Rapid crack growth in a thermoelastic solid under mixed-mode thermomechanical loading

A two-dimensional steady-sate analysis of semi-infinite brittlecrack growth at a constant subcritical rate in an unboundedfully-coupled thermoelastic solid under mixed-mode thermomechanicalloading is made. The loading consists of normal and shear tractionsand heat fluxes applied as point sources (line loads in theout-of-plane direction). A related problem is solved exactly in an integral transformspace, and robust asymptotic forms used to reduce the originalproblem to a set of integral equations. The equations are partiallycoupled and exhibit operators of both Cauchy and Abel types,yet can be solved analytically. The temperature change field at a distance from the moving crackedge is then constructed, and its dominant term is found tobe controlled by the imposed heat fluxes. The role of this termis, indeed, enhanced if the heat fluxes serve to render thecrack as a net heat source/sink for the solid, as opposed tobeing a transmitter of heat across its plane. More generally,the influence of the thermoelastic coupling on this field, aswell as other functions, is found to increase with crack speed.     

Uncertainty in the determination of glucose in aqueous solutions by high‐performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection

The determination of glucose and other carbohydrates is the most widespread chemical analysis that is performed within the industries of food, beverage, forage, biomass, pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals among others. Besides that, sugar refineries need to control their products, by‐products and effluents, and furthermore, glucose in the sucrose refining process, is considered an impurity, which shall be controlled. Being HPLC the most currently instrumental technique used for glucose analysis, the evaporative light scattering detector (ELSD) offers advantages (sensitivity, possibility for operating in gradient mode) over the also used refractive index detector. In this work, an HPLC‐ELSD methodology was optimised and validated, aiming the estimate of the uncertainty associated with the results at low levels of concentration of glucose to be measured. Linearity of the response was obtained in the range of glucose concentrations from 20 to 300 mg/L, with an analysis time of 10 min. The global uncertainty was estimated accordingly to the bottom‐up approach used by Eurachem. It was 13% on average for concentrations from 100 to 300 mg/L. For lower concentrations, uncertainty increased significantly up to 30% in the vicinity of the LOD of the method.     

Synthesis of pure stereoisomers of benzo[b]thienyl dehydrophenylalanines by Suzuki cross-coupling. Preliminary studies of antimicrobial activity

Several benzo[b]thienyldehydrophenylalanines were synthesized from pure stereoisomers of the methyl ester of N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-β-bromodehydrophenylalanine as an extension of our previously reported method for the synthesis of dehydrotryptophan analogues to dehydrophenylalanine derivatives. The latter were obtained in high yields by N-deprotection and bromination of N,N-bis-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-(Z)-dehydrophenylalanine using TFA and NBS. This was carried out in two steps or in a one pot procedure resulting in different E/Z ratios. These compounds were coupled under Suzuki cross-coupling conditions [Pd(PPh₃)₄, Na₂CO₃, DME/H₂O] with several boronic benzo[b]thienyl acids in good to high yields maintaining the stereochemistry of the starting materials. The best yields were obtained when the boronic acid was in position 7 of the benzo[b]thiophene and with the E isomer of the brominated dehydrophenylalanine. In some cases it was possible to increase the lower yields by changing the Pd source to PdCl₂(PPh₃)₂. A model dipeptide was prepared coupling a benzo[b]thienyldehydrophenylalanine with the methyl ester of alanine. Preliminary antimicrobial studies were performed with both isomers of one of the β, β-diaryldehydroalanines obtained. The results show that the compounds are selective and very active (very low MICs) against Gram positive bacteria (B. cereus and B. subtilis) the Z-isomer being more active. The compounds are also active against Candida albicans presenting similar MICs.     

Synthetic magnetic opals

We present studies of novel nanocomposites of BiNi impregnated into the structure of opals as well as inverse opals. Atomic force microscopy and high resolution elemental analyses show a highly ordered structure and uniform distribution of the BiNi filler in the matrix. These BiNi-based nanocomposites are found to exhibit distinct ferromagnetic-like ordering with transition temperature of about 675 K. As far as we know there exists no report in literature on any BiNi compound which is magnetic.     

Organic bee pollen: botanical origin, nutritional value, bioactive compounds, antioxidant activity and microbiological quality

Organic bee pollen (BP, n = 22) harvested from the Douro International Natural Park (DINP, Portugal) was studied. Nine botanical families were found in the mixture of the samples. The water activity and pH ranged 0.21-0.37 and 4.3-5.2, respectively. The BP analyses averaged 67.7% carbohydrates, 21.8% crude protein, 5.2% crude fat and 2.9% ash. The energy ranged from 396.4 to 411.1 kcal/100 g. The principal fatty acid found was linolenic, followed by linoleic acid, palmitic acid and oleic acid. The phenolic and flavonoid contents varied from 12.9 to 19.8 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of extract and from 4.5 to 7.1 mg of catechin equivalents/g of extract, respectively. The scavenger activity and β-carotene bleaching assays values (EC??) were 3.0 ± 0.7 mg/mL and 4.6 mg/mL ± 0.9 mg/mL, respectively. E. coli, sulphite-reducing Clostridia, Salmonella and S. aureus were not found. Since there are studies indicating appreciable differences among BPs from different regions, the full characterization of BP from diverse origins still appears to be a sound research priority in order to obtain reliable data about this beehive product.     

Study of organic honey from the Northeast Portugal

Concerns about traces of numerous toxic substances and authenticity have prompted consumer demand for honey that is certified as organic, based on strict ecological, natural principles and traceability. The present study aims to characterize organic honey samples (n = 73) from Northeast Portugal, with respect to floral nectar origin, physicochemical parameters and microbial safety. The phenols and flavonoids contents, often referred to as responsible for honey's bioactive properties, were also assessed. All organic honey samples were classified as monofloral lavender (Lavandula sp.), exceeded in quality the international physicochemical standards and showed low microbiological counts (yeast, moulds and aerobic mesophiles), with negative results in respect to fecal coliforms, Salmonella and sulphite-reducing Clostridium spp. Correlation of the palynological, physicochemical and microbiological results is necessary to check the authenticity, quality and sanitation of honey. Although not required by international legislation, results of those assessments provide a complete outlook and elucidation of the organic honey's properties, which could promote its valorisation.     

Role of Honey in Advanced Wound Care

Honey is a natural product rich in several phenolic compounds, enzymes, and sugars with antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial potential. Indeed, the development of honey-based adhesives for wound care and other biomedical applications are topics being widely investigated over the years. Some of the advantages of the use of honey for wound-healing solutions are the acceleration of dermal repair and epithelialization, angiogenesis promotion, immune response promotion and the reduction in healing-related infections with pathogenic microorganisms. This paper reviews the main role of honey on the development of wound-healing-based applications, the main compounds responsible for the healing capacity, how the honey origin can influence the healing properties, also highlighting promising results in in vitro and in vivo trials. The challenges in the use of honey for wound healing are also covered and discussed. The delivery methodology (direct application, incorporated in fibrous membranes and hydrogels) is also presented and discussed.     

A novel approach for honey pollen profile assessment using an electronic tongue and chemometric tools

Nowadays the main honey producing countries require accurate labeling of honey before commercialization, including floral classification. Traditionally, this classification is made by melissopalynology analysis, an accurate but time-consuming task requiring laborious sample pre-treatment and high-skilled technicians. In this work the potential use of a potentiometric electronic tongue for pollinic assessment is evaluated, using monofloral and polyfloral honeys. The results showed that after splitting honeys according to color (white, amber and dark), the novel methodology enabled quantifying the relative percentage of the main pollens (Castanea sp., Echium sp., Erica sp., Eucaliptus sp., Lavandula sp., Prunus sp., Rubus sp. and Trifolium sp.). Multiple linear regression models were established for each type of pollen, based on the best sensors' sub-sets selected using the simulated annealing algorithm. To minimize the overfitting risk, a repeated K-fold cross-validation procedure was implemented, ensuring that at least 10–20% of the honeys were used for internal validation. With this approach, a minimum average determination coefficient of 0.91 ± 0.15 was obtained. Also, the proposed technique enabled the correct classification of 92% and 100% of monofloral and polyfloral honeys, respectively. The quite satisfactory performance of the novel procedure for quantifying the relative pollen frequency may envisage its applicability for honey labeling and geographical origin identification. Nevertheless, this approach is not a full alternative to the traditional melissopalynologic analysis; it may be seen as a practical complementary tool for preliminary honey floral classification, leaving only problematic cases for pollinic evaluation.     

Interference of chitosan in glucose analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection

The purpose of this work was to quantify glucose in aqueous solutions containing chitosan by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD). Chitosan is a natural compound that is used alone or as an additive in several formulations. Microencapsulation of bioactive compounds such as glucose, by means of chitosan, is being explored, but difficulties arise when glucose needs to be determined in the presence of chitosan. HPLC is the technique most commonly used for glucose analysis, and ELSD may offer advantages (e.g. sensitivity and the possibility of operating in gradient mode) compared with other detectors. The influence of chitosan in the analysis of glucose by HPLC with ELSD was investigated at different pH values of the aqueous solutions. Isocratic elution with an acetonitrile/water mixture (80:20, v/v) and water washing between runs were the best options to avoid the mucoadhesive properties of chitosan, which are responsible for column degradation and variability of the retention time of glucose. The developed methodology was considered completely adequate for rapid glucose analysis in aqueous solutions with low pH (< 3), in the presence of chitosan.