Comparative Assay of Antioxidant Packages for Dimer of Estolide Esters

A series of 26 different antioxidants and commercial antioxidant packages designed for petroleum‐based materials, containing both natural and synthetic‐based materials, were evaluated with dimeric coconut‐oleic estolide 2‐ethylhexyl ester (2‐EH), a bio‐based material. The different antioxidants were categorized into different classes of phenolic, aminic, and blended/others materials. The oxidation onset temperatures (OT) using non‐isothermal pressurized differential scanning calorimetry (PDSC) were measured and recorded under previously reported standard conditions. The aminic series gave the best resistance to oxidation as defined by the PDSC method with OT of 246.6 and 244.7 °C for the best two performers, which was a 38 °C improvement over the uninhibited or unformulated dimer estolide material. The phenolic series, containing most of the naturally occurring antioxidants, was the least successful formulation package for the dimer estolide. The blended/other materials, which were specifically designed for petroleum‐based lubricants, did not have the best OT, since the estolides and other bio‐based materials interact differently than their petroleum counterparts. A number of potential antioxidants have been identified as useful additives for the estolides esters. The OT of the estolide and formulated materials correlated well with other bio‐based materials such as biodiesel.     

Chemometric profiling of pre-climacteric Sri Lankan mango fruit (Mangifera indica L.)

There is no published information on the genotypic variation of major biochemical constituents in mango fruit endemic to Sri Lanka. Accordingly, non-structural carbohydrates, non-volatile organic acids and total phenolics were determined from the peel and pulp of pre-climacteric Sri Lankan mango cultivars (viz. Willard, Karutha Colomban, Vellai Colomban, Ampalavi, and Malgova) at three different maturity stages. Principal components analysis revealed distinct clustering of samples according to their biochemical profiles of peel and pulp at three maturity stages. Sugar concentrations generally declined with maturity in both peel and pulp except for cv. Willard. Fructose was the predominant sugar in both peel (56.2–106 mg/g dry weight (DW)) and pulp (67.4–141 mg/g DW), followed by glucose and sucrose. Starch concentration increased with maturity and was higher in pulp (26.0–55.0% DW) than peel (18.2–38.9% DW) at full mature stage. Dry matter as a proportion of fresh weight (FW) increased with maturity.     

Improvement of fuel properties of cottonseed oil methyl esters with commercial additives

The low temperature operability and oxidative stability of cottonseed oil methyl esters (CSME) were improved with four anti‐gel additives as well as one antioxidant additive, gossypol. Low temperature operability and oxidative stability of CSME was determined by cloud point (CP), pour point (PP), cold filter plugging point (CFPP), and oxidative stability index (OSI). The most significant reductions in CP, PP, and CFPP in all cases were obtained with Technol®, with the average reduction in temperature found to be 3.9 °C. Gunk®, Heet®, and Howe's® were progressively less effective, as indicated by average reductions in temperature of 3.4, 3.0, and 2.8 °C, respectively. In all cases, the magnitude of CFPP reduction was greater than for PP and especially CP. Addition of gossypol, a polyphenolic aldehyde, resulted in linear improvement in OSI (R² = 0.9804). The OSI of CSME increased from 5.0 to 8.3 h with gossypol at a concentration of 1000 ppm.     

Does photoelectrocatalysis by TiO2 work?

BACKGROUND: This paper examines TiO₂ photoelectrocatalysis (PEC), a process that increases the efficiency of TiO₂ photocatalysis (PC) by applying a potential to separate the UV‐generated charge carriers whose recombination typically limits photonic efficiencies of conventional photocatalysis. RESULTS: Four representative photoelectrocatalytic reactions, nitrophenol oxidation, oxalate degradation, E. coli inactivation and dye decolouration were considered. For all four, a small applied potential raised the rate of pollutant removal by TiO₂ electrodes. Because the improvements were probably insufficient to make PEC technologically viable except in niche applications, rates of pollutant removal by PEC and by PC using TiO₂ particle dispersions were directly compared. PEC rates were not significantly larger than rates of PC by dispersions. CONCLUSION: Discussions of the implications of these conclusions focus on whether PEC is currently limited by reactor design (irradiation geometry, or mass transfer) or by electrode materials. It is inferred that the performance of present electrodes is not limited significantly by mass transfer constraints. Since the choice of electrode materials (sol–gel or thermal electrodes) has been shown to influence PEC efficiency, recent results on titania nanotubes (TNT) are reviewed. It is concluded that the enhancement factors—the PEC:PC ratio—of TNT electrodes are no higher than those of conventional materials. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Manipulating the taste-related composition of strawberry fruits (Fragaria × ananassa) from different cultivars using deficit irrigation

Demand and, consequently, production of strawberry fruits has increased over the past few years and, as a result, the water abstractions for cultivation of this fruit have risen considerably. To limit the amounts of water used for several horticultural crops, water deficit irrigation (DI) has been seen as a potential alternative for new cultivation systems. DI in strawberry fruits is generally associated with reduction in berry size and yield; however, a recent study demonstrated that DI on strawberry can increase the concentration of some taste- and health-related compounds in fruits from cv. Elsanta. Hence, the aim of the present study was to further corroborate such findings and to assess the response (and variability) among different strawberry cultivars (namely Christine, Elsanta, Florence, Sonata and Symphony) to imposed water-DI conditions. Water-DI affected both fruit physiology and biochemistry. Nevertheless, the response to drought stress was different for each of the cultivars tested. Plants from cvs. Elsanta, Sonata and Symphony showed a greater reduction in berry size, accompanied by a significant increase in dry matter content for fruit harvested from DI-treated plants. Concomitant to this, and where dry matter was increased, the concentrations of sugars and some acids were generally higher in DI-derived fruit. In contrast, cvs. Florence and Christine did not show significant variations in berry weight or any of the target analytes measured when grown under the conditions imposed in this study. The results presented herein suggest that reducing water irrigation between flower initiation and fruit harvest may be a viable technique for increasing the concentrations of taste-related compounds in cvs. Elsanta, Sonata and Symphony and it may not have a negative impact on overall fruit size of cvs. Christine and Florence.     

Searching for differences in race: Is there evidence for preferential detection of other-race faces?

Previous research has suggested that like animal and social fear-relevant stimuli, other-race faces (African American) are detected preferentially in visual search. Three experiments using Chinese or Indonesian faces as other-race faces yielded the opposite pattern of results: faster detection of same-race faces among other-race faces. This apparently inconsistent pattern of results was resolved by showing that Asian and African American faces are detected preferentially in tasks that have small stimulus sets and employ fixed target searches. Asian and African American other-race faces are found slower among Caucasian face backgrounds if larger stimulus sets are used in tasks with a variable mapping of stimulus to background or target. Thus, preferential detection of other-race faces was not found under task conditions in which preferential detection of animal and social fear-relevant stimuli is evident. Although consistent with the view that same-race faces are processed in more detail than other-race faces, the current findings suggest that other-race faces do not draw attention preferentially. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of Mo oxidation in Pb at elevated temperatures

The corrosion of fuel cladding and structural materials by lead and lead-bismuth eutectic in the liquid state at elevated temperatures is an issue that must be considered when designing advanced nuclear systems and high-power spallation neutron targets. In this work, lead corrosion studies of molybdenum were performed to investigate the interaction layer as a function of temperature by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. In situ X-ray absorption measurements on a Mo substrate with a 3-6 μm layer of Pb deposited by thermal evaporation were performed at temperatures up to 900 °C and at a 15° angle to the incident X-rays. The changes in the local atomic structure of the corrosion layer are visible in the difference extended X-ray absorption fine structure and the linear combination fitting of the X-ray absorption near-edge structure to as-deposited molybdenum sample and molybdenum oxide (MoO₂ and MoO₃) standards. The data are consistent with the appearance of MoO₃ in an intermediate temperature range (650-800 °C) and the more stable MoO₂ phase dominating at high and low temperatures.     

Potential use of chemical cues for colony-mate recognition in the big brown bat,Eptesicus fuscus

Bats should benefit from recognition of their roost-mates when colonies form stable social units that persist over time. We used Y-maze experiments and gas chromatography–olfactometry (GC-O) to evaluate whether female big brown bats Eptesicus fuscus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) use chemical cues to distinguish among conspecifics. In dual-choice Y-maze experiments, females chose the scent of another female from their own roost over a conspecific female from a different roost in a majority of trials. Analysis of total body odors using GC-O suggests that individuals from a given colony may share a more common odor signature with roost-mates than with non-roost-mate conspecifics. Using four principle components derived from 15 odor variables, discriminant function analysis correctly assigned most individuals to the correct colony.