Borgmcgee7260

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), one of the key foods of the Mediterranean diet, is distinguished by its high content of nutritional and antioxidant compounds compared to other vegetable oils. During EVOO production, the major secoiridoids of EVOO, oleacein, oleocanthal, ligstroside, and oleuropein aglycones, undergo a series of transformations to open- and closed-structure forms. The resulting mixture of compounds can become more complex during the analytical procedure, due to the keto-enol tautomerism of the open forms and their interaction with polar solvents, and therefore more challenging to analyze. Employing the same extraction method used to analyze the other EVOO phenolic compounds, we report here a simple UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS procedure for the quantification of those secoiridoids that is able to co-elute the different isomers of each compound. The method was validated following AOAC guidelines, and the matrix effect and recoveries were within satisfactory limits.The effect of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) stabilizers and gold nanoparticles supported on active carbon (AuNPs/AC) was investigated in this article. Polymers with different molecular weights and hydrolysis degrees have been synthesized and used, like the stabilizing agent of Au nano-catalysts obtained by the sol-immobilization method. The reduction of 4-nitrophenol with NaBH4 has been used as a model reaction to investigate the catalytic activity of synthesized Au/AC catalysts. In addition, we report several characterization techniques such as ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in order to correlate the properties of the polymer with the metal nanoparticle size and the catalytic activity. A volcano plot was observed linking the catalytic performance with hydrolysis degree and the maximum of the curve was identified at a value of 60%. Necrostatin 2 mouse The AuPVA-60 weight ratio was changed in order to explain how the amount of the polymer can influence catalytic properties. The effect of nitroaromatic ring substituents on the catalytic mechanism was examined by the Hammett theory. Moreover, the reusability of the catalyst was investigated, with little to no decrease in activity observed over five catalytic cycles. Morphological and kinetic studies reported in this paper reveal the effect of the PVA polymeric stabilizer properties on the size and catalytic activity of supported gold nanoparticles.Service-learning is a widely adopted educational pedagogy and philosophy. With the support from the Wharf (Holdings) Limited (Group), service-learning was conducted in the "Project WeCan" in Hong Kong. Prior to COVID-19, traditional service-learning was implemented with students learning in the classroom and applying their knowledge and skills to the community through providing direct face-to-face service. With the COVID-19 outbreak in the 2019-20 academic year, school lockdown measures appeared. Students had to learn online and to design and implement service offsite. As the impacts of this rapid shift in paradigm remain unknown, this study examined changes in university students using a pretest-posttest design (n = 124) and perceptions of service-learning experience via the subjective outcome evaluation design (n = 192) under COVID-19. The authors also investigated service recipients' (n = 56) satisfaction with service activities they participated in during the pandemic. Both objective outcome evaluation and subjective outcome evaluation findings revealed that service providers (university students) and recipients (secondary school students) experienced benefits from the Project. Findings support the benefits of online service-learning in "Project WeCan" even during unprecedented times such as COVID-19.This paper presents the scientific problem of the biological corrosion of Portland cements and its effects on the phase composition of cement pastes after the corrosion process in the environment of reactive media from the agricultural industry. Seven Portland cements produced from different cement plants exposed to pig slurry and water as a reference medium for a period of six weeks were tested. After the exposure process in both of the above-mentioned reaction environments, the hydrating cement pastes were characterized in terms of their phase composition using the XRD method and were also subjected to morphological observations and a chemical composition analysis with the application of SEM and EDS methods. The results of these studies indicate the presence of a biological corrosion product in the form of taumasite [C3S·CO2·SO3·15H2O], which is a phase formed as a result of the reaction of dead matter (cement paste) with living matter, caused by the presence of bacteria in pig slurry. In addition to taumasite, the tested samples also showed the presence of the hydration product of Portland cements named portlandite (Ca(OH)2). Moreover, unreacted phases of cement clinker, i.e., dicalcium silicate (C2S) and tricalcium aluminate (C3A), were detected. Based on microscopic observations and analyses of the chemical composition of selected areas of the samples, the presence of the taumasite phase and compact areas of pseudo-crystalline C-S-H phases with different morphological structures, derived from the hydration products of cements doped with ions originating from the corrosive environment, were confirmed.Vaccination is one of the most useful preventive interventions in healthcare. The purpose of our study was to gain overview of the opinions, knowledge, and engagement in vaccination practices among medical students (MS) and junior doctors (JD) in Europe. The survey was distributed from March 2016 until August 2016 via the e-mail and social media of the European Medical Students' Association. In total, 1821 responses from MS and JD from 34 countries in the European region were analysed. The majority of respondents agreed that vaccines are useful (98.7%) and effective (97.2%). Although the necessity of revaccination was supported by 99.2%, only 68.0% of the respondents went through with it. Even though the potential benefit of the flu vaccination seems to be acknowledged by our participants, only 22.1% of MS and JD declared getting the flu shot every or every other season. MS and JD were in favour of specific mandatory vaccination for medical staff (86.0%) and medical students (82.7%). Furthermore, we analysed the self-reported vaccination coverage of our participants regarding 19 vaccines.