Thermal behaviour of selected flavour ingredients and additives under simulated cigarette combustion and tobacco heating conditions

An experimental method of pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) is proposed to evaluate the fate of selected flavour compounds in low-temperature (300°C) tobacco heating conditions. The thermal behaviour of five flavouring compounds (citronellol, menthol, tartaric acid, cinnamic acid, and guaiacol) was studied under conditions to simulate low-temperature tobacco heating at 300°C, and compared with results obtained using simulated cigarette-combustion conditions with a temperature program up to 900°C. The impact of oxygen and nitrogen atmospheres on the thermal transfer and breakdown patterns was also investigated. It was established that the four flavouring compounds of high volatility (citronellol, menthol, cinnamic acid, and guaiacol) evaporated to a high degree (88-100 %) during the low- and high-temperature experiments, as well. Guaiacol was the most stable compound under the test conditions; only 0.3 % decomposition was detected at 900°C with the oxidative atmosphere. Thermal decomposition reactions were substantially less extensive at the low-temperature heating conditions than with the high-temperature pyrolysis and simulated cigarette combustion. Citronellol and cinnamic acid produced about 1.5 % decomposition products, while menthol produced 0.8 %. In general, dehydrogenation reactions were more pronounced in the oxidative atmosphere, while aromatisation was significant in the nitrogen atmosphere, and at high temperatures. More oxo-compounds and less aromatic hydrocarbons were formed in the oxidative atmosphere. Other types of reactions took place with tartaric acid, due to its low volatility. Extensive formation of light carboxylic acids was observed at the low temperature, and cyclic compounds were also formed in addition to carbon oxides and water under both nitrogen and oxidative atmospheres. Intermolecular reactions are proposed to explain these observations. At high temperatures the pyrolysis products of tartaric acid were the same as at low temperatures, but in the oxidative atmosphere more carboxylic acids and less aldehydes were formed than in pure nitrogen. These results demonstrate the flavour compound’s thermal stability depends strongly on the exact thermal history (heating temperature, heating duration and gas atmosphere) that they are exposed to. The information obtained will be of interests in understanding the thermal behaviour of these and other flavour compounds used in tobacco heating products

Chemical characterization of laboratory-generated tar ball particles

The chemical properties of laboratory-generated tar ball (Lab-TB) particles produced from dry distillate (wood tars) of three different wood species in the laboratory were investigated by analytical techniques that had never been used before for their characterization. The elemental compositions of laboratory-generated tar balls (Lab- TBs) from three tree species were very similar to one another and to those characteristic of atmospheric tar balls (TBs) collected from the savanna fire during the SAFARI 2000 sampling campaign. The O=C and H= C molar ratios of the generated Lab-TBs were at the upper limit characteristic of soot particles. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of the generated Lab-TBs were very similar to one another as well and also showed some similarity with those of atmospheric humic-like substances (HULIS). The FT-IR measurements indicated that Lab-TBs have a higher proportion of aromatic structure than HULIS and the oxygen atoms of Lab-TBs are mainly found in hydroxyl and keto functional groups. Whereas Raman activity was detected in the starting materials of the Lab-TBs (wood tars) in the range of 1000–1800 c

Care of patients with inborn errors of immunity in thirty J Project countries between 2004 and 2021

IntroductionThe J Project (JP) physician education and clinical research collaboration program was started in 2004 and includes by now 32 countries mostly in Eastern and Central Europe (ECE). Until the end of 2021, 344 inborn errors of immunity (IEI)-focused meetings were organized by the JP to raise awareness and facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of patients with IEI.ResultsIn this study, meeting profiles and major diagnostic and treatment parameters were studied. JP center leaders reported patients’ data from 30 countries representing a total population of 506 567 565. Two countries reported patients from JP centers (Konya, Turkey and Cairo University, Egypt). Diagnostic criteria were based on the 2020 update of classification by the IUIS Expert Committee on IEI. The number of JP meetings increased from 6 per year in 2004 and 2005 to 44 and 63 in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The cumulative number of meetings per country varied from 1 to 59 in various countries reflecting partly but not entirely the population of the respective countries. Altogether, 24,879 patients were reported giving an average prevalence of 4.9. Most of the patients had predominantly antibody deficiency (46,32%) followed by patients with combined immunodeficiencies (14.3%). The percentages of patients with bone marrow failure and phenocopies of IEI were less than 1 each. The number of patients was remarkably higher that those reported to the ESID Registry in 13 countries. Immunoglobulin (IgG) substitution was provided to 7,572 patients (5,693 intravenously) and 1,480 patients received hematopoietic stem cell therapy (HSCT). Searching for basic diagnostic parameters revealed the availability of immunochemistry and flow cytometry in 27 and 28 countries, respectively, and targeted gene sequencing and new generation sequencing was available in 21 and 18 countries. The number of IEI centers and experts in the field were 260 and 690, respectively. We found high correlation between the number of IEI centers and patients treated with intravenous IgG (IVIG) (correlation coefficient, cc, 0,916) and with those who were treated with HSCT (cc, 0,905). Similar correlation was found when the number of experts was compared with those treated with HSCT. However, the number of patients treated with subcutaneous Ig (SCIG) only slightly correlated with the number of experts (cc, 0,489) and no correlation was found between the number of centers and patients on SCIG (cc, 0,174).Conclusions1) this is the first study describing major diagnostic and treatment parameters of IEI care in countries of the JP; 2) the data suggest that the JP had tremendous impact on the development of IEI care in ECE; 3) our data help to define major future targets of JP activity in various countries; 4) we suggest that the number of IEI centers and IEI experts closely correlate to the most important treatment parameters; 5) we propose that specialist education among medical professionals plays pivotal role in increasing levels of diagnostics and adequate care of this vulnerable and still highly neglected patient population; 6) this study also provides the basis for further analysis of more specific aspects of IEI care including genetic diagnostics, disease specific prevalence, newborn screening and professional collaboration in JP countries

3.6-KB mouse cyclin C promoter fragment is predominantly active in the testis

Cyclin C is a highly conserved protein that regulates cell-cycle, messenger RNA transcription and cell adhesion. Recently published studies demonstrate that this protein is an essential player during early embryonic development of multicellular eukaryotes as well. In order to understand better its complex function at the level of tissues or organs, spatial expression characteristics of cyclin C and regulatory components of its expression are needed to be determined. In vitro studies on human cells suggested that approximately the first 3 kilobases of the cyclin C promoter might contain all the regulatory elements that might mimic transcription of cyclin C. To test the hypothesis, we generated reporter transgenic lines where the first 3.6-kilobase region of mouse cyclin C promoter fragment drives the transcription of a marker gene. Messenger RNA levels of the marker gene and cyclin C isoforms were measured in nine organs with reverse transcription coupled quantitative realtime polymerase chain reaction and their expression patterns were compared. The marker gene is predominantly transcribed in testes and does not follow the transcriptional regulation of the examined cyclin C isoforms. Thus, the isolated promoter fragment alone is not sufficient for the complete physiological modulation of cyclin C RNA levels, however, it is capable of enhancing testicular transcription which can be exploited in future applications