Search results for "model system"
showing 10 items of 55 documents
Antibacterial activity of Borago officinalis and Brassica juncea aqueous extracts evaluated in vitro and in situ using different food model systems
2014
The present study was undertaken to characterize the antibacterial activity of the aqueous extracts (AEs) obtained from the leaves of Borago officinalis L. and Brassica juncea L. The antagonistic activity was evaluated against several bacteria (42 strains of Listeria monocytogenes, 35 strains of Staphylococcus aureus, 38 strains of Enterobacter spp. and 18 strains of Salmonella enterica) commonly associated with foodborne diseases by paper disc diffusion method. The susceptibility to the plant extracts was strain specific. Thirty-five strains (7 L. monocytogenes, 11 S. aureus, 1 S. Enteritidis, 1 S. Veneziana, 7 Enterobacter hormaechei, 5 Enterobacter cloacae, 1 Enterobacter sakazakii and 2…
Statistical mechanics characterization of spatio-compositional inhomogeneity
2009
On the basis of a model system of pillars built of unit cubes, a two-component entropic measure for the multiscale analysis of spatio-compositional inhomogeneity is proposed. It quantifies the statistical dissimilarity per cell of the actual configurational macrostate and the theoretical reference one that maximizes entropy. Two kinds of disorder compete: i) the spatial one connected with possible positions of pillars inside a cell (the first component of the measure), ii) the compositional one linked to compositions of each local sum of their integer heights into a number of pillars occupying the cell (the second component). As both the number of pillars and sum of their heights are conser…
Supersaturation and Crystal Nucleation in Confined Geometries
1998
Surface aggregation as a necessary condition for interfacially induced crystal nucleation is studied with a surface forces apparatus (SFA).1-3 As a model system, we use the chloride salt of the rod...
Probing Protein−Membrane Interactions Using Solid Supported Membranes
2011
International audience; Tethered bilayer lipid membranes have been used as a model system to mimic the interactions between the whey protein β-lactoglobulin and a lipid interface. The approach allowed for a detailed study of the lipid-protein interactions, the results being of possible importance in food and cosmetic applications. For such applications, lipid-protein interactions and the interfacial behavior are vital factors in controlling and manipulating process conditions such as emulsion stabilization and gelification. Lipid composition as well as the structural properties of the protein governed their interactions, which were probed by a combination of surface plasmon spectroscopy, ne…
Transfer of volatile phenols at oak wood/wine interface in a model system
2006
Abstract In order to assess the influence of wood on the concentration of aroma compounds during ageing of wine, the transfer of volatile phenols including 4-ethylphenol, eugenol and a homologous series of guaiacols from wine to oak wood were studied in a model system at 10°C. At equilibrium most of the volatile phenols adsorbed in the wood. The results display that the amounts adsorbed depend on the nature of the volatile phenols and the botanical origin of oak wood.
Larval zebrafish as an in vitro model for evaluating toxicological effects of mycotoxins.
2020
The presence of mycotoxins in food has created concern. Mycotoxin prevalence in our environment has changed in the last few years maybe due to climatic and other environmental changes. Evidence has emerged from in vitro and in vivo models: some mycotoxins have been found to be potentially carcinogenic, embryogenically harmful, teratogenic, and to generate nephrotoxicity. The risk assessment of exposures to mycotoxins at early life stages became mandatory. In this regard, the effects of toxic compounds on zebrafish have been widely studied, and more recently, mycotoxins have been tested with respect to their effects on developmental and teratogenic effects in this model system, which offers …
The solubilization site of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-porphyrin-Mn(III) in DPPC vesicles: A spectrophotometric and tensiometric study
2006
The solubilization site of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-porphyrin-Mn(III) (MnTDPPC) in (L)-alpha-dipalmitoylphosphatidyl choline (DPPC) vesicles was determined in a systematic UV-vis spectrophotometric study. Measurements of the MnTDPPC absorbance have been conducted at constant temperatures (in the interval 30 degrees C <= T <= 48 degrees C) and varying concentrations of phospholipid. In the entire temperature range, the absorption due to MnTDCCP was found to increase with increasing DPPC concentration, until it reaches a plateau value. The data have been analyzed using a pseudo-phase model yielding the binding constant of MnTDCPP to vesicular aggregates. No significant tempera…
How To Design Selective Ligands for Highly Conserved Binding Sites: A Case Study Using N-Myristoyltransferases as a Model System
2019
A model system of two related enzymes with conserved binding sites, namely N-myristoyltransferase from two different organisms, was studied to decipher the driving forces that lead to selective inhibition in such cases. Using a combination of computational and experimental tools, two different selectivity-determining features were identified. For some ligands, a change in side-chain flexibility appears to be responsible for selective inhibition. Remarkably, this was observed for residues orienting their side chains away from the ligands. For other ligands, selectivity is caused by interfering with a water molecule that binds more strongly to the off-target than to the target. On the basis o…
Polydispersity and Molecular Weight Distribution of Hyperbranched Graft Copolymers via “Hypergrafting” of ABm Monomers from Polydisperse Macroinitiat…
2013
The hypergrafting strategy designates the synthesis of hyperbranched graft copolymers (HGCs) in a grafting-from approach, using ABm monomers, from multifunctional, polydisperse macroinitiator cores by slow monomer addition. Hypergrafting leads to complex polymer topologies with defined molecular weight, degree of branching (DB), and polydispersity (PD). By a generating function formalism, a generally applicable equation for the PD of HGCs (PD = PDf + (m – 1)/f) is derived, where PDf is the polydispersity of the core and f its average functionality. In addition, the complete molecular weight distribution function has been calculated for varied m and f as well as for a given distribution of i…
Influence of chain stiffness on knottedness in single polymers.
2013
In the present article, we investigate and review the influence of chain stiffness on self-entanglements and knots in a single polymer chain with Monte Carlo simulations spanning good solvent, theta and globular phases. The last-named are of particular importance as a model system for DNA in viral capsids. Intriguingly, the dependence of knot occurrence and complexity with increasing stiffness is non-trivial, but can be understood with a few simple concepts outlined in the present article.