Authentication of European sea bass according to production method and geographical origin by light stable isotope ratio and rare earth elements analyses combined with chemometrics

In this work, stable isotope ratio (SIR) and rare earth elements (REEs) analyses, combined with multivariate data elaboration, were used to explore the possibility to authenticate European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) according to: i) production method (wild or farmed specimens); ii) geographical origin (Western, Central or Eastern Mediterranean Sea). The dataset under investigation included a total of 144 wild and farmed specimens coming from 17 different European areas located in the Mediterranean Sea basin. Samples were subjected to SIR analysis (carbon and nitrogen) and REEs analysis (lanthanum, europium, holmium, erbium, lutetium, and terbium). Then, Analytical data were handled by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and then by Orthogonal Partial Last Square Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA), to obtain functional classification models to qualitatively discriminate sea bass according to the conditions under study. OPLSDA models provided good correct classification rate both for production method and geographical origin. It was confirmed that chemometric elaboration of data obtained from SIR and REEs analyses can be a suitable tool for an accurate authentication of European sea bass

Advances in troubleshooting fish and seafood authentication by inorganic elemental composition

The demand for fish and seafood is growing worldwide. Meanwhile, problems related to the integrity and safety of the fishery sector are increasing, leading legislators, producers, and consumers to search for ways to effectively protect themselves from fraud and health hazards related to fish consumption. What is urgently required now is the availability of reliable, truthful, and reproducible methods assuring the correspondence between the real nature of the product and label declarations accompanying the same product during its market life. The evaluation of the inorganic composition of fish and seafood appears to be one of the most promising strategies to be exploited in the near future to assist routine and official monitoring operations along the supply chain. The present review article focuses on exploring the latest scientific achievements of using the multi-elemental composition of fish and seafood as an imprint of their authenticity and traceability, especially with regards to the geographical origin. The scientific literature of the last 10 years focusing on the analytical determination and statistical elaboration of elemental data (alone or in combination with methodologies targeting other compounds) to verify the identity of fishery products is summarized and discussed

Krila "Keripik Kelapa Muda"

Coconut is a kind of fruits which has many benefits from almost all of its parts. Unfortunately, coconut processing for consumption is somehow monotonous, especially its flesh. The white flesh of coconut is commonly used in beverages, pudding as well as cakes. The monotonous foods and beverages made of young green coconut flesh may make people get bored. This has encouraged us to make innovation in consuming coconut flesh that is by making coconut crispy chips (KRILA: Keripik Kelapa Muda). The process in making coconut crispy chips is done by using vacuum fryer, that is a kind of vacuum frying device which can keep nutrition of the coconut flesh and keep its color remain the same. The presence of KRILA is expected to give innovation in culinary related to green coconut as well as broaden job vacancy for people particularly in Malang. In order to introduce KRILA to society, several ways are done such as by distributing brochure in tourism places, campus and other public places around Veteran street; giving tester to people in those strategic places to know the society\u27s favorite flavor of KRILA as well as get comment about KRILA, and doing socialization to the society. KRILA has been sold through several ways such as doing direct selling in tourism places, campus, and Veteran street; selling via BBM; and having cooperation with some stores (Toko Karina, Toko Andika, dan Toko Intan)

The Effectiveness of Cyrene as a Solvent in Exfoliating 2D TMDs Nanosheets

The pursuit of environmentally friendly solvents has become an essential research topic in sustainable chemistry and nanomaterial science. With the need to substitute toxic solvents in nanofabrication processes becoming more pressing, the search for alternative solvents has taken on a crucial role in this field. Additionally, the use of toxic, non-economical organic solvents, such as N-methyl-2 pyrrolidone and dimethylformamide, is not suitable for all biomedical applications, even though these solvents are often considered as the best exfoliating agents for nanomaterial fabrication. In this context, the success of producing two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDs), such as MoS2 and WS2, with excellent captivating properties is due to the ease of synthesis based on environment-friendly, benign methods with fewer toxic chemicals involved. Herein, we report for the first time on the use of cyrene as an exfoliating agent to fabricate monolayer and few-layered 2D TMDs with a versatile, less time-consuming liquid-phase exfoliation technique. This bio-derived, aprotic, green and eco-friendly solvent produced a stable, surfactant-free, concentrated 2D TMD dispersion with very interesting features, as characterized by UV–visible and Raman spectroscopies. The surface charge and morphology of the fabricated nanoflakes were analyzed using ς-potential and scanning electron microscopy. The study demonstrates that cyrene is a promising green solvent for the exfoliation of 2D TMD nanosheets with potential advantages over traditional organic solvents. The ability to produce smaller-sized—especially in the case of WS2 as compared to MoS2—and mono/few-layered nanostructures with higher negative surface charge values makes cyrene a promising candidate for various biomedical and electronic applications. Overall, the study contributes to the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly methods for the production of 2D nanomaterials for various applications

Robust phenotyping of highly multiplexed tissue imaging data using pixel-level clustering

While technologies for multiplexed imaging have provided an unprecedented understanding of tissue composition in health and disease, interpreting this data remains a significant computational challenge. To understand the spatial organization of tissue and how it relates to disease processes, imaging studies typically focus on cell-level phenotypes. However, images can capture biologically important objects that are outside of cells, such as the extracellular matrix. Here, we describe a pipeline, Pixie, that achieves robust and quantitative annotation of pixel-level features using unsupervised clustering and show its application across a variety of biological contexts and multiplexed imaging platforms. Furthermore, current cell phenotyping strategies that rely on unsupervised clustering can be labor intensive and require large amounts of manual cluster adjustments. We demonstrate how pixel clusters that lie within cells can be used to improve cell annotations. We comprehensively evaluate pre-processing steps and parameter choices to optimize clustering performance and quantify the reproducibility of our method. Importantly, Pixie is open source and easily customizable through a user-friendly interface

In situ annealing of superconducting MgB2 films prepared by pulsed laser deposition

The in situ annealing conditions of pulsed laser deposited MgB2 films were studied. The precursor films were deposited at 250 C from a stoichiometric MgB2 target in a 120mTorr Ar atmosphere. The films were then in situ annealed at a temperature from 450 C to 800 C and an annealing time from 1 minute to 10 minutes. We found that the superconducting properties depend in a crucial way on the annealing conditions: temperature, heating rate and time. The best film with a thickness of ~600nm was obtained under the following annealing conditions: Tanneal=680-690 C, tanneal=1 min, heating rate= 38 C/min. The Tc onset of the film is 28K with a transition width of ~10K. The hysteresis loop of magnetic moment of the film indicates weak field dependence in high fields. Magneto-optical imaging of the film showed quite homogeneous magnetic flux penetration, indicating structural homogeneity. The films without annealing showed no superconductivity.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Psychological Flexibility, ACT, and Organizational Behavior

This paper offers organizational behavior management (OBM) a behavior analytically consistent way to expand its analysis of, and methods for changing, organizational behavior. It shows how Relational Frame Theory (RFT) suggests that common, problematic, psychological processes emerge from language itself, and they produce psychological inflexibility. Research suggests that an applied extension of RFT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, has led to new interventions that increase psychological flexibility and, thereby enhance, organizational behavior and health

Assessing referrals for pharmacotherapy: A comparison of therapist and client report

The primary goal of this study was to assess whether therapist self-reported use of referrals for pharmacotherapy with clients for the treatment of substance abuse disorders is consistent with actual rates of referrals experienced by clients. Participants were 20 substance abuse counselors and 120 clients at a large, multisite substance abuse treatment center. Therapists were asked to complete a brief measure of their current use of referrals for pharmacotherapy, including agonist and antagonist approaches. Clients were asked to complete a brief measure indicating whether their individual counselor had discussed with them a referral for medication. Counselor reports were linked to their individual clients and compared for validation. Results indicate that therapist self-report is significantly correlated with client report of referrals for pharmacotherapy. These results indicate that although therapist self-report of adherence to more involved treatment approaches is often unreliable, substance abuse counselors are able to reliably report their use of referrals. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Expression of p53 and PTEN in human primary endometrial carcinomas: Clinicopathological and immunohistochemical analysis and study of their concomitant expression

Endometrial carcinoma is a common malignancy of the female genital tract. Alterations in the expression levels of various oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes serve important roles in the carcinogenesis and biological behavior of endometrial carcinoma. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the combination and individual expression of p53 and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) protein in human endometrial carcinoma. In addition, the correlation of these proteins with clinicopathological parameters was also assessed. Retrospective immunohistochemical analysis of the expression of p53 and PTEN tumor suppressor proteins was conducted in 99 women with endometrial carcinoma. The overall rate of p53 and PTEN positivity was 89 and 77%, respectively, according to the sum of stain intensity and scores of immunopositive cells. The sum of p53 positivity correlated strongly with PTEN expression (ρ=0.256; P=0.044). The concomitant sum of p53 and PTEN expression was identified in 45% of patients with endometrial adenocarcinoma. Notably, the sum of the immunohistochemical expression of p53 was significantly correlated with patient age (P=0.037), histologic type (P=0.008), histologic grade (P=0.002) and fallopian and/or ovarian invasion (P=0.014). Furthermore, PTEN expression was associated with myometrial invasion (ρ=-0.377; P=0.002) and clinical stage (P=0.019). In addition, concomitant p53 and PTEN expression was correlated with patient age (P=0.008) and histologic differentiation (P=0.028). The findings indicated a correlation between the expression of p53 and PTEN in endometrial adenocarcinoma, which suggested an intrinsic association between expression levels of these tumor suppressor genes. The study also suggested that concomitant p53 and PTEN expression contributed in characterizing the tumor behavior of endometrial carcinoma. Taken together, the present study suggested the combined expression of p53 and PTEN in the development of high-grade endometrial carcinoma in older patients. In addition, the findings indicated activation of different molecular pathways in the tumor progression between low-grade and high-grade endometrial carcinomas. © 2019, Spandidos Publications. All rights reserved