Effect of High Pressure on Acid Phosphatase in Milk

Acid phosphatase activity was measured in whole milk, skim milk, acid and rennet wheys before and after subjecting samples to high hydrostatic pressures for 10 min. Whole and skim milks exhibited a significant drop in activity following treatment at pressures in excess of 200 MPa. While rennet whey exhibited similar characteristics, acid whey was more pressure resistant and required pressures in excess of 500 MPa before exhibiting a net loss in activity. Most of the activity was lost in the first 10 min of pressurisation.     

High Temperature-High Pressure Structural Studies of Cerium

Energy dispersive X-ray-diffraction with the large volume press MAX 80 at HASYLAB/DESY is used in the present study for the determination of the p - V - T -relations around the critical point of the f - n -phase transition in Cerium. Furthermore the f - l -phase boundary is studied experimentally to remove the last question marks from the phase diagram of Cerium in the accessible region of pressure and temperature.     

High Pressure Effect on Meat and Lupin Protein Digestibility

High pressure treatment is a mild treatment concerning the nutritional characteristics: for instance vitamins content is very few affected by high-pressure treatment. But the impact of high-pressure on protein digestibility remains poorly understood. This work presents effect of high-pressure treatment on in vitro digestibility of meat and lupin proteins. Two high-pressure conditions (200 and 500 MPa 10 min.) and a heat treatment of 95 °C, 30 min were studied. In vitro digestibility was evaluated with a pepsin reaction. Results show than for both type of proteins, samples pressurised at 500 MPa were the most hydrolysed. Meat proteins were less hydrolysed than control either after heat or 200 MPa treatment. Lupin proteins where more hydrolysed than control after heat or 200 MPa treatment. Thus we revealed that high-pressure treatment presents an effect on the in vitro digestibility of proteins, opening a new perspective of investigations.     

High Pressure and High Temperature Studies on Manganese Oxides

High pressure and high temperature quench experiments on f -MnO 2 , Mn 2 O 3 and sol gel derived manganese oxides have been carried out to identify any new phases to which the materials may transform under high pressure and high temperature conditions. Results of ESR, DTA and TGA investigations on sol gel derived manganese oxide have shown it to be hausmannite Mn 3 O 4 , instead of n -Mn 2 O 3 as reported earlier in the literature. The sol gel derived manganese oxide transforms to n -Mn 2 O 3 when heated above 700°C. Sol gel derived Mn 3 O 4 , when quenched from 5 GPa and temperature range 800-1200°C, gives a mixture of Mn 3 O 4 (hausmannite) and a phase having CaMn 2 O 4 (marokite)-type structure. f -MnO 2 undergoes partial amorphization when pressure-quenched from 8 GPa at room temperature. The high pressure and high temperature quench experiments up to 5 GPa and 700°C showed that the decomposition temperature of f -MnO 2 increases with pressure. The new phase reported by Liu (1976) from diamond-anvil cell (DAC) experiments on pyrolusite MnO 2 is identified to be a low-density polymorph f -MnO 2 . This unusual result of formation of low-density f -MnO 2 , having an open structure at high pressure and high temperature, is probably due to quenching of a non-equilibrium phase in Liu's (1976) laser-heated DAC experiment.     

High Pressure Optical Absorption in Cs 2 TCNQ 3 Complexes Grown Under the Influence of Magnetic Field

Crystals of the organic semiconductor Cs 2 TCNQ 3 have been grown under the influence of magnetic field of 5 T and their optical properties have been compared with the crystals grown without magnetic field. The magnetic field effect manifests itself as the enhancement of the intradimer charge transfer band S 1 , which appears at around 1.3 eV in the E//a polarization. The high-pressure optical absorption measurements have shown that the S 1 band of the crystal grown at 5 T contains a new component, which is significantly intensified with increasing pressure up to 1 GPa, but diminishes as pressure increases further up to 4 GPa, and remains constant at higher pressures. This new component is additional to the component of S 1 band which has similar properties to that of the crystals grown without magnetic filed, which continuously grows up to 3 GPa and abruptly broadens out at higher pressures. The new component of S 1 is strongly linked to the ferromagnetism in this substance.     

高温高压下电解质溶液谱学研究的进展

高温高压下电解质溶液研究在理论和工业应用上都具有重要的意义，拉曼光谱、红外光谱、紫外可见光谱、中子和X射线衍射、以及X射线吸收精细结构方法都已经用于它的研究。随着温度升高，溶液的结构发生了变化，离子的缔合度增加，内层配位水的数目减少，出现了离子的多核簇组成。除了静态结构的研究外，也用拉曼光谱进行溶液的动力学探讨。水热金刚石压腔装置是高温高压电解质溶液研究的一个重要的进步，在水热金刚石压腔装置中，拉曼光谱和X射线吸收精细结构两种方法具有重要的应用潜力。     

B-C-N Compound Synthesized Under High Temperature and High Pressure

Crystalline hexagonal B(N 1 m x C x ) and cubic B-C-N compounds have been synthesized from a precursor produced from melamine and boric acid by application of high temperature and high pressure. The synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction. The lattice parameters for the hexagonal crystal are a=2.506 Å, c=6.657 Å, and that for the cubic crystal is a=3.596 Å. The X-ray photoelectron spectra of the B-C-N compound indicate the presence of B-N, C-N, C-C, and B-C bonds, which suggests that boron, carbon, and nitrogen atoms all bond with one another and that the B-C-N crystal is a compound in which the three kinds of atoms are mixed atomically. The composition of the B-C-N compound is B 0.47 C 0.23 N 0.30 . A strong absorption band at 1000～1120 cm m 1 attributable to the cubic B-C-N phase is observed in the infrared spectrum. The photoluminescence spectrum of hexagonal B-C-N powder measured at room temperature features a broad peak centered at 374 nm, corresponding to the band-edge emission of h-B-C-N, and is similar to that of w-GaN.     

High Pressure Instrumentation: Low and Negative Pressures

Much work on semiconductors, soft solids and biological materials does not require the megabar capability of the diamond anvil cell; a few accurate kbar being all that may be required. Work in this range poses its own challenges, to make the experiments routine, safe and reliable, and well-calibrated. We contrast diamond anvil cells working at what for them is very low pressure, with traditional bombs working at what for them is dangerously high pressure. We describe our preferred solution, a single-diamond cell, and demonstrate its use with Raman data from ethanol under low pressure. Negative hydrostatic pressure cannot be obtained by traditional methods. However, we present data showing the Raman spectrum of ethanol apparently at the negative pressure of m 3 kbar.     

Inactivation of Staphylococcus Aureus and Listeria Monocytogenes in Milk and Cream of Chicken Soup by High Hydrostatic Pressure and Bacteriocins

By the application of HHP; 5.50 and 5.70 log cycle reduction was obtained for S. aureus 485, in milk and cream of chicken soup samples, respectively. Storage of HHP treated milk samples for 24 h at 4 °C gave positive result for S. aureus 765 where no growth was observed for L. monocytogenes strains. Incubation of food samples for an additional 48 h at 37 °C showed growth of L. monocytogenes strains as S. aureus strains. When a bacteriocin-based biopreservative (BP 1 ) was combined with pressurization more than 8 log-cycle reduction in cell population of the resistant strains of S. aureus and L. monocytogenes was achieved in milk. Milk and cream of chicken soup samples were stored at 25 °C and milk samples showed no growth up to 30 day where as Gram-positive bacterial strains in cream of chicken showed growth after 3 days with a rapid increase in cell number thereafter.     

High Pressure Theoretical Studies of Actinide Dioxides

Actinide dioxides (ThO 2 , UO 2 , Pu 2 etc.) compounds have the CaF 2 -type structure at ambient pressure and temperature. Under high pressure, they exist in the PbCl 2 -type structure, belonging to space group Pnma [1]. We have studied crystal structures under high pressure in actinide dioxides by means of first-principles self-consistent total-energy calculations with the non-local Perdew, Burke and Ernzerhof (PBE) exchange correlation using the full-potential linear-muffin-tin-orbital (FPLMTO) method. The atomic equilibrium volume, bulk modulus and transition pressure for actinide dioxides were calculated, covering the full pressure range for which the mentioned experiments have been done [2].     

High Pressure Study of Dynamics in Tetraphenyltin

Measurements of proton NMR relaxation times as well as inelastic and elastic neutron scattering of tetraphenyltin (C 6 H 5 ) 4 Sn as a function of temperature and pressure were performed in the work. It allowed to determine activation volume j V * for a small amplitude reorientation/oscillation of the phenyl rings. The values of activation volume is very small and the ratio of j V */ V M ( V M is molar volume) is less than 1%.     

High Pressure Processing at Subzero Temperature: Effect on Spoilage Microbiota of Poultry

Mechanically recovered poultry meat (MRPM) was treated at 350 and 450 MPa for 5 and 15 min at m 20 °C and then stored at 2 °C. Counts of mesophilic, psychrotrophic and lactic acid bacteria were determined at 1, 4 and 15 days of storage. Initial counts were ca. 7 log CFU/g for the three populations. High pressure induced lethalities of ca. 1.5 log CFU/g for mesophiles and psychrotrophs and, in some cases, ca. 2.5 log CFU/g for lactic acid bacteria. At 4 days, counts in pressurized samples increased less for mesophiles and psychrotrophs ( h 0.5 CFU/g) than for lactic acid bacteria ( S 1 log CFU/g). At 15 days, counts of the three populations were ca. 9 log CFU/g in all samples. High pressure processing at subzero temperature does not extend shelf-life of MRPM.     

Applications of High-Hydrostatic Pressure on Milk and Dairy Products

Interest in high-pressure (HP) applications on milk and dairy products has recently increased. Pressures between 300 and 600 MPa has been shown to be an effective method to inactivate microorganisms including most infectious food-borne pathogens. In addition to microbial destruction, it has been reported that HP improves rennet or acid coagulation of milk without detrimental effects on important quality characteristics, such as taste, flavour, vitamins, and nutrients. These characteristics offer to dairy industry numerous practical applications to produce microbial safety, minimally processed dairy products with improved performances, and to develop novel dairy products of high nutritional and sensory quality, novel texture and increased shelf life.     

High Pressure Fluorescence of 2,5-diphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole Crystals

The dependence of the fluorescence of 2,5-diphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole (DPO) crystals under compression up to 7 GPa was experimentally studied. The knowledge of the structural behavior at high pressure allows to relate the variation of the fluorescence to the diminution of the inter-molecular distance.     

Thermal Control Simulation in High Pressure Treatment of Foods

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) has become in the last few years a promising technology for food processing and preservation. Pressure treatment of foods always results in a temperature increase due to the work of compression. After compression, heat loss through the metal wall of the high-pressure vessel causes temperature gradients in the processed product. So, it is absolutely necessary to know how thermal exchanges in high-pressure treatments are produced and at what rate in order to establish the real conditions at which a given process is realised. In this paper, a modelling/simulation of the thermal exchanges taking place in a high-pressure pilot unit during different processes of pressurisation and depressurisation is presented. Good agreement between simulated and experimental values is found. This work involves an important advance in optimisation and regulation of high-pressure processes in food industry.     

High Pressure Studies on the Optical and Electronic Properties of Para -Terphenyl

Based on X-ray powder diffraction experiments of p -terphenyl that yield pressure dependent lattice parameters, we performed geometry optimizations of all structural degrees of freedom including bond lengths and bond angles as well as molecular orientation using ab initio bandstructure methods. For these optimized structures we calculated the dielectric tensors. Upon increasing pressure we find a spectral red shift of the lowest energy absorption feature that is significantly smaller than that of the second peak at higher energies. We attribute this effect to intermolecular interactions that affect the bands involved in the second transition more than the bands giving raise to the first transition. This picture is confirmed by quantum chemical calculations for single molecules with the internal geometry extracted from the optimized structures.     

Colour Changes During Ripening of High Pressure Treated Hard Caprine Cheese

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment of cheese intended to accelerate ripening. Along with increased proteolysis, some other parameters were affected, colour being one of them. Right after HHP and at the end of ripening time, Hunterlab colour parameters were very similar in both control and cheese treated at 400 MPa, but during ripening they evolved in a different way. HHP-treated cheese had lower lightness and higher chroma values than control cheese and both characteristics were unexpectedly associated to higher moisture values. Those differences are attributed to changes in cheese microstructure.     

Observation of the Cinnabar Phase in ZnSe at High Pressure

In this paper we describe the results of an energy dispersive X-ray diffraction experiment carried out in the ZnSe 1 m x Te x alloy and pure ZnSe under high pressure. In the downstroke the cinnabar phase is observed between the rocksalt and the zincblende phases. The analysis of the whole series of compositions ( x =0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2) enables us to establish its lattice parameters in ZnSe ( a =3.785 + and c =8.844 + at 10.5 GPa). The X-ray diffraction pattern simulation suggests that the internal parameters u and v are close to 0.5, indicating that the cinnabar phase in ZnSe is similar to that observed in GaAs and ZnTe. The cinnabar's stability range decreases as the Te content is reduced.     

X-Ray Diffraction Investigation of Oleic Acid under High Pressure

Pressure has a specific influence on the light scattering in those liquids in which all molecules have an unsaturated double bond C=C. Strong changes of intensity of transmitted and scattered light in oleic acid were observed during its transition to the high-pressure phase. In this paper, local order in liquid of oleic acid has been studied using the X-ray diffraction photographic Laue method. Experiments were run at room temperature under atmospheric pressure as well as under pressures up to 0.25 GPa. At pressures above 0.2 GPa a strong increase of ordering of molecules, similar to a smectic liquid crystal phase, has been observed. This confirms results obtained previously by studies of light scattering under high pressure.     

Proton Diffusion in High Pressure Ice

We have developed a spectroscopic method for measuring proton diffusion process in ice at high pressure and temperature using a diamond anvil cell (DAC). It enables us to determine the self diffusion constant of proton (deuteron) from infrared reflection spectra collected as a function of time for a H 2 O/D 2 O ice bilayer prepared and pressurized in the DAC. A preliminary experiment for ice VII at 14 GPa and 400 K provided a diffusion constant D=1.2times1^{-15} m 2 /s. This was the first measurement of the proton diffusion in pure ice.