Development of a Spectrophotometric Method for Monitoring Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme in Dairy Products

The angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) regulates the levels of blood pressure through generation of angiotensin-II from angiotensin-I. It is of great importance to have a reliable and yet simple method for a quantitative determination ACE inhibitory peptides in whey of milk products. A rapid, simple, sensitive and accurate spectrophotometric kinetic method has been developed for determination of ACE inhibitory peptides, using competitive inhibition. Samples of dairy product from the market were used for the determination of ACE inhibitory peptides in whey. Holmquist’s kinetic method was used for determining ACE inhibitory activity in blood serum and Ronca-Testoni method was used for the determination of ACE inhibitory activity in whey. Enzymatic inhibition activity was determined using 0.8 mmol/L FAPGG (N-[3-(Furyl) –Acryloyl]-L-Phenylalanyl Glycyl Glycyne) as the substrate in 50 mmol/L Tris buffer at pH 8.2 at 37°C and a standard serum containing ACE. First, a solution of whey was mixed in a 1 to 10 ratio with serum (elevation) containing high ACE activity. The enzymatic activity was determined by monitoring the decrease in absorbance at 340 nm as result of hydrolysis of the substrate. The concentration of ACE inhibitory peptides was determined from a standard curve of inhibitor concentration versus percent of ACE inhibition. The study suggests that the method possesses good reproducibility and accuracy. The linear range enabled determination of high enzymatic activity of ACE and all ACE inhibitory peptides from dairy products act as competitive inhibitors

Current State of Pre-Consumer Apparel Waste Management in Macedonia. FIBRES & TEXTILES in Eastern

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Genetic aberrations of c-myc and CCND1 in the development of invasive bladder cancer

Detrusor muscle invasive transitional cell carcinoma is associated with poor prognosis and is responsible for the majority of bladder cancer related deaths. Amplifications of c-myc and CCND1 are associated with detrusor-muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma, however, their precise role in driving disease progression is unclear. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation on archival tissue from 16 patients with primary diagnosis of ⩾pT2 transitional cell carcinoma and 15 cases with primary pTa/pT1 disease subsequently progressing to detrusor-muscle-invasion was performed, in the latter group both pre and post muscle invasive events were studied. No patients presenting with ⩾pT2 had amplification of c-myc, two out of 16 (12.5%) had CCND1 amplification. Of patients who developed ⩾pT2, two out of 15 (13.3%) had amplification of c-myc, both in ⩾pT2, five out of 15 (33.3%) had CCND1 amplification, two in pTa/pT1 tumours, three in ⩾pT2 transitional cell carcinomas. In total, two out of 31 (6.5%) of patients' ⩾pT2 TCCs were amplified for c-myc and six out of 31 (19%) were amplified for CCND1. Eighty-seven per cent (40 out of 46) of tumours were polysomic for chromosome 8 and 80% (37 out of 46) were polysomic for chromosome 11 and this reflected the high copy numbers of c-myc and CCND1 observed. In almost all cases an increase in c-myc/CCND1 copy number occurred prior to invasion and persisted in advanced disease. Amplification of CCND1 or alterations in c-myc/CCND1 early in bladder cancer may have clinical relevance in promoting and predicting progression to detrusor-muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma

Empirical investigation to explore potential gains from the amalgamation of Phase Changing Materials (PCMs) and wood shavings

The reduction of gained heat, heat peak shifting and the mitigation of air temperature fluctuations are some desirable properties that are sought after in any thermal insulation system. It cannot be overstated that these factors, in addition to others, govern the performance of such systems thus their effect on indoor ambient conditions. The effect of such systems extends also to Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) systems that are set up to operate optimally in certain conditions. Where literature shows that PCMs and natural materials such as wood-shavings can provide efficient passive insulation for buildings, it is evident that such approaches utilise methods that are of a degree of intricacy which requires specialist knowledge and complex techniques, such as micro-encapsulation for instance. With technical and economic aspects in mind, an amalgam of PCM and wood-shavings has been created for the purpose of being utilised as a feasible thermal insulation. The amalgamation was performed in the simplest of methods, through submerging the wood shavings in PCM. An experimental procedure was devised to test the thermal performance of the amalgam and compare this to the performance of the same un-amalgamated materials. Comparative analysis revealed that no significant thermal gains would be expected from such amalgamation. However, significant reduction in the total weight of the insulation system would be achieved that, in this case, shown to be up to 20.94%. Thus, further reducing possible strains on structural elements due to the application of insulation on buildings. This can be especially beneficial in vernacular architectural approaches where considerably large amounts and thicknesses of insulations are used. In addition, cost reduction could be attained as wood shavings are significantly cheaper compared to the cost of PCMs

Food consumption and diet quality choices of Roma in Romania: a counterfactual analysis

This paper analyses the diet quality aspect of food security of Roma in Romania. We employed a modified Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique using Household Budget Survey data for the period 2004–2011. The estimates suggest that Roma have inferior diet diversity compared to the non-Roma. Around one-third of the diet diversity gap is explained by the differences in observed socio-economic factors, whereas the remaining part of the gap is attributed to unobserved factors. We argue that the unexplained component of the diet diversity gap is caused by the discrimination of the Roma on the labour market and by their specific informal institutions

Bieżąca sytuacja przy zarządzaniu gospodarką odpadów przemysłu odzieżowego Macedonii pochodzących z procesu produkcyjnego

Effective utilisation of textile waste requires an accurate prediction of the quality of waste generated. Textile waste in Macedonia mainly consists of apparel cuttings. The aim of this research was to characterize the apparel cuttings waste, define the current state of apparel waste management and the potential barriers against introducing efficient waste management systems. Data was obtained via a structured questionnaire distributed to top managers in apparel manufacturing companies. The results indicated that almost all apparel manufacturers use landfills to dispose of their waste. The analysis showed that the waste stream consisted principally of woven fabrics, predominately cotton and cotton blends, with the presence of lycra. Bearing in mind the waste composition, the most appropriate end use for the pre-consumer waste produced is insulation materials. Considering that the industry consists of small and medium companies with limited resources, there is a low likelihood of individual investments in recycling equipment.Efektywna utylizacja odpadów tekstylnych wymaga dokładnego przewidywania jakości generowanych odpadów. Odpady odzieżowe Macedonii tworzone są głównie przez ścinki odzieżowe. Celem badań było scharakteryzowanie ścinków, ustalenie odpowiednich metod zarządzania odpadami i identyfikacja barier wpływających na efektywność systemu zarządzania odpadami. Odpowiednio opracowane kwestionariusze zostały rozprowadzone wśród zarządów tekstylnych zakładów produkcyjnych. Wyniki wskazują, że prawie wszyscy wytwórcy tekstyliów stosują wysypiska dla rozdysponowania swoich odpadów. Analiza wykazała, że strumienie odpadów składają się głównie z tkanin, w tym przeważnie bawełnianych, i z mieszanek bawełny z lycrą. Biorąc pod uwagę ten skład materiałów odpadowych, wydaje się, że najbardziej odpowiednim zastosowaniem może być produkcja materiałów izolacyjnych. Ponieważ przemysł przetwórczy skalda się głównie z małych i średnich przedsiębiorstw istnieje małe prawdopodobieństwo zakupu odpowiednio dużych maszyn przetwarzających

Microwave irradiation versus conventional heating assisted free-radical copolymerization in solution

Microwave (MW) irradiation has arisen as a more sustainable alternative to conventional heating (CH) for chemical reactions because it provides non-contact, volumetric equal and fast heating. However, in free-radical polymerization, the MW effect is still quite controversial, probably due to the lack of reliable, comparable experimental data of both CH and MW assisted polymerization processes. In this work, taking advantage of technically superior MW reactor design, similar temperature profiles and conditions of CH and MW assisted polymerization reactions were enabled. Copolymerization of various monomer couples with different polarity and dielectric properties was studied in solution of different organic solvents in the presence of different initiators. As a result, it was concluded that the interaction of the reaction components with the MW irradiation is essential and will determine if any effect of MW irradiation on the reaction and products occurs. On the contrary to some reported studies, for the typical monomers used in free radical polymerization studied here (acrylates, methacrylates, styrene) no difference in reaction rates, copolymer composition and properties were observed between the MWH and CH processes, independently of the solvent and initiator used. However, in the case of the presence of an organometallic monomer within the monomer couple, an observable reaction rate enhancement was obtained under MW irradiation, along with changes in the reactivity ratios and differences in the copolymer composition. This effect is considered a specific microwave effect, for the first time demonstrated in free-radical solution polymerization process and was explained by the principles of selective heating of the organometallic reaction components in solution.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by NATO (SfP project G4255), Spanish Government (CTQ2016-80886-R), and Basque Government (GV IT999-16). Bertha Pérez-Martínez acknowledges the PhD fellowship No. 410922 provided by The National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT-México).Peer reviewe