Foams and surface rheological properties of β-casein, gliadin and glycinin

Interfacial rheological properties and their suitability for foam production and stability of two vegetable proteins were studied and compared to β-casein. Proteins used ranged from flexible to rigid/globular in the order of β-casein, gliadin and soy glycinin. Experiments were performed at pH 6.7. Network forming properties were characterised by the surface dilational modulus (determined with the ring trough) and the critical falling film length (L_still) at which a stagnant protein film will break. Gliadin had the highest dilational modulus, followed by glycinin and β-casein, whereas glycinin formed the strongest film against fracture in the overflowing cylinder. The rate of decrease in the surface tension was studied at the air–water (Wilhelmy plate method) and the oil–water interface (bursting membrane) and the dynamic surface tension during compression and expansion in the caterpillar. Gliadin had the lowest equilibrium interfacial tensions and β-casein the lowest dynamic surface tension during expansion. Hardly any foam could be formed at a concentration of 0.1 g/l by shaking. At a concentration of 1.4 g/l most foam was formed by β-casein, followed by gliadin and glycinin. It seems that in the first place the rate of adsorption is important for foam formation. For the vegetable proteins, adsorption was slow. This resulted in lower foamability, especially for glycinin.     

On the Asymptotics of Fekete-Type Points for Univariate Radial Basis Interpolation

Suppose that K ^d is compact and that we are given a function fC(K) together with distinct points x_iK, 1in. Radial basis interpolation consists of choosing a fixed (basis) function g : ⁺→ and looking for a linear combination of the translates g(|x−x_j|) which interpolates f at the given points. Specifically, we look for coefficients c_j such that has the property that F(x_i)=f(x_i), 1in. The Fekete-type points of this process are those for which the associated interpolation matrix [g(|x_i−x_j|)]_1i,jn has determinant as large as possible (in absolute value). In this work, we show that, in the univariate case, for a broad class of functions g, among all point sequences which are (strongly) asymptotically distributed according to a weight function, the equally spaced points give the asymptotically largest determinant. This gives strong evidence that the Fekete points themselves are indeed asymptotically equally spaced.     

Deposition of Oral Bacteria and Polystyrene Particles to Quartz and Dental Enamel in a Parallel Plate and Stagnation Point Flow Chamber

The aim of this paper is to determine to what extent (i) deposition of oral bacteria and polystyrene particles, (ii) onto quartz and dental enamel with and without a salivary conditioning film, (iii) in a parallel plate (PP) and stagnation point (SP) flow chamber and at common Peclet numbers are comparable. All three bacterial strains showed different adhesion behaviors, and even Streptococcus mitis BMS, possessing a similar cell surface hydrophobicity as polystyrene particles, did not mimic polystyrene particles in its adhesion behavior, possibly as a result of the more negative ζ potentials of the polystyrene particles. The stationary endpoint adhesion of all strains, including polystyrene particles, was lower in the presence of a salivary conditioning film, while also desorption probabilities under flow were higher in the presence of a conditioning film than in its absence. Deposition onto quartz and enamel surfaces was different, but without a consistent trend valid for all strains and polystyrene particles. It is concluded that differences in experimental results exist, and the process of bacterial deposition to enamel surfaces cannot be modeled by using polystyrene particles and quartz collector surfaces.     

The learning machine in quantitative chemical analysis: Part 2. Potentiometric titrations of mixtures of three bases

Computer-calculated curves for the titration of mixtures of one strong base and two weak bases are used in the training and testing of a linear learning machine. The results indicate that multicategory classifiers can be calculated from a computer-generated training set of titration curves in which a random error of ±0.01 unit in the pH values is introduced. The relative error in the predictions for concentrations of bases not included in the training set was of the orderof ± 1% for concentration ratios up to 10:1 when δpK_b for the weak bases exceeded 1 pK unit and for K_b1 ? 5 × 10^-4 and K_b2 ? 10^-9. Calculation of the first derivative of the volume of titrant versus pH curves as a preprocessing step was necessary to obtain this accuracy for the weak bases, whereas the volume of titrant versus pH curves had to be used directly in the determination of the strong base. Predictions of concentrations of actual samples were in agreement with the computer-calculated results.     

The polarographic determination of stability constants of urea/crown ether complexes in methanol

A general method for determination of the stability constants of complexes of crown ethers and related compounds with small organic molecules in polar solvents is described, based on an indirect polarographic procedure. Computerized evaluation of the data forms an essential part of the procedure.     

A validated gas chromatographic method for the evaluation of enzymatic enantioselectivity in kinetic resolution applications

An enantioselective gas chromatography (GC) method has been developed and validated for determination of the enantiomers of citronellol in kinetic resolution experiments. S-(-)-beta-Citronellol is a precursor of rose oxide. After solid-phase extraction (SPE) with ethyl acetate, the enantiomers of R-(+)-beta-citronellol and S-(-)-beta-citronellol and their corresponding acetate- and butyrate esters were separated through enantioselective GC respectively. The method was validated and found to be reproducible, specific, accurate, and precise. Analyte recoveries and detection limits were also determined. The applicability of this method was shown in a kinetic resolution experiment using lipase A of Bacillus subtilis.     

Amperometric detection of amino acids with a passivated copper electrode

The amperometric behaviour of a copper electrode towards amino acids is studied by means of a rotating disc electrode. A theoretical model describing the anodic background current in a buffer solution and the increase of the current caused by amino acids is checked experimentally. The influences of the amino acid concentration, the rotation speed of the electrode and the composition of the buffer solution are studied. It is proved that chemical dissolution of a passivating film on the electrode surface, which is enhanced by the complexation reaction between the amino acid and copper(II) ions, is the principle of the phenomena observed. The applicability to flow systems is demonstrated.     

Determination of valepotriates

In this paper an overview is given of qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis used for valepotriates. Methods like spectophotometry, titrimetry, TLC, GC, HPLC, MS, CE as well as p-SFC have been applied. Today HPLC is the method of choice. The usefulness of the individual methods are discussed.     

Enantioseparation of selected N-tert.-butyloxycarbonyl amino acids in high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis with a teicoplanin chiral selector

Enantioseparation of N-tert.-butyloxycarbonyl amino acids (N-t-Boc-Aas) with teicoplanin chiral selector was performed in two different separation systems: A teicoplanin-based chiral stationary phase (CSP-TE) was used in reversed-phase HPLC, and the same chiral selector (CS) was added into a background electrolyte (BGE) in HPCE. The enantioselective interaction with the same CSP/CS can be influenced by several factors, such as mobile phase/background electrolyte composition: the buffer concentration, pH, the CS concentration, the presence of organic modifiers. In addition, the charge of the chiral selector related to the charge of the analyte and to EOF are important variables in CE. The effect of these parameters on enantioselectivity and enantioseparation of selected N-t-Boc-Aas was studied. The presence of a sufficient concentration (1% solution) of a triethylamine acetate buffer in the mobile phase was shown to be essential for enantioseparation of these blocked amino acids in HPLC. A certain concentration of teicoplanin aggregates (along with teicoplanin molecules) in the BGE is required to obtain enantioseparation of N-t-Boc-Aas in HPCE.