (2) severe bone reduction in the proximal phalanges of the same fingers; (3) hypoplasia of the thumbs and halluces; (4) aplasia/hypoplasia of the middle phalanges of the second and fifth fingers; and (5) complete or partial soft tissue syndactyly of the toes. We report on three offspring with this phenotype from two different branches of a syndactyly type I family, suggesting that they may be homozygous for this condition. SSCP and linkage analysis indicated that neither HOXD13 nor other relevant genes in the chromosome 2q31 region was responsible for this phenotype.     

Effects of interesterified vegetable oils and sugarbeet fiber on the quality of frankfurters

The effects of interesterified vegetable oils (IVOs) prepared from palm, cottonseed and olive oil, respectively, and sugarbeet fiber (SBF) on quality of frankfurters have been studied. Beef fat (10%) was replaced by one of the IVOs for 60% and 100%. Incorporation of IVOs in frankfurters improved the nutritional content of product due to altering the fatty acid composition. The oleic acid content of frankfurters increased from 28.76% to 45.57% and 47.15% as the interesterified palm oil (IPO) and interesterified olive oil (IOO) contents increased from 0% to 10% and 6%, respectively. The linoleic acid contents of 6% and 10% interesterified cottonseed oil (ICO) added frankfurters were, respectively, 10- and 19.6-fold higher than treatments without ICO. Addition of SBF (<425 μm size and 1% level) significantly increased (p<0.05) the total dietary fiber content and water-holding capacity (WHC) of frankfurters. Incorporation of IVOs and SBF did not lead to significant changes in appearance, colour, texture, flavour or sensory scores. It is concluded that IVOs and SBF may be successfully applied as beef fat substitute in frankfurters since this combination offset some of the changes brought about by beef fat replacement.     

Raman spectra of graphite oxide and functionalized graphene sheets

We investigate Raman spectra of graphite oxide and functionalized graphene sheets with epoxy and hydroxyl groups and Stone-Wales and 5-8-5 defects by first-principles calculations to interpret our experimental results. Only the alternating pattern of single-double carbon bonds within the sp2 carbon ribbons provides a satisfactory explanation for the experimentally observed blue shift of the G band of the Raman spectra relative to graphite. To obtain these single-double bonds, it is necessary to have sp3 carbons on the edges of a zigzag carbon ribbon.     

In vivo neutron activation analysis measurements of calcium using the 40Ca(n, alpha) 37Ar reaction

The authors report the possible interference due to minovine when seeking tricyclic antidepressant derivatives in biological material or pharmaceutical substances. However, their work has shown that kinetic studies using absorption spectrophotometry of the colouration obtained with phosphoric-ceric reagent and thin layer adsorbant chromatography make it possible to eliminate the doubt and identify the Vinca-Minor alkaloid.