Influence of oxygen and long term storage on the profile of volatile compounds released from polymeric multilayer food contact materials sterilized by gamma irradiation

The profile of volatile compounds released from 13 different multilayer polymeric materials for food use, before and after their exposure to gamma radiation, has been assessed by solid-phase microextraction–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Thermosealed bags of different materials were filled with either air or nitrogen to evaluate the oxygen influence. One-third of the samples were analyzed without irradiation, whereas the rest were irradiated at 15 and 25 kGy. Half of the samples were processed just after preparation and the other half was stored for 8 months at room temperature prior to analysis. Very significant differences between unirradiated and irradiated bags were found. About 60–80 compounds were released and identified per sample. A huge peak of 1,3-ditertbutylbenzene was present in most of the irradiated samples. An outstanding reproducibility in all the variables evaluated (chromatograms, oxygen percentage, volume of bags) was noticed. Independently of filling gas, the results of unirradiated materials were almost identical. In contrast, the chromatographic profile and the odor of irradiated bags filled with nitrogen were completely different to those filled with air. Principal component analysis was performed and 86.9% of the accumulated variance was explained with the first two components. The migration of compounds from irradiated materials to the vapor phase was much lower than the limits established in the Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/2011.     

Aromatic amines from polyurethane adhesives in food packaging: The challenge of identification and pattern recognition using Quadrupole-Time of Flight-Mass Spectrometry

Toxic primary aromatic amines (PAAs) are reaction products from residual isocyanates in polyurethane adhesives. The maximum migration level of the total sum of PAAs is 10 ng g⁻¹ of food. This paper reports on a method for quantification of 18 PAAs by UHPLC–MS/MS that was optimised and applied to a series of industrial laminates prepared from polyurethane adhesives. Non-intentionally added substances (NIAS), impurities and other migrants were identified by Q-TOF/MS^E. A comparison of the quantitative values obtained by the colorimetric method using NEDA and by UHPLC–MS/MS confirmed that the first method can overestimate the quantification of PAAs. This could be attributed to the impurities and other NIAS present in the plastic laminate. Values of R² in the analytical characteristics of UHPLC–MS/MS were obtained, the best value being 0.9964 and the most unfavourable 0.7626. The detection limit (LOD) and the quantification limit (LOQ) were 2 pg g⁻¹ and 7 pg g⁻¹, respectively. The stability of the PAAs over time in the acidic simulant in contact with the plastic laminate is also reported.     

The rotational quasi-continuum in specific configurations: high-K states and superdeformation

The analysis of the fluctuations of the counts of unresolved γ-γ energy spectra can extend our knowledge of the rotational motion at high angular momentum and excitation energy above the yrast band. Detailed studies of the rotational quasi-continuum built on specific intrinsic nuclear configurations are here discussed. First, the validity of the K-selection rules in the quasi-continuum region is investigated in the case of the normal deformed nucleus ¹⁶³Er. The γ cascades feeding into low-K and high-K bands are analyzed studying variance and covariance of the spectrum fluctuations. Low-K bands are found to be fed by a much larger effective number of cascades than high-K bands, while the covariance between pairs of gated spectra shows that the cascades feeding into low-K bands are different from those feeding into high-K bands. These findings suggest a persistence of K-selection rules in the region of excitation energy and angular momentum probed by the rotational decay of ¹⁶³Er. As a second case, the existence of a rotational quasi-continuum in the super deformed well of ¹⁴³Eu is discussed. An intense bump of rotationally correlated transitions is observed to develop as function of fold in the high spin region of gated spectra. Fold distribution, angular anisotropies, moment of inertia and life time show that the bump consists of fully damped super deformed transitions. This gives experimental evidence of damped rotational motion up to several MeV excitation energy above the super deformed yrast line.     

High-K band structures in 164Er

High-spin states of the doubly-odd ¹¹²Sb were studied by in-beam spectroscopy using the ⁸⁸Sr (²⁸Si, p3n) and ⁸⁹Y (²⁹Si, α2n) fusion-evaporation reactions at beam energies of 120 and 108 MeV, respectively. γ?γ, charged particle-γ?γ coincidences, and γ?γ angular correlation analyses were employed for determining the level scheme of ¹¹²Sb. In the present work, all the levels except for low-lying states in ¹¹²Sb were newly established. Two ΔI = 1 strongly coupled bands were observed; one is a negative-parity band that is similar to those observed in the neighboring doubly-odd Sb isotopes and the other is a positive-parity band that has a new type structure not observed in the other isotopes. From the similarity of the properties of these ΔI = 1 bands to the bands built on 9/2⁺ 2p?1h states in the odd-A Sb isotopes, we suggest that these two ΔI = 1 bands should be associated with the [π(g_9/2)^?1 ? νh_11/2] and [π(g_9/2)^?1νg_7/2] configurations, respectively.     

Uncertainty and Option Value in Land Allocation Problems

In intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) not only is the shape of the beam controlled, but combinations of open and closed multileaf collimators modulate the intensity as well. In this paper, we offer a mixed integer programming approach which allows optimization over beamlet fluence weights as well as beam and couch angles. Computational strategies, including a constraint and column generator, a specialized set-based branching scheme, a geometric heuristic procedure, and the use of disjunctive cuts, are described. Our algorithmic design thus far has been motivated by clinical cases. Numerical tests on real patient cases reveal that good treatment plans are returned within 30 minutes. The MIP plans consistently provide superior tumor coverage and conformity, as well as dose homogeneity within the tumor region while maintaining a low irradiation to important critical and normal tissues.     

The Giant Dipole Resonance in the superdeformed143Eu nucleus

The γ-decay of the Giant Dipole Resonance (GDR) built on excited nuclear states has been measured for the nucleus¹⁴³Eu. The reaction¹¹⁰Pd(³⁷Cl, 4n)¹⁴³Eu at a beam energy of 165 MeV has been employed. This experiment aimed at searching the γ-decay of the GDR built on the superdeformed¹⁴³Eu states, populated at high spins. High-energy γ-rays were detected in 8 large BaF₂ scintillators in coincidence with discrete transitions measured with the NORDBALL array (in the configuration consisting of 17 HPGe detectors and a 2π multiplicity filter). The spectrum of high-energy γ-rays gated by low-energy transitions between states fed by the superdeformed states shows some excess of yield in the 7–10 MeV region with respect to that gated by transitions between states not populated by the superdeformed states. This excess should be due to the γ-decay of the the giant dipole oscillation along the superdeformed axis of the nucleus that is expected to have a frequency corresponding to ≈9–10 MeV (low-energy component of the GDR strength function). The measured excess, in spite of the large error bars, is found to be of the same order as predicted statistical model values.     

Migration of non intentionally added substances from adhesives by UPLC–Q‐TOF/MS and the role of EVOH to avoid migration in multilayer packaging materials

Polyurethane adhesives are commonly used to laminate multilayer packaging materials for food. Since these materials are in direct contact with the food, compounds could migrate from adhesive into it. For this reason, it is important to identify all the potential migrants and verify their migration. Ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time‐of‐flight–mass spectrometry analyses and ChemSpider database are used to identify the potential migrants from polyurethane adhesives, and these techniques were demonstrated to be very powerful and useful tools for this purpose. Migration tests were carried out using Tenax® as food simulant. Nine out of fifteen non‐volatile compounds, identified in the cured adhesives, migrated. Most of them were identified as cyclic compounds, adipic based, which is the most commonly used monomer to make the polyester/polyol resins for polyurethane bi‐component adhesives. In this work, the use of EvOH layer in several multilayer materials to minimize or avoid migration was evaluated too. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ueber Indicatoren zur Alkalimetrie und Acidimetrie

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Inclusive single-particle distributions in π±p reactions at 8 and 16 GeV/c

Invariant single-particle cross sections for pion and proton production in π^±p interactions at 8 and 16 GeV/c are presented in terms of integrated distributions as functions of x, reduced rapidity ζ and p_⊥², and also in terms of double differential cross sections E d²σ/(dx dp_⊥²) and dζ dp_⊥²). A comparison of π^± and π^? induced reactions is made and the energy dependence is discussed. It is shown that the single-particle structure function cannot be factorized in its dependece on transverse and longitudinal momentum. For the beam-unlike pion, there is an indication for factorizability in terms of rapidity and transverse momentum in a small central region.