Layer-by-layer technique to developing functional nanolaminate films with antifungal activity

The layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition method was used to build up alternating layers (five) of different polyelectrolyte solutions (alginate, zein-carvacrol nanocapsules, chitosan and chitosan-carvacrol emulsions) on an aminolysed/charged polyethylene terephthalate (A/C PET) film. These nanolaminated films were characterised by contact angle measurements and through the determination of water vapour (WVTR) and oxygen (O2TR) transmission rates. The effect of active nanolaminated films against the Alternaria sp. and Rhizopus stolonifer was also evaluated. This procedure allowed developing optically transparent nanolaminated films with tuneable water vapour and gas properties and antifungal activity. The water and oxygen transmission rate values for the multilayer films were lower than those previously reported for the neat alginate or chitosan films. The presence of carvacrol and zein nanocapsules significantly decreased the water transmission rate (up to 40 %) of the nanolaminated films. However, the O2TR behaved differently and was only improved (up to 45 %) when carvacrol was encapsulated, i.e. nanolaminated films prepared by alternating alginate with nanocapsules of zein-carvacrol layers showed better oxygen barrier properties than those prepared as an emulsion of chitosan and carvacrol. These films containing zein-carvacrol nanocapsules also showed the highest antifungal activity (30 %), which did not significantly differ from those obtained with the highest amount of carvacrol, probably due to the controlled release of the active agent (carvacrol) from the zein-carvacrol nanocapsules. Thus, this work shows that nanolaminated films prepared with alternating layers of alginate and zein-carvacrol nanocapsules can be considered to improve the shelf-life of foodstuffs.The authors acknowledge financial support from FP7 IP project BECOBIOCAP^. M. J. Fabra is recipients of a Juan de la Cierva contract from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity. Maria L. Flores-López thanks Mexican Science and Technology Council (CONACyT, Mexico) for PhD fellowship support (CONACyT Grant Number 215499/310847). The author Miguel A. Cerqueira is a recipient of a fellowship (SFRH/BPD/72753/2010) supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, POPH-QREN and FSE (FCT, Portugal). The authors also thank the FCT Strategic Project of UID/ BIO/04469/2013 unit, the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP- 01-0124-FEDER-027462) and the project BBioInd - Biotechnology and Bioengineering for improved Industrial and Agro-Food processes,^ REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000028 Co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2–O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER. The support of EU Cost Action FA0904 is gratefully acknowledged

Towards theorising assessment as critical inquiry

Throughout the past two decades assessment has operated on two fronts. First has been the continuing interest in large-scale, standardised testing, which affords governments and countries data for accountability and reporting purposes. Second has been the increasing interest in assessment within a learning culture (Shepard, 2000). Broadly speaking, this has concentrated on formative assessment for improving learning and has generated a proliferation of phrases seeking to highlight vital connections between assessment and learning (for example, 'assessment for/as learning'). Each of these fronts can be understood as giving priority to particular assessment activities and contexts. In the case of standardised testing, usually undertaken to generate data for systems' purposes, the context is necessarily controlled, with variables such as time and place fixed and regulated.Arts, Education & Law Group, School of Education and Professional StudiesFull Tex

Country image and consumer-based brand equity: relationships and implications for international marketing

This paper examines the relationships between consumers' country-level and product-level images of a country, and the equity they associate with a brand from that country, using canonical correlation analysis. Results from mall-intercept surveys conducted in an Australian state capital city indicated that the consumer-based equity of a brand was significantly associated with both the macro and micro images of the country of origin of the brand. The relationship between these two sets of constructs was found to be positive as well as product category specific. Furthermore, each consumer-based brand equity dimension contributed differently to the relationship according to the product category, while the contribution of both country image dimensions (macro and micro) was also product category specific. Results also showed that cars, as a product category, are more sensitive to country image than televisions. These findings have direct and important implications for international marketers.Ravi Pappu, Pascale G Quester and Ray W Cookse