Physico-chemical Properties of Marine Phospholipid Emulsions

Many studies have shown that marine phospholipids (PL) have better bioavailability, better resistance towards oxidation and contain higher polyunsaturated fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA) than triglycerides (TAG) present in fish oil. The objective of this study was to investigate the emulsifying properties of various commercial marine PL and the feasibility of using them to prepare stable emulsions prepared with or without addition of fish oil. In addition, this study also investigated the relationship between chemical composition of marine PL and the stability of their emulsions. Physical stability was investigated through particle size distribution (PSD), zeta potential, microscopy inspection and emulsion separation (ES); while the oxidative and hydrolytic stability of emulsions were investigated through peroxide value (PV) and free fatty acids value (FFA) after 32?days storage at room temperature and at 2?°C. In conclusion, marine PL showed good emulsifying properties and it was possible to prepare marine PL emulsions with and without addition of fish oil. Emulsion with both good oxidative stability and physical stability could be prepared by using marine PL of high purity, less TAG, more PL, cholesterol and higher antioxidant content.     

Effects of cropping history and phosphorus source on yield and nitrogen fixation in sole and intercropped cowpea–maize systems

Symbiotic N₂-fixation, N uptake efficiency, biomass- and crop production of cowpea and maize as affected by P source, sole- and intercropped, and introduction of break crops were studied on a farmer’s fields in semi-arid Tanzania. Cowpea fixed around 60% of its N from the atmosphere amounting to 70 kg N ha⁻¹ under sole and 36 kg N ha⁻¹ under intercropping as estimated by the ¹⁵N isotope dilution method around peak biomass production. The amount of N₂-fixed was 30–40% higher when P was applied as either TSP or MRP whereas cowpea yield were unaffected. Intercropped maize with 19,000 plant ha⁻¹ accumulated the same amount of N as 38,000 sole cropped maize plants although intercropping reduced the dry matter accumulation by 25%. The N uptake efficiency of the applied ¹⁵N labelled fertiliser was 26%, which equal a total pool of early available plant N of 158 kg N ha⁻¹. Under the N deficient conditions, P application did not increase the grain yield of maize. The LER indicate that sole cropping required 18% more area than intercropping in order to produce the same grain yield, and 35% more land when LER was based on N uptakes. Introduction of break crops in the maize systems, more than doubled accumulation of dry matter and N in the grain compared to continuous maize cropping. During maturation sole crop cowpea shedded leaves containing 41 kg N ha⁻¹. The current findings underline the importance of crop diversity in Sub Saharan Africa agriculture and emphasise the need for including all residues, including shedded leaves, in nutrient balance studies.     

Cellular Antisense Activity of PNA–Oligo(bicycloguanidinium) Conjugates Forming Self‐Assembled Nanoaggregates

A series of peptide nucleic acid–oligo(bicycloguanidinium) (PNA–BG_n) conjugates were synthesized and characterized in terms of cellular antisense activity by using the pLuc750HeLa cell splice correction assay. PNA–BG₄ conjugates exhibited low micromolar antisense activity, and their cellular activity required the presence of a hydrophobic silyl terminal protecting group on the oligo(BG) ligand and a minimum of four guanidinium units. Surprisingly, a nonlinear dose–response with an activity threshold around 3–4 μM , indicative of large cooperativity, was observed. Supported by light scattering and electron microscopy analyses, we propose that the activity, and thus cellular delivery, of these lipo‐PNA–BG₄ conjugates is dependent on self‐assembled nanoaggregates. Finally, cellular activity was enhanced by the presence of serum. Therefore we conclude that the lipo‐BG‐PNA conjugates exhibit an unexpected mechanism for cell delivery and are of interest for further in vivo studies.     

Nonparametric Autoregression with Multiplicative Volatility and Additive mean

For over a decade, nonparametric modelling has been successfully applied to studying nonlinear structures in financial time series. It is well known that the usual nonparametric models often have less than satisfactory performance when dealing with more than one lag. When the mean has an additive structure, however, better estimation methods are available which fully exploit such a structure. Although in the past such nonparametric applications had been focused more on the estimation of the conditional mean, it is equally if not more important to measure the future risk of the series along with the mean. For the volatility function, i.e. the conditional variance given the past, a multiplicative structure is more appropriate than an additive structure, as the volatility is a positive scale function and a multiplicative model provides a better interpretation of each lagged value's influence on such a function. In this paper we consider the joint estimation of both the additive mean and the multiplicative volatility. The technique used is marginally integrated local polynomial estimation. The procedure is applied to the deutschmark/US dollar daily exchange returns.     

Effects of organic and conventional growth systems on the content of carotenoids in carrot roots, and on intake and plasma status of carotenoids in humans

BACKGROUND: The demand for organic food products has increased during the last decades due to their probable health effects, among others. A higher content of secondary metabolites such as carotenoids in organic food products has been claimed, though not documented, to contribute to increased health effects of organic foods. The aim was to study the impact of organic and conventional agricultural systems on the content of carotenoids in carrots and human diets. In addition, a human cross‐over study was performed, measuring the plasma status of carotenoids in humans consuming diets made from crops from these agricultural systems. RESULTS: The content of carotenoids in carrot roots and human diets was not significantly affected by the agricultural production system or year, despite differences in fertilisation strategy and levels. The plasma status of carotenoids increased significantly after consumption of the organic and conventional diets, but no systematic differences between the agricultural production systems were observed. CONCLUSION: The expected higher content of presumed health‐promoting carotenoids in organic food products was not documented in this study. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Inhibition of Fungal Growth on Wheat and Rye Bread by Modified Atmosphere Packaging and Active Packaging Using Volatile Mustard Essential Oil

ABSTRACT: Wheat and rye bread artificially inoculated with molds were packed in modified atmospheres of 0%, 50%, 75%, or 100% CO₂ balanced with N₂, and 3 levels of residual O₂, 1%, 0.03%, or <0.01%/O₂-absorber, and stored for 30 to 35 d. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) was quantitatively more effective for rye bread because fewer mold species grew at elevated CO₂. However, the major rye bread contaminant, Penicillium roqueforti , was the overall most CO₂-resistant mold and only the use of O₂-absorber could prevent growth of this species. On wheat bread, the most CO₂-tolerant mold was Penicillium commune , growing in 99% CO₂ (with high residual O₂), and Aspergillus flavus was the mold species that grew at lowest O₂ in 75% CO₂ treatment. The spoilage yeast/"chalk mold" Endomyces fibuliger was less affected by the different O₂ levels than the true filamentous molds, and none of the tested MAP treatments could prevent growth, but lag-phase was increased with O₂-absorber on wheat bread and decreased with 1% residual O₂ on rye bread. Experiments with volatile mustard oil showed that A. flavus and Eurotium repens were the most mustard oil-resistant species on wheat and rye bread, respectively. A combination strategy with MAP and mustard oil proved most optimal, and total inhibition was achieved with 2 μL mustard oil/rye bread slice and between 2 and 3 μL/wheat bread. Results indicated that the nature and surface area of the product influences effectiveness of active packaging with mustard oil.     

EFFECTS OF SPECIFIED BLANK SIZE ON BODY WRINKLING DURING HYDRODYNAMIC DEEP DRAWING OF TAPERED RECTANGULAR BOX

1.~nonHydridapawhcdeepdrawing(HDD)belongstothefieldofsheetmetalfoeingandcanbeaPPliedinthefieldofautomotive,aerospace,drilitaryindustryetc.Ithasbeenrecognizedwidelyintheworld["'j.Fig.Ishowsitsprinciple:TheliqUidthatisfilledinthe~ngdiecavitywillbepressedwhenthepunchgoesdownsothattheeffectoffrictionkeepingandoverflowlubricatingcanbeformed,astherestilt,thefoeinglicitofsheetmetalwillbeimprovedareailvandthegualitVofthefinishedpartswillbeup~ed.BecauseofmanyadvantagesofHDDprocees,ithasbeenwidelys…     

Thermally reversible cross-links in a healable polymer: Estimating the quantity,rate of formation,and effect on viscosity

The conversion behavior of 2MEP4FS, a polymer with thermally reversible Diels–Alder cross-links, is modeled. A processing method is developed to create small, homogeneous prepolymer samples. The glass transition temperature of the prepolymer is estimated using temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry and equated with the conversion of the polymer. Comparing the measured energy with the literature and computational estimates, the fully cured polymer appears to have a large portion of its moieties unreacted. An autocatalytic model is considered to approximate the reaction rate of 2MEP4FS as a function of conversion and temperature. Outside of the fitted temperature range, the model underpredicts the reaction rates at room temperature and 100 °C. Manual mixing of the monomers is determined to be inadequate to obtain a maximum level of cross-linking. Viscosity measurements made at room temperature and elevated temperatures are correlated with the conversion of the prepolymer.     

From the times of the first scribes: innovation and technology within graphic design

The authors use their different work and training background as perspectives for discussing the changing world of graphical design. In this digital world, expert knowledge of the technology is essential, but the authors argue that a consequence of prioritising technical expertise in the new interdisciplinary IT- design studies may be a loss of quality in design. To improve the depth in design the authors introduce a psychological framework for design work and on this basis they suggest a systematic method. The method is a 4-step conceptual model: reason, function, emotion and senses, and technology. The model interacts with all phases of the design, and functions as a generating-creating and execution-evaluation system. The authors emphasise that evaluation is embedded throughout the design process. They suggest that a systematic method becomes the guiding tool in interdisciplinary design education, an essential part of the students design qualifications as well as an essential tool in design work.