The use of microwave heating for date fruits and conventional hot air treatments for cocoa beans is recommended. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The processing of cross-linked polyarylene ether nitrile (PEN), which has a triazine rings structure, has been investigated under different reaction times and temperatures. In this study, the PEN films prepared by the tape-casting formed the thermally

stable triazine rings by catalytic cross-linking reaction gradually, which was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The chemical cross-linking reaction occurred as the CN group absorption of PEN at 2221 Volasertib concentration cm(-1) decreased and a new absorption peak, at 1682 cm(-1), was observed, and the absorption peak intensity would be progressively larger, with the extension of the processing time. After the formation of cross-linking networks, the cross-linking

degree and thermal and mechanical properties of the processed films were improved substantially, compared with the untreated films. The film with added ZnCl2 as the catalyst was more rapidly cross-linked, and its properties were better than that without catalyst at the same treatment conditions. The glass-transition temperature (T-g) of PEN films processed at 350 degrees C for 4 h (213.65 degrees C) was higher than that of PEN films before the treatment (161 degrees C), and Elacridar inhibitor the tensile strength was also improved significantly. The PEN was processed at 350 degrees C for 2 h, whose initial decomposition temperature increases by about 10 degrees C, compared with that of

untreated film, at one time. The rheology HKI-272 in vivo behavior of the cross-linked films was processed on dynamic rheometer to monitor and track the process of polymer cross-linking reaction. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 120: 1822-1828, 2011″
“Chronic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is characterized by the presence of extra-hippocampal brain abnormality and cognitive impairment in both memory and nonmemory domains. However, the link between structural integrity and cognition has not frequently been studied. Forty-six patients with TLE and 61 age-matched controls were studied to determine the predictive relationship between baseline thalamic volume and performance on measures of executive functioning evaluated 4 years later. As expected, the TLE group had lower baseline thalamic volumes than controls and also performed more poorly on measures of executive functioning. Total thalamic volume significantly predicted subsequent performance on all three measures of executive functioning. These findings were maintained when both hippocampal volume and frontal lobe volume were taken into account. These findings add to a growing literature demonstrating a link between extra-hippocampal volume abnormalities and cognitive functioning in TLE. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc.