Cashew nut allergy: clinical relevance and allergen characterisation

Cashew plant (Anacardium occidentale L.) is the most relevant species of the Anacardium genus. It presents high economic value since it is widely used in human nutrition and in several industrial applications. Cashew nut is a well-appreciated food (belongs to the tree nut group), being widely consumed as snacks and in processed foods by the majority of world's population. However, cashew nut is also classified as a potent allergenic food known to be responsible for triggering severe and systemic immune reactions (e.g. anaphylaxis) in sensitised/allergic individuals that often demand epinephrine treatment and hospitalisation. So far, three groups of allergenic proteins have been identified and characterised in cashew nut: Ana o 1 and Ana o 2 (cupin superfamily) and Ana o 3 (prolamin superfamily), which are all classified as major allergens. The prevalence of cashew nut allergy seems to be rising in industrialised countries with the increasing consumption of this nut. There is still no cure for cashew nut allergy, as well as for other food allergies; thus, the allergic patients are advised to eliminate it from their diets. Accordingly, when carefully choosing processed foods that are commercially available, the allergic consumers have to rely on proper food labelling. In this sense, the control of labelling compliance is much needed, which has prompted the development of proficient analytical methods for allergen analysis. In the recent years, significant research advances in cashew nut allergy have been accomplished, which are highlighted and discussed in this review.This work was supported by FCT/MEC through national funds and co-financed by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020 with grant no. UID/QUI/50006/2013–POCI/01/ 0145/FEDER/007265. Joana Costa is grateful to FCT post-doctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/102404/2014) financed by POPH-QREN (subsidised by FSE and MCTES).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Solid freeforming of Braille patterns on clay products

An aqueous suspension of clay was delivered through an electromagnetic ink-jet printer head onto partially dried clay tile to produce patterns in relief. The patterns formed Braille symbols intended for tactile recognition by visually impaired persons (VIP). This solid freeforming procedure means that conventional clay products such as wall tile, although mass-produced, can acquire individuation so that tactile information can be delivered to VIPs to assist, for example, in navigation in the built environmen

Application of Suspension Plasma Spraying (SPS) for Manufacture of Ceramic Coatings

Conventional thermal spray processes as atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) have to use easily flowable powders with a size up to 100 mu m. This leads to certain limitations in the achievable microstructural features. Suspension plasma spraying (SPS) is a new promising processing method which employs suspensions of sub-micrometer particles as feedstock. Therefore much finer grain and pore sizes as well as dense and also thin ceramic coatings can be achieved. Highly porous coatings with fine pore sizes are needed as electrodes in solid-oxide fuel cells. Cathodes made of LaSrMn perovskites have been produced by the SPS process. Their microstructural and electrochemical properties will be presented. Another interesting application is thermal barrier coating (TBC). SPS allows the manufacture of high-segmented TBCs with still relatively high porosity levels. In addition to these specific applications also the manufactures of new microstructures like nano-multilayers and columnar structures are presented