How Does Negative Life Change Following Disaster Response Impact Distress Among Red Cross Responders?

The American Red Cross is the largest nongovernmental organization responding to disasters in the United States. This study investigated the impact of negative life change occurring in the year following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on levels of distress among 757 Red Cross Disaster Services Human Resources (national disaster team) employees and volunteers who responded to this disaster. Negative life change in the year following disaster response fully mediated the relationship between disaster response and symptoms of depression and partially mediated the responses between disaster response and posttraumatic stress and anxiety symptoms. Results highlight the importance of life experiences in the year following disaster response and, therefore, the education and follow-up services provided to disaster workers prior to and following disaster assignment. Suggestions for monitoring disaster-related stress during and following assignment are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dietary Apigenin Exerts Immune-Regulatory Activity in Vivo by Reducing NF-κB Activity,Halting Leukocyte Infiltration and Restoring Normal Metabolic Function

The increasing prevalence of inflammatory diseases and the adverse effects associated with the long-term use of current anti-inflammatory therapies prompt the identification of alternative approaches to reestablish immune balance. Apigenin, an abundant dietary flavonoid, is emerging as a potential regulator of inflammation. Here, we show that apigenin has immune-regulatory activity in vivo. Apigenin conferred survival to mice treated with a lethal dose of Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) restoring normal cardiac function and heart mitochondrial Complex I activity. Despite the adverse effects associated with high levels of splenocyte apoptosis in septic models, apigenin had no effect on reducing cell death. However, we found that apigenin decreased LPS-induced apoptosis in lungs, infiltration of inflammatory cells and chemotactic factors’ accumulation, re-establishing normal lung architecture. Using NF-κB luciferase transgenic mice, we found that apigenin effectively modulated NF-κB activity in the lungs, suggesting the ability of dietary compounds to exert immune-regulatory activity in an organ-specific manner. Collectively, these findings provide novel insights into the underlying immune-regulatory mechanisms of dietary nutraceuticals in vivo.     

Abdominal vagotomy alters the structure of the ingestive behavior of rats ingesting liquid diets.

A microstructural analysis of the licking behavior of the rat was used to investigate the effects of total abdominal vagotomy on ingestive behavior. Vagotomy decreased the meal size of milk and 3 concentrations of sucrose. The decrease was due to an increase in the decline in the rate of licking during the meal, suggesting that negative feedback from the gastrointestinal tract was enhanced by vagotomy, perhaps because of accelerated clearance of fluid from the stomach to the intestine. No evidence was found for motor dysfunction of licking or alterations in gustatory sensitivity to the test solution. The results suggest that vagotomy enhanced the strength of an extravagally mediated negative feedback signal from the intestine and that the vagus nerve normally prevents this from occurring by regulating gastric clearance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A process for the production of a diacylglycerol‐based milk fat analogue

We propose a novel process for the production of a DAG‐rich acylglycerol mixture derived from milk fat. This product has potentially interesting nutritional properties, derived from both its high content of DAG and of short‐chain fatty acids (FAs). The proposed process consists of three steps: lipase‐catalysed partial ethanolysis of milk fat, extraction of the by‐product fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC‐CO₂) and isomerization of DAG to increase the proportion of 1,3‐DAG. The experimental investigation of the process steps was done using milk fat and trilaurin. Several lipases were tested for maximizing the percentage of DAG in the acylglycerol mixture produced by ethanolysis. The selectivity of the chosen lipase was such that the produced AG mixture was enriched in short‐chain FAs in relation to the original milk fat. FAEEs were completely extracted from the ethanolysis mixture by SC‐CO₂. In the final process step, we explored the reaction conditions for facilitating acyl migration in the DAG mixture, so that the equilibrium proportion of 1,3‐DAG (～64%) was attained. Our results set the basis for the development of a simple process for the production of a DAG‐rich milk fat analogue.     

Thomas C. O’Connor (1931–2012)

Copyright 2013 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Production of microparticles from milk fat products using the Supercritical Melt Micronization (ScMM) process

The ScMM (Supercritical Melt Micronization) process was applied for the production of microparticles from anhydrous milk fat (AMF) and a diacylglycerol-based modified milk fat (D-AMF). Both fats were able to dissolve ca. 30 wt% CO₂ in the studied pressure and temperature ranges, being the CO₂ amount slightly higher for AMF. A melting point depression was observed in both systems in the presence of CO₂. Two powder morphologies were obtained (spherical hollow particles and a mass sponge-like broken particles) depending on the ScMM process conditions. The concentration of CO₂ in the fat melt was the main process variable affecting the particle morphology, followed by the temperature of the melt. The small broken particles originated from the breakage of spherical fat particles that solidified before all CO₂ could escape from the atomized droplets. While the hollow spheres had a tendency to agglomerate, the broken microparticles constituted a free-flowing powder as long as they were stored at low temperatures (up to −18 °C). Both types of particles have a potential for being incorporated in refrigerated or frozen food products as a structuring agent.     

TRANSPORT PHENOMENA ASPECTS OF THE FREE-RADICAL RETROGRADE-PRECIPITATION POLYMERIZATION (FRRPP) PROCESS

We have been studying free-radical polymerization that is accompanied by phase separation above the lower critical solution temperature. In the past, we have experimentally shown evidence of hot regions in the reactive system. We have also shown in the past that eventually the system exerts control over the rate of propagation as well as termination. In this work, we invoke a concept in polymer physics (the coil-to-globule transition) to help explain the mechanism of thermal trapping within the polymerization zones. The diffusivities of polymer chains at different stages in the reaction are calculated using appropriate methods. From the diffusivities, the propagation and termination rate coefficients are calculated using the Achilias-Kiparissides gel effect model. With experimental kinetic data, we then estimate rates of monomer consumption within polymer-rich particles. Using a pseudo-steady-state heat transfer model, we are able to show that interior temperatures of polymer-rich particle domains greater than about 1 mm can reach spinodal temperature values at the early stage of polymerization. Polymer-rich particle sizes are obtained from the same reactor system whereby a small amount of crosslinker is added to preserve particle morphology. This experiment indicates that even under turbulent flow conditions, relatively large particles can exist in the reactor fluid. This agrees with the physical implications of the coil-to-globule transition. However, since these particles were obtained during the period of slow conversion rate, our heat transfer calculations indicate that interior particle temperatures would be almost the same as surface temperatures. This points to an unknown radical-trapping mechanism at this stage of the polymerization process.     

Interface state densities, low frequency noise and electron mobility in surface channel In0.53Ga0.47As n-MOSFETs with a ZrO2 gate dielectric

This paper reports on an investigation of interface state densities, low frequency noise and electron mobility in surface channel In_0.53Ga_0.47As n-MOSFETs with a ZrO₂ gate dielectric. Interface state density values of D_it ∼ 5 × 10¹² cm⁻² eV⁻¹ were extracted using sub-threshold slope analysis and charge pumping technique. The same order of magnitude of trap density was found from low frequency noise measurements. A peak effective electron mobility of 1200 cm²/Vs has been achieved. For these surface channel In_0.53Ga_0.47As n-MOSFETs, it was found that η parameter, an empirical parameter used to calculate the effective electric field, was ∼0.55, and is to be comparable to the standard value found in Si device.     

Identification of the thermal phases in firing of kaolinite to mullite by using micro-Raman spectroscopy and curve-fitting

Firing of kaolinite to mullite is an important process in ceramic industry. In the present study, Raman spectroscopy and curve-fitting are utilized for identification of the thermal phases in progressive firing of kaolinite to mullite up to 1300 °C. The results are compared to that observed by XRD. Many natural kaolinites consist of accessory anatase, and this mineral has strong Raman bands. Therefore, the spectra of anatase-free and anatase-containing kaolinites were analyzed. The Raman response is sensitive to the degree of the structural order of the thermal phases. Dehydroxylated kaolinite is detected at 500 °C by the disappearance of the Raman bands of the kaolinite. The metakaolinite at 700 °C and the spinel-type phase at 1000 °C have broad and weak Raman bands due to their short-range and poorly-order structure, respectively. Amorphous silica is observed at 1000 °C by the development of diagnostic broad and weak Raman bands. Mullite and cristobalite are detected at 1300 °C by the appearance of characteristic Raman bands. In firing of anatase-containing kaolinite, progressive thermal transform from anatase to rutile is observed at 1100–1300 °C by the appearance of Raman bands of rutile and by the decreasing of the anatase bands. The results can be applied in using micro-Raman spectroscopy as a non-destructive method for identification of thermal phases in the composition of modern and ancient ceramic.