146 research outputs found
Prediction of far-field acoustic emissions from cavitation clouds during shock wave lithotripsy for development of a clinical device
This study presents the key simulation and decision stage of a multi-disciplinary project to develop a hospital device for monitoring the effectiveness of kidney stone fragmentation by shock wave lithotripsy (SWL). The device analyses, in real time, the pressure fields detected by sensors placed on the patient's torso, fields generated by the interaction of the incident shock wave, cavitation, kidney stone and soft tissue. Earlier free-Lagrange simulations of those interactions were restricted (by limited computational resources) to computational domains within a few centimetres of the stone. Later studies estimated the far-field pressures generated when those interactions involved only single bubbles. This study extends the free-Lagrange method to quantify the bubble–bubble interaction as a function of their separation. This, in turn, allowed identification of the validity of using a model of non-interacting bubbles to obtain estimations of the far-field pressures from 1000 bubbles distributed within the focus of the SWL field. Up to this point in the multi-disciplinary project, the design of the clinical device had been led by the simulations. This study records the decision point when the project's direction had to be led by far more costly clinical trials instead of the relatively inexpensive simulations. <br/
The effect of surveillance and appreciative inquiry on puerperal infections : a longitudinal cohort study in India
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Optimization of the ultrasonic processing in a melt flow
Ultrasonic cavitation treatment of melt significantly improves the downstream properties and quality of conventional and advanced metallic materials. However, the transfer of this technology to treating large melt volumes has been hindered by a lack of fundamental knowledge, allowing for the ultrasonic processing in the melt flow. In this study, we present the results of experimental validation of an advanced numerical model applied to the acoustic cavitation treatment of liquid aluminum during continuous flow [1]. This was achieved by using a calibrated high-temperature cavitometer. The acoustic spectrum was analyzed at various points across the launder while acoustic pressures were calculated at the frequencies of interest.This work is performed within the Ultramelt Project supported by the EPSRC Grants EP/K005804/1 and EP/K00588X/1
Wine grape pomace flour improves blood pressure, fasting glucose and protein damage in humans: a randomized controlled trial
The quest for the solar g modes
Solar gravity modes (or g modes) -- oscillations of the solar interior for
which buoyancy acts as the restoring force -- have the potential to provide
unprecedented inference on the structure and dynamics of the solar core,
inference that is not possible with the well observed acoustic modes (or p
modes). The high amplitude of the g-mode eigenfunctions in the core and the
evanesence of the modes in the convection zone make the modes particularly
sensitive to the physical and dynamical conditions in the core. Owing to the
existence of the convection zone, the g modes have very low amplitudes at
photospheric levels, which makes the modes extremely hard to detect. In this
paper, we review the current state of play regarding attempts to detect g
modes. We review the theory of g modes, including theoretical estimation of the
g-mode frequencies, amplitudes and damping rates. Then we go on to discuss the
techniques that have been used to try to detect g modes. We review results in
the literature, and finish by looking to the future, and the potential advances
that can be made -- from both data and data-analysis perspectives -- to give
unambiguous detections of individual g modes. The review ends by concluding
that, at the time of writing, there is indeed a consensus amongst the authors
that there is currently no undisputed detection of solar g modes.Comment: 71 pages, 18 figures, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics Revie
Activity and Habitat Use of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in the Anthropogenic Landscape of Bossou, Guinea, West Africa
Many primate populations inhabit anthropogenic landscapes. Understanding their long-term ability to persist in such environments and associated real and perceived risks for both primates and people is essential for effective conservation planning. Primates in forest–agricultural mosaics often consume cultivars to supplement their diet, leading to potentially negative encounters with farmers. When crossing roads, primates also face the risk of encounters with people and collision with vehicles. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Bossou, Guinea, West Africa, face such risks regularly. In this study, we aimed to examine their activity budget across habitat types and the influence of anthropogenic risks associated with cultivated fields, roads, and paths on their foraging behavior in noncultivated habitat. We conducted 6-h morning or afternoon follows daily from April 2012 to March 2013. Chimpanzees preferentially used forest habitat types for traveling and resting and highly disturbed habitat types for socializing. Wild fruit and crop availability influenced seasonal habitat use for foraging. Overall, chimpanzees preferred mature forest for all activities. They showed a significant preference for foraging at >200 m from cultivated fields compared to 0–100 m and 101–200 m, with no effect of habitat type or season, suggesting an influence of associated risk. Nevertheless, the chimpanzees did not actively avoid foraging close to roads and paths. Our study reveals chimpanzee reliance on different habitat types and the influence of human-induced pressures on their activities. Such information is critical for the establishment of effective land use management strategies in anthropogenic landscapes
Ultrasound-assisted extraction of natural products
Ultrasound-assisted extraction (USAE) is an interesting process to obtain high valuable compounds and could contribute to the increase in the value of some food by-products when used as sources of natural compounds. The main benefits will be a more effective extraction, thus saving energy, and also the use of moderate temperatures, which is beneficial for heat-sensitive compounds. For a successful application of the USAE, it is necessary to consider the influence of several process variables, the main ones being the applied ultrasonic power, the frequency, the extraction temperature, the reactor characteristics, and the solvent-sample interaction. The highest extraction rate is usually achieved in the first few minutes, which is the most profitable period. To optimize the process, rate equations and unambiguous process characterization are needed, aspects that have often been lacking. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.The authors thank the Generalitat Valenciana for their financial support in project PROMETEO/2010/062 and the Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo for M.D. Esclapez's pre-doctoral grant.Esclapez Vicente, MD.; García Pérez, JV.; Mulet Pons, A.; Cárcel Carrión, JA.; Esclapez, MD. (2011). Ultrasound-assisted extraction of natural products. Food Engineering Reviews. 3(2):108-120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12393-011-9036-6S10812032Abad Romero B, Bou-Maroun E, Reparet JM, Blanquet J, Cayot N (2010) Impact of lipid extraction on the dearomatisation of an Eisenia foetida protein powder. Food Chem 119:459–466Adewuyi YG (2001) Sonochemistry: environmental science and engineering applications. Ind Eng Chem Res 40:4681–4715Atchley AA, Crum LA (1988) Acoustic cavitation and bubble dynamics. In: Suslick KS (ed) Ultrasound, its chemical, physical, and biological effects. VHS Publishers, Weinheim, pp 1–64Arnold G, Leiteritz L, Zahn S, Rohm H (2009) Ultrasonic cutting of cheese: composition affects cutting work reduction and energy demand. Int Dairy J 19:314–320Barbero GF, Liazid A, Palma M, Barroso CG (2008) Ultrasound-assisted extraction of capsaicinoids from peppers. Talanta 75:1332–1337Benedito J, Carcel JA, Sanjuan N, Mulet A (2000) Use of ultrasound to assess Cheddar cheese characteristics. Ultrasonics 38:727–730Benedito J, Carcel JA, Rossello C, Mulet A (2001) Composition assessment of raw meat mixtures using ultrasonics. Meat Sci 57:365–370Bhaskaracharya RK, Kentish S, Ashokkumar M (2009) Selected applications of ultrasonics in food processing. Food Eng Rev 1:31–49Boonkird S, Phisalaphong C, Phisalaphong M (2008) Ultrasound-assisted extraction of capsaicinoids from Capsicum frutescens on a lab- and pilot-plant scale. Ultrason Sonochem 15:1075–1079Cárcel JA, Benedito J, Bon J, Mulet A (2007) High intensity ultrasound effects on meat brining. Meat Sci 76:611–619Cárcel JA, Benedito J, Rosselló C, Mulet A (2007) Influence of ultrasound intensity on mass transfer in apple immersed in a sucrose solution. J Food Eng 78:472–479Cavitus (2009) Grape colour and flavour extraction (Pat. Pend.) for red must extraction http://www.cavitus.com . Crafers. Accessed 10 Jan 2011Chea Chua S, Ping Tan C, Mirhosseini H, Ming Lai O, Long K, Sham Baharin B (2009) Optimization of ultrasound extraction condition of phospholipids from palm-pressed fiber. J Food Eng 92:403–409Chena R, Menga F, Zhang S, Liu Z (2009) Effects of ultrahigh pressure extraction conditions on yields and antioxidant activity of ginsenoside from ginseng. Sep Purif Technol 66:340–346Chivate MM, Pandit AB (1995) Quantification of cavitation intensity in fluid bulk. Ultrason Sonochem 2:19–25Da Porto C, Decorti D (2009) Ultrasound-assisted extraction coupled with under vacuum distillation of flavour compounds from spearmint (carvone-rich) plants: comparison with conventional hydrodistillation. Ultrason Sonochem 16:795–799Da Porto C, Decorti D, Kikic I (2009) Flavour compounds of Lavandula angustifolia L. to use in food manufacturing: Comparison of three different extraction methods. Food Chem 112:1072–1078Domínguez H, Núñez MJ, Lema JM (1994) Enzymatic pretreatment to enhance oil extraction from fruits and oilseeds: a review. Food Chem 49:271–286Dong J, Liu Y, Liang Z, Wanga W (2010) Investigation on ultrasound-assisted extraction of salvianolic acid B from Salvia miltiorrhiza root. Ultrason Sonochem 17:61–65Entezari MH, Kruus P (1994) Effect of frequency on sonochemical reactions. I: oxidation of iodide. Ultrason Sonochem 1:75–79Esclapez MD, Sáez V, Milán-Yáñez D, Tudela I, Louisnard O, González-García J (2010) Sonoelectrochemical treatment of water polluted with trichloroacetic acid: from sonovoltammetry to pre-pilot plant scale. Ultrason Sonochem 17:1010–1020Ferraro V, Cruz IB, Ferreira R, Malcata JFX, Pintado ME, Castro PML (2010) Valorisation of natural extracts from marine source focused on marine by-products: review. Food Res Int 43:2221–2233Fischer CH, Hart EJ, Henglein AJ (1986) Hydrogen/deuterium isotope exchange in the hydrogen deuteride-water system under the influence of ultrasound. Phys Chem 90:3059–3060Garcia-Noguera J, Weller CL, Oliveira FIP, Rodrigues S, Fernandes FAN (2010) Dual-stage sugar substitution in strawberries with a Stevia-based sweetener. Innovative Food Sci Emerg Technol 11:225–230García-Pérez JV, Cárcel JA, de la Fuente-Blanco S, Riera-Franco de Sarabia E (2006) Ultrasonic drying of foodstuff in a fluidized bed: parametric study. Ultrasonics 44:539–543García-Pérez JV, García-Alvarado MA, Carcel JA, Mulet A (2010) Extraction kinetics modeling of antioxidants from grape stalk (Vitis vinifera var. Bobal): Influence of drying conditions. J Food Eng 101:49–58González-García J, Sáez V, Tudela I, Díez-Garcia MI, Esclapez MD, Louisnard O (2010) Sonochemical treatment of water polluted by chlorinated organocompounds. A review. Water 2:28–74Handa SS, Preet S, Khanuja S, Longo G, Rakesh DD (2008) Extraction Technologies for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the International Centre for Science and High Technology, TriesteHemwimol S, Pavasant P, Shotipruk A (2006) Ultrasound-assisted extraction of anthraquinones from roots of Morinda citrifolia. Ultrason Sonochem 13:543–548Hielscher (2011) Teltow http:// www.hielscher.com . Accessed 10 Jan 2011Hu Y, Wang T, Wang M, Han S, Wan P, Fan M (2008) Extraction of isoflavonoids from Pueraria by combining ultrasound with microwave vacuum. Chem Engin Process 47:2256–2261Ince NH, Tezcanli G, Belen RK, Apikyan PG (2001) Ultrasound as a catalyzer of aqueous reaction systems: the state of the art and environmental applications. Appl Catal B 29:167–176Jadhav D, Rekha BN, Gogate PR, Rathod VK (2009) Extraction of vanillin from vanilla pods: a comparison study of conventional soxhlet and ultrasound assisted extraction. J Food Eng 93:421–426Ji J-b, Lu X-h, Cai M-q, Xu C-c (2006) Improvement of leaching process of Geniposide with ultrasound. Ultrason Sonochem 13:455–462Kanthale PM, Gogate PR, Pandit AB, Wilhelm AM (2003) Mapping of an ultrasonic horn: link primary and secondary effects of ultrasound. Ultrason Sonochem 10:331–335Karki B, Lamsal BP, Jung S, van Leeuwen JH, Pometto AL III, Grewell D, Khanal SK (2010) Enhancing protein and sugar release from defatted soy flakes using ultrasound technology. J Food Eng 96:270–278Kardos N, Luche J-L (2001) Sonochemistry of carbohydrate compounds. Carbohydr Res 332:115–131Kotronarou A, Mills G, Hoffmann MR (1991) Ultrasonic Irradiation of para-Nitrophenol in Aqueous Solution. J Phys Chem 95:3630–3638Kuijpers MWA, Kemmere MF, Keurentjes JTF (2002) Calorimetric study of the energy efficiency for ultrasound-induced radical formation. Ultrasonics 40:675–678Leighton TG (2007) What is ultrasound? Prog Biophys Mol Biol 93:3–83Leonelli C, Mason TJ (2010) Microwave and ultrasonic processing: now a realistic option for industry. Chem Eng Process 49:885–900Li H, Pordesimo L, Weiss J (2004) High intensity ultrasound-assisted extraction of oil from soybeans. Food Res Int 37:731–738Liu J, Li J-W, Tang J (2010) Ultrasonically assisted extraction of total carbohydrates from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni and identification of extracts. Food Bioprod Process 88:215–221Lianfu Z, Zelong L (2008) Optimization and comparison of ultrasound/microwave assisted extraction (UMAE) and ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE) of lycopene from tomatoes. Ultrason Sonochem 15:731–737Liazid A, Schwarz M, Varela RM, Palma M, Guillén DA, Brigui J, Macías FA, Barroso CG (2010) Evaluation of various extraction techniques for obtaining bioactive extracts from pine seeds. Food Bioprod Process 88:247–252Londoño-Londoño J, Rodrigues de Lima V, Lara O, Gil A, Crecsynski Pasa TB, Arango GJ, Ramirez Pineda JR (2010) Clean recovery of antioxidant flavonoids from citrus peel: optimizing an aqueous ultrasound-assisted extraction method. Food Chem 119:81–87Lou Z, Wang H, Zhang M, Wang Z (2010) Improved extraction of oil from chickpea under ultrasound in a dynamic system. J Food Eng 98:13–18Louisnard O, González-García J, Tudela I, Klima J, Sáez V, Vargas-Hernández Y (2009) FEM simulation of a sono-reactor accounting for vibrations of the boundaries. Ultrason Sonochem 16:250–259Luque de Castro MD, Priego-Capote F (2007) Analytical Applications of Ultrasound, Vol. 26, Techniques and Instrumentation in Analytical Chemistry. Elsevier Science, AmsterdamMa Y, Ye X, Hao Y, Xu G, Xu G, Liu D (2008) Ultrasound-assisted extraction of hesperidin from Penggan (Citrus reticulata) peel. Ultrason Sonochem 15:227–232Ma Y, Chen J-C, Liu Dong-Hong, Ye X-Q (2009) Simultaneous extraction of phenolic compounds of citrus peel extracts: effect of ultrasound. Ultrason Sonochem 16:57–62Makino K, Mossoba MM, Riesz P (1982) Chemical effects of ultrasound on aqueous solutions. Evidence for hydroxyl and hydrogen free radicals (.cntdot. OH and. cntdot. H) by spin trapping. J Chem Soc 104:3537–3539Margulis MA, Margulis IM (2003) Calorimetric method for measurement of acoustic power absorbed in a volume of liquid. Ultrason Sonochem 10:343–345Martin CJ, Law ANR (1983) Design of thermistor probes for measurement of ultrasound intensity distributions. Ultrasonics 21:85–90Mason TJ, Lorimer JP, Bates DM, Zhao Y (1994) Dosimetry in sonochemistry: the use of aqueous terephthalate ion as a fluorescence monitor. Ultrason Sonochem 1:91–95Meinhardt (2011) Leipzig. http://www.meinhardt-ultraschall.de . Accessed 10 Jan 2011Montalbo-Lomboy M, Khanal SK, van Leeuwen JH, Raman DR, Dunn L Jr, Grewell D Jr (2010) Ultrasonic pretreatment of corn slurry for saccharification: a comparison of batch and continuous Systems. Ultrason Sonochem 17:939–946Mulet A, Cárcel JA, Sanjuán N, Bon J (2003) New food drying technologies. Use of ultrasound. Food Sci Technol Int 9:215–221Naguleswaran S, Vasanthan T (2010) Dry milling of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) groats prior to wet fractionation influences the starch yield and purity. Food Chem 118:627–633Orozco-Solano M, Ruiz-Jiménez J, Luque de Castro MD (2010) Ultrasound-assisted extraction and derivatization of sterols and fatty alcohols from olive leaves and drupes prior to determination by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 1217:1227–1235Patist A, Bates D (2008) Ultrasonic innovations in the food industry: from the laboratory to commercial production. Innovative Food Sci Emerg Technol 9:147–154Price GJ (1990) The use of ultrasound for the controlled degradation of polymer solutions. In: Mason TJ (ed) Advances in sonochemistry, vol 1. Jai Press, Cambridge, pp 231–287Riener J, Noci G, Cronin DA, Morgan DJ, Lyng JG (2010) A comparison of selected quality characteristics of yoghurts prepared from thermosonicated and conventionally heated milks. Food Chem 119:1108–1113Riera E, Golás Y, Blanco A, Gallego JA, Blasco M, Mulet A (2004) Mass transfer enhancement in supercritical fluids extraction by means of power ultrasound. Ultrason Sonochem 11:241–244Riera E, Blanco A, García J, Benedito J, Mulet A, Gallego-Juárez JA, Blasco M (2010) High-power ultrasonic system for the enhancement of mass transfer in supercritical CO2 extraction processes. Physics Procedia 3:141–146Roldán-Gutiérrez JM, Ruiz-Jiménez J, Luque de Castro MD (2008) Ultrasound-assisted dynamic extraction of valuable compounds from aromatic plants and flowers as compared with steam distillation and superheated liquid extraction. Talanta 75:1369–1375Romdhane M, Gourdon C (2002) Investigation in solid–liquid extraction: influence of ultrasound. Chem Eng J 87:11–19Rong L, Kojima Y, Koda S, Nomura H (2008) Simple quantification of ultrasonic intensity using aqueous solution of phenolphthalein. Ultrason Sonochem 8:11–15Sáez V, Frias-Ferrer A, Iniesta J, Gonzalez-Garcıa J, Aldaz A, Riera E (2005) Chacterization of a 20 kHz sonoreactor. Part I: analysis of mechanical effects by classical and numerical methods. Ultrason Sonochem 12:59–65Sáez V, Frias-Ferrer A, Iniesta J, Gonzalez-Garcıa J, Aldaz A, Riera E (2005) Characterization of a 20 kHz sonoreactor. Part II: analysis of chemical effects by classical and electrochemical methods. Ultrason Sonochem 12:67–72Sahena F, Zaidul ISM, Jinap S, Karim AA, Abbas KA, Norulaini NAN, Omar AKM (2009) Application of supercritical CO2 in lipid extraction–A review. J Food Eng 95:240–253Science Direct Database (2011) www.sciencedirect.com (Data of consulting: February 2011)Soria AC, Villamiel M (2010) Effect of ultrasound on the technological properties and bioactivity of food: a review. Trends Food Sci Technol 21:323–331Starmans DAJ, Nijhuis HH (1996) Extraction of secondary metabolites from plant material: a review. Trends Food Sci Technol 7:191–197Sivakumar V, Lakshmi Anna J, Vijayeeswarri J, Swaminathan G (2009) Ultrasound assisted enhancement in natural dye extraction from beetroot for industrial applications and natural dyeing of leather. Ultrason Sonochem 16:782–789Stanisavljevic IT, Lazic ML, Veljkovic VB (2007) Ultrasonic extraction of oil from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) seeds. Ultrason Sonochem 14:646–652Sun Y, Liu D, Chen J, Ye X, Yu D (2011) Effects of different factors of ultrasound treatment on the extraction yield of the all-trans-b-carotene from citrus peels. Ultrason Sonochem 18:243–249Suslick KS (2001) Sonoluminescence and sonochemistry. In: Meyers RA (ed) Encyclopedia of physical science and technology, vol 17, 3rd edn. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 363–376Trabelsi F, Ait-Iyazidi H, Berlan J, Fabre PL, Delmas H, Wilhelm AM (1996) Electrochemical determination of the active zones in a high-frequency ultrasonic reactor. Ultrason Sonochem 3:125–130Veillet S, Tomao V, Chemat F (2010) Ultrasound assisted maceration: an original procedure for direct aromatisation of olive oil with basil. Food Chem 123:905–911Velickovic DT, Milenovic DM, Ristic MS, Veljkovic VB (2008) Ultrasonic extraction of waste solid residues from the Salvia sp. Essential oil hydrodistillation. Biochem Eng J 42:97–104Vercet A, Burgos J, Crelier S, Lopez-Buesa P (2001) Inactivation of proteases and lipases by ultrasound. Innovative Food Sci Emerg Technol 2:139–150Vilkhu K, Mawson R, Simons L, Bates D (2008) Applications and opportunities for ultrasound assisted extraction in the food industry—A review. Innovative Food Sci Emerg Technol 9:161–169Vinatoru M (2001) An overview of the ultrasonically assisted extraction of bioactive principles from herbs. Ultrason Sonochem 8:303–313Virot M, Tomao V, Le Bourvellec C, Renard CMCG, Chemat F (2010) Towards the industrial production of antioxidants from food processing by-products with ultrasound-assisted extraction. Ultrason Sonochem 17:1066–1074Wang J, Sun B, Cao Y, Tian Y, Li X (2008) Optimisation of ultrasound-assisted extraction of phenolic compounds from wheat bran. Food Chem 106:804–810Wang L, Weller CL (2006) Recent advances in extraction of nutraceuticals from plants. Trends Food Sci Technol 17:300–312Wei X, Chen M, Xiao Ja, Liu Y, Yu L, Zhang H, Wang Y (2010) Composition and bioactivity of tea flower polysaccharides obtained by different methods. Carbohydr Polym 79:418–422Weissler A, Cooper HW, Snyder S (1950) Chemical effects of ultrasonic waves: oxidation of potassium iodide solution by carbon tetrachloride. J Am Chem Soc 72:1769–1775Wulff-Pérez M, Torcello-Gómez A, Gálvez-Ruíz MJ, Martín-Rodríguez A (2009) Stability of emulsions for parenteral feeding: preparation and characterization of o/w nanoemulsions with natural oils and Pluronic f68 as surfactant. Food Hydrocolloids 23:1096–1102Yang B, Yang H, Li J, Li Z, Jiang Y (2011) Amino acid composition, molecular weight distribution and antioxidant activity of protein hydrolysates of soy sauce lees. Food Chem 124:551–555Yang Y, Zhang F (2008) Ultrasound-assisted extraction of rutin and quercetin from Euonymus alatus (Thunb.) Sieb. Ultrason Sonochem 15:308–313Zhang Z-S, Wang L-J, Li D, Jiao S-S, Chena XD, Maoa Z-H (2008) Ultrasound-assisted extraction of oil from flaxseed. Sep Purif Technol 62:192–198Zhang H-F, Yang X-H, Zhao L-D, Wang Y (2009) Ultrasonic-assisted extraction of epimedin C from fresh leaves of Epimedium and extraction mechanism. Innovative Food Sci Emerg Technol 10:54–60Zhang Q-A, Zhang Z-Q, Yue X-F, Fan X-H, Li T, Chen S-F (2009) Response surface optimization of ultrasound-assisted oil extraction from autoclaved almond powder. Food Chem 116:513–518Zhao S, Kwok K-C, Liang H (2007) Investigation on ultrasound assisted extraction of saikosaponins from Radix Bupleuri. Sep Purif Technol 55:307–312Zhu KX, Sun X-H, Zhou H-M (2009) Optimization of ultrasound-assisted extraction of defatted wheat germ proteins by reverse micelles. J Cereal Sci 50:266–271Zheng L, Sun D-W (2006) Innovative applications of power ultrasound during food freezing processes—a review. Trends Food Sci Technol 17:16–23Zou Y, Xie C, Fan G, Gu Z, Han Y (2010) Optimization of ultrasound-assisted extraction of melanin from Auricularia auricula fruit bodies. Innovative Food Sci Emerg Technol 11:611–61
The peroxisome: still a mysterious organelle
More than half a century of research on peroxisomes has revealed unique features of this ubiquitous subcellular organelle, which have often been in disagreement with existing dogmas in cell biology. About 50 peroxisomal enzymes have so far been identified, which contribute to several crucial metabolic processes such as β-oxidation of fatty acids, biosynthesis of ether phospholipids and metabolism of reactive oxygen species, and render peroxisomes indispensable for human health and development. It became obvious that peroxisomes are highly dynamic organelles that rapidly assemble, multiply and degrade in response to metabolic needs. However, many aspects of peroxisome biology are still mysterious. This review addresses recent exciting discoveries on the biogenesis, formation and degradation of peroxisomes, on peroxisomal dynamics and division, as well as on the interaction and cross talk of peroxisomes with other subcellular compartments. Furthermore, recent advances on the role of peroxisomes in medicine and in the identification of novel peroxisomal proteins are discussed
- …