Geographical characterisation of honeys according to their mineral content and antioxidant activity using a chemometric approach

In this article, discrimination models are presented, relating the origin of honey samples to several variables, being the concentrations of different cations and anions in the honey samples measured by ion chromatography, and parameters that measure/reflect the antioxidant activity of the honey samples. The unsupervised method, principal component analysis, and supervised discrimination methods, such as linear and quadratic discriminant analysis, and classification and regression trees (CART), were applied to evaluate the existence of data patterns and the relationship between geographical origin and the measured parameters. The model with the best predictive ability (%CCR_TEST = 66.67%), the best overall % specificity (80%) and the best overall % sensitivity (67%) was found to be CART. It was proven that the mineral content and parameters analysed can provide enough information for the geographical characterisation and discrimination of honey.     

Dermal and glomerular deposition of IgA in anaphylactoid purpura

During the period of acute anaphylactoid purpura, skin biopsies were performed on 14 patients with purpuric and nonpurpuric skin. In addition, four patients had renal biopsies. Examination of the tissue by immunofluorescence to anti-human immunoglobulins IgG, IgA, IgM, and IgE, fibrin/fibrinogen, complement Clq, C4, and C3 demonstrated predominant IgA, C3, fibrin/fibrinogen in the purpuric skin and glomerulus, without Clq and C4. These immunohistochemical findings are characteristic of anaphylactoid purpura and suggest that IgA is involved in the pathogenesis of anaphylactoid purpura and may operate through the alternate pathway of the complement system.     

An integrated approach based on acoustic emission and mechanical information to evaluate the delamination fracture toughness at mode I in composite laminate

This paper addresses a new method based on the combination of mechanical behavior and acoustic emission (AE) information of composite materials during mode I delamination. The method is based on a special purpose function, called sentry function, which is defined as the logarithm of the ratio between mechanical energy and acoustic energy (f = Ln(E_s/E_a)). The sentry function is used to study the delamination process and to evaluate the delamination fracture toughness in mode I. The relationship between cumulative fracture toughness energy release rate (G_I) and the integral of the sentry function during crack propagation showed a transition point with two sensitive regions below and above it. This behavior can be followed to obtain the critical strain energy release rate value (G_Ic). Results obtained by means of the sentry function are compared with results obtained by a methodology proposed by other authors.     

Closure systems and L-subalgebras

Let X be a set and ? a class of L-subsets of X. ? is a “closure system” if it is closed with respect to greatest lower bounds. If $\text{?}$ is an L-subset, then the g.l.b. $\text{}\text{?}$tf of {$\text{g ? ?|g??}$} is said to be generated by $\text{?}$. We examine closure systems of L-subalgebras and propose formulas for the L-subalgebra of a required type generated by a given L-subset.     

Grafting of cyclodextrins onto polypropylene nonwoven fabrics for the manufacture of reactive filters. II. Characterization

A novel method for the preparation of immobilized α, β, or γ‐cyclodextrins on polypropylene nonwoven supports has been previously presented. The obtained new materials were prepared by graft‐polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate onto polypropylene after activation of the support by the electron beam technique, followed by the coupling of cyclodextrins with the epoxide groups. The structure of the resulting materials is characterized in detail using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, solid state nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and optical microscopy. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 78: 2166–2173, 2000     

How To Find a Needle (or Anything Else) in a Haystack: Two-Dimensional Correlation Spectroscopy-Filtering with Iterative Random Sampling Applied to Pharmaceutical Heparin

Risks of contamination of the major clinical anticoagulant heparin can arise from deliberate adulteration with unnatural or natural polysaccharides, including heparin from other animal sources, other natural products, or artifacts of manufacture, and these can escape detection by conventional means. Currently, there is no generally applicable, objective test recommended by regulators that can detect these in pharmaceutical heparin, and this continues to leave heparin exposed to contamination risks. Two-dimensional correlation spectroscopic-filtering with iterative random sampling (2D-COS-firs) is reported. It employs a difference covariance matrix with iterative random sampling, and is capable of revealing contamination in pharmaceutical heparin to a high level of sensitivity irrespective of the nature of those features. The technique is suitable to any situation in which a comparison of a single entity to a family of heterogeneous entities, particularly natural products and biosimilars, needs to be made, and will find application in pharmaceutical monitoring, manufacturing quality control, materials science, biotechnology, and metabolomic investigations.     

Phytonutrients affecting hydrophilic and lipophilic antioxidant activities in fruits,vegetables and legumes

The antioxidant activities of fruits (n = 21), vegetables (n = 67) and legumes (n = 7) commonly consumed in Korea were determined by both the lipophilic antioxidant performance assay (LAP) and the hydrophilic oxygen radical absorbance capacity assay (ORAC). The LAP assay used the lipophilic radical initiator MeO‐AMVN [2,2′‐azobis(4‐methoxy‐2,4‐dimethylvaleronitrile)] and the lipophilic probe BODIPY 581/591 [4,4‐difluoro‐5‐(4‐phenyl‐1,3‐butadienyl)‐4‐bora‐3a, 4a‐diaza‐s‐indacene‐3‐undecanoic acid]. The ORAC assay used the hydrophilic radical initiator AAPH [2,2′‐azobis(2‐amidinopropane) dihydrochloride] and the hydrophilic probe fluorescein. In addition, the lipid‐soluble phytonutrients, carotenoids and tocopherols were determined by a reverse‐phase HPLC system using a C30 column with a UV detector. The water‐soluble phytonutrient, ascorbic acid, was analyzed using an HPLC system with an electrochemical detector. Total phenols were determined by UV spectrophotometry. Tocopherols (r = 0.774, p < 0.0001) and carotenoids (r = 0.569, p < 0.0001) were significantly correlated with LAP in total samples (n = 95). ORAC was significantly correlated with total phenols (r = 0.893, p < 0.0001), but not with ascorbic acid (r = 0.009, p = 0.929) in total samples (n = 95). These data indicate that carotenoids and tocopherols and total phenols are the major contributors to the lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidant capacities, respectively. Therefore, the contribution of both the hydrophilic and lipophilic components of fruits and vegetables should be considered when determining the actual ‘total’ antioxidant activity of fruits and vegetables. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Non-Covalent Synthesis of Metal Oxide Nanoparticle–Heparin Hybrid Systems: A New Approach to Bioactive Nanoparticles

Heparin has been conjugated to Fe₃O₄, Co₃O₄, and NiO nanoparticles (NPs) through electrostatic interactions, producing colloidal suspensions of hybrid metal oxide heparin NPs that are stable in water. Negative zeta potentials and retention of heparin’s ability to capture toluidine blue indicate that heparin’s negative charges are exposed on the surface of the coated NPs. IR results confirmed the formation of nanohybrids as did NMR experiments, which were also interpreted on the basis of toluidine blue tests. Transmission electron microscopy results revealed that the heparin coating does not modify the shape or dimension of the NPs. Dynamic light scattering and negative zeta potential measurements confirmed that heparin surface functionalisation is an effective strategy to prevent NP aggregation.     

Fatigue residual strength of circular laminate graphite–epoxy composite plates damaged by transverse load

The research dealt with the relation between damage and tension–tension fatigue residual strength (FRS) in a quasi-isotropic carbon fibre reinforced epoxy resin laminate. The work was organized in two phases: during the first one, composite laminates were damaged by means of an out-of-plane quasi-static load that was supposed to simulate a low velocity impact; in the second phase, fatigue tests were performed on damaged and undamaged specimens obtained from the original composite laminates. During the quasi-static transverse loading phase, damage progression was monitored by means of acoustic emission (AE) technique. The measurement of the strain energy accumulated in the specimens and of the acoustic energy released by fracture events made it possible to estimate the amount of induced damage and evaluate the quasi-static residual tensile strength of the specimens. A probabilistic failure analysis of the fatigue data, reduced by the relative residual strength values, made it possible to relate the FRS of damaged specimens with the fatigue strength of undamaged ones.