Forgotten Perfumery Plants – Part I: Balm of Judea

Perfumes have always been products of great importance, mainly composed of natural, valuable and vegetal raw materials. Today, some of them have completely disappeared in perfumery, even though they are part of our cultural heritage and were commonly used in the past. Balm of Judea is one of the most noble, rare and fascinating ingredient long used in perfumery and medicine, that is missing today. After years of research, we collected a resin and an essential oil (steam distillation of fresh aerial parts) from Commiphora gileadensis (L.) C.Chr . native from Saudi Arabia and cultivated in Israel. The aims of this study were to i) identify the main reasons of the loss of the balm of Judea, ii) characterize the volatile composition of the resin and the essential oil and iii) evaluate their olfactory profile and assess their biological activity. Eighty‐three compounds were identified in the resin, by a combination of GC‐MS and GC/FID techniques, using direct injection and HS‐SPME. α‐Pinene (24.0 %), sabinene (43.8 %), β‐pinene (6.3 %) and cymene (3.6 %) were the main identified compounds, giving an intense, terpenic and lemony smell to the resin. Anti‐inflammatory, wound‐healing and whitening activities were highlighted. Sabinene (22.7 %), terpinen‐4‐ol (18.7 %), α‐pinene (14.4 %) and cymene (13.6 %) were identified as the main components of the essential oil, giving a spicy, woody and lemony fragrance. Anti‐inflammatory and whitening activities were emphasized.     

Investigations of different chemiluminescent peaks in H2O2–SCN−–Cu2+–OH−–luminol flow system

In the H₂O₂–SCN^?–Cu²⁺–OH^?–luminol oscillatory system of chemiluminescence, the effects of the ingredient concentrations, temperature, flow rate and complexing agent on the oscillatory dynamics were investigated in a continuous‐flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR). The dynamical structure of two peaks during a period was discussed in detail. By addition of EDTA to the oscillating system, the peak I height decreased sharply while the peak II height was little affected, and the period kept constant. This may be due to the fast reaction between Cu(II) and EDTA and the highly stable complex Cu(II)–EDTA. From the experimental study and mechanism analysis, the chemiluminescent peak I corresponds to Cu(II) → Cu(I) transformation and the peak II corresponds to the Cu(I) → Cu(II) transformation process. The key species involving in the two‐transformation process are inferred to be superoxide radical and hydroxyl radical. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Son, Ltd.     

1,10‐Phenanthroline–H2O2–KSCN–CuSO4–NaOH oscillating chemiluminescence system

In this paper, oscillating chemiluminescence (CL), 1,10‐phenanthroline H₂O₂–KSCN–CuSO₄–NaOH system, was studied in a batch reactor. The system described is a novel, slowly damped oscillating CL system, generated by coupling the well‐known Epstein–Orban, H₂O₂–KSCN–CuSO₄–NaOH chemical oscillator reaction with the CL reaction involving the oxidation of 1,10‐phenanthroline by hydrogen peroxide, catalyzed by copper(II) in alkaline medium. In this system, the CL reaction acts as a detector or indicator system of the far‐from‐equilibrium dynamic system. Narrow and slightly asymmetric light pulses of 1.2 s half‐width are emitted at 440 nm with an emitted light time of 200–1000 s, induction period of 3.5–357 s and oscillation period of 28–304 s depending on the reagent concentrations. In this report the effect of the concentration variation of components involved in the oscillating CL system on the induction period, the oscillation period and amplitude was investigated and the parameters were plotted with respect to reagent concentrations. Copper concentration showed a significant effect on the oscillation period. The possible mechanism for the oscillating CL reaction was also discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coordinated Development of Yeast Colonies: Quantitative Modeling of Diffusion‐Limited Growth – Part 2

A mathematical model was developed which described the growth of yeast colonies based on the assumptions that (i) these populations were built up of single cells whose proliferation was (ii) exclusively controlled by nutrient availability in the environment. The model was of a hybrid cellular automaton type and described discrete cells residing on a one‐dimensional lattice as well as on continuously distributed nutrients. Experimental results and numerical calculations were compared to elucidate under which cultivation conditions the diffusion‐limited growth (DLG) was the major construction principle in yeast colonies. Simulations were scaled to the growth of Yarrowia lipolytica and Candida boidinii colonies under carbon and nitrogen limitation. They showed that nutrient‐controlled growth of the individual cells resulted in DLG of the population. Quantitative predictions for the spatio‐temporal development of the cell‐density profile inside a growing yeast mycelium were compared to the growth characteristics of the model yeast mycelia. Only for the carbon‐limited growth of C. boidinii colonies on glucose as the limiting nutrient resource did the DLG model reproduce the cell‐density profile estimated at the end of the cultivation. Under all other cultivation conditions, strong discrepancies between calculations and experimental results were evident precluding DLG as the ruling regulatory mechanism. Thus, whether or not the development of a yeast population could be described by a DLG scenario, was strongly dependent on the particular cultivation conditions and the applied yeast species. In those cases for which the DLG hypothesis failed to explain the observed growth patterns, the underlying assumptions, i.e., the complete absence of nutrient translocation between the individual cells inside the yeast mycelia as well as the exclusively nutrient‐controlled proliferation of the cells, have to be reevaluated. The presented study demonstrated how the mathematical analysis of growth processes in yeast populations could assist the experimental identification of potential regulatory mechanisms.     

Eu3+–Eu2+‐doped xAl2O3–ySiO2 and xAl2O3–zMgO composites phosphors

In this paper, the Eu³⁺–Eu²⁺ (4%, molar ratio)‐doped xAl₂O₃–ySiO₂ (x = 0–2.5, y = 1–5) and xAl₂O₃–zMgO (x = 0–1.5, z = 0–3) composites phosphors with different Al₂O₃ to SiO₂ (A/S) and Al₂O₃ to MgO (A/M) ratios were prepared using a high‐temperature solid‐state reaction under air atmosphere. The effects of the A/S and A/M on luminescence properties, crystal structure, electron spin resonance, and Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage chromaticity coordinates of the samples were systematically analyzed. These results indicated that the different A/S and A/M ratios in the matrix effectively affected the crystal phase, degrees of self‐reduction of Eu³⁺, and led the relative emission intensity of Eu²⁺/Eu³⁺ to change and adjust.     

Trends in Overweight and Obesity in Portugal: The National Health Surveys 1995–6 and 1998–9

Objective: To assess overweight and obesity trends in the Portuguese population. Research Methods and Procedures: National Health Surveys, conducted in 1995–6 (17, 989 men; 20, 249 women) and 1998–9 (17, 923 men; 20, 302 women), were used. Results: In men, the prevalence of overweight and obesity increased from 39.9% (95% CI: 39.2 to 40.6) and 10.3% (95% CI: 9.9 to 10.7), respectively, in 1995–6, to 42.5% (95% CI: 41.8 to 43.2) and 11.5% (95% CI: 11.0 to 12.0), respectively, in 1998–9. In women, prevalence of obesity increased from 12.7% (95% CI: 12.2 to 13.2) in 1995–6 to 14.2% (95% CI: 13.7 to 14.6) in 1998–9, whereas the prevalence of overweight remained stable: 32.2% (95% CI: 31.6 to 32.9) in 1995–6 and 32.3% (95% CI: 31.6 to 32.9) in 1998–9. In men, prevalence of overweight and obesity were higher among former smokers and educational group of 6 to 12 years, and prevalence of obesity was higher in the Lisbon region. In women, prevalence of overweight and obesity were higher among never smokers, and prevalence of obesity was higher among educational group of ?6 years. Prevalence of obesity was higher in the Alentejo region, and overweight was higher in the Center region. Finally, prevalence of obesity increased in both sexes for all strata studied (age, smoking status, educational level, and geographic region), whereas prevalence of overweight increased only in men. Discussion: In Portugal, overweight and obesity levels are related to sociodemographic factors; the increase in obesity levels stresses the need for preventive measures.     

Tunnel Vision: Part One – Resisting post‐colonialism in Australian anthropology

This essay is based on my conviction that Australian ethnography's narrow purview and anthropology's theoretical limitations need exploring and explaining. While internationally the discipline developed new sites, new theoretical fields and new political ideas in the post‐colonial era from around 1970, classicism continued to dominate research in Australia. New forms of Aboriginal social life and politics created by changing ‘post‐colonial’ conditions largely escaped ethnographic attention, but anthropology was rescued from irrelevance with the emergence of opportunities to assist the courts and Aborigines with land retrievals. By examining selected ethnographies and exceptions to the discipline's main trajectory, I hope to encourage reflection and expansion so that the discipline might realise its potential as the most radical and critical of the social sciences.     

Studies of visible oscillating chemiluminescence with a luminol–H2O2–KSCN–CuSO4–NaOH system in batch reactor

Oscillating chemical reactions are complex systems involving a large number of chemical species. In oscillating chemical reactions some species, usually reaction intermediates, exhibit fluctuation in concentration. Visible oscillating chemiluminescence, produced by the addition of luminol (3‐aminophthalhydrazide) to the oscillating system H₂O₂–KSCN–CuSO₄–NaOH, was investigated. In this study the effect of varying the concentration of H₂O₂, KSCN, CuSO₄, NaOH and luminol was investigated in a batch reactor. We showed that the concentration of all components involved in the oscillating chemilumenscent reaction influenced the light intensity and the oscillation period. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biosorption Processes for Natural and Wastewater Treatment – Part 1: Literature Review

An analysis is made of the literature on the mechanism of biosorption‐bioregeneration of organic substances mainly on activated carbon (AC). There have advanced two hypotheses on the biosorption mechanism: the Rodman exoenzymatic hypothesis and the bioregeneration approach of Andrews and Chi Tien. In addition, it was shown that the principal mechanism responsible for the removal of both biodegradable and bioresistant compounds is biological oxidation, but only in combination with adsorption on activated carbon. The authors examine the role of the filter medium in biosorption, factors affecting efficiency of biosorption and bioregeneration of AC and technological aspects of the application of biosorptive processes.     

Fluoride inhibition of yeast enolase: Crystal structure of the enolase–Mg2+–F−–Pi complex at 2.6 Å resolution

Enolase in the presence of its physiological cofactor Mg²⁺ is inhibited by fluoride and phosphate ions in a strongly cooperative manner (Nowak, T, Maurer, P. Biochemistry 20:6901, 1981). The structure of the quaternary complex yeast enolase–Mg²⁺–F^?–P_i has been determined by X-ray diffraction and refined to an R = 16.9% for those data with F/σ(F) ≥ 3 to 2.6 Å resolution with a good geometry of the model. The movable loops of Pro-35-Ala-45, Val-153-Phe-lo9, and Asp-255-Asn-266 are in the closed conformation found previously in the precatalytic substrate–enzyme complex. Calculations of molecular electrostatic potential show that this conformation stabilizes binding of negatively charged ligands at the Mg²⁺ ion more strongly than the open conformation observed in the native enolase. This closed conformation is complementary to the transition state, which also has a negatively charged ion, hydroxide, at Mg²⁺. The synergism of inhibition by F^? and P_i most probably is due to the requirement of P_i, for the closed conformation. It is possible that other Mg²⁺-dependent enzymes that have OH^? ions bound to the metalion in the transition state also will be inhibited by fluoride ions. © Wiley-Liss, Inc.