Microwave-assisted digestion procedures for biological samples with diluted nitric acid: Identification of reaction products

Microwave-assisted sample preparation using diluted nitric acid solutions is an alternative procedure for digesting organic samples. The efficiency of this procedure depends on the chemical properties of the samples and in this work it was evaluated by the determination of crude protein amount. fat and original carbon. Soybeans grains, bovine blood. bovine muscle and bovine viscera were digested in a cavity-microwave oven using oxidant mixtures in different acid concentrations. The digestion efficiency was evaluated based on the determination of residual carbon content and element recoveries using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). In order to determine the main residual organic compounds, the digests were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (1 H NMR). Subsequently, studies concerning separation of nitrobenzoic acid isomers were performed by ion pair reversed phase liquid chromatography using a C18 stationary phase, water:acetonitrile:methanol (75:20:5, v/v/v) +0.05% (v/v) TFA as mobile phase and ultraviolet detection at 254 nm. Sample preparation based on diluted acids proved to be feasible and a recommendable alternative for organic sample digestion, reducing both the reagent volumes and the variability of the residues as a result of the process of decomposition. It was shown that biological matt-ices containing amino acids, proteins and lipids in their composition produced nitrobenzoic acid isomers and other organic compounds after cleavage of chemical bonds. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Proceedings from the 2nd seminar on Development of Modular Products : December 13-14, 2004, Campus Framtidsdalen, Dalarna University, Sweden

Companies are focusing on efforts increasing the overall efficiency at the same time as the ability to meet customer needs becomes even more important. There is a need to improve the organisation and the product design at the same time through the visualisation of how a product family design should be performed in order to adapt to customers, company internal issues, and long-term strategy. Therefore, there is a need for qualified personnel in today’s companies with the knowledge of product development and modularity. The graduate course Development of Modular Products at Högskolan Dalarna has the objective to provide such knowledge. As a part of the course, each student will individually perform extensive research within a chosen area with respect to Product Development and Modularity. This proceeding is the result of the students own work and was presented during a two day seminar at Dalarna University. The contents of the papers cover many areas, from the identification of customer needs to cost effective manufacturing, and benefits of modularisation. The reader of this proceeding will not only benefit from many areas within Product Development and Modularity but also from the colour of many cultures. In this proceeding, students from nine countries are represented (Bangladesh, China, Costa Rica, Germany, Holland, India, Luxembourg Nigeria, and Sweden). Enjoy the reading.

Mercury content of tobacco products

Mercury contamination of food products results from contact with soil, water, and air polluted with mercury from industrial sources, as well as from the use of mercury-containing pesticides and fungicides on plants. A method was developed for extracting mercury from tobacco products. The mercury content of various tobacco products was determined, using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer.

Does humor work in advertising of pharmaceutical products?

This thesis aims to evaluate whether humorous television commercials (TVCs) work for non-prescription drugs, known as “over-the-counter” (OTC). The construct humor in advertising is controversial since it involves complex and broad typology, and depends on the audience characteristics. Several studies within different product categories indicated that some consumer goods are better suited for humorous TVCs, while others, such as OTC drugs, may not take advantage from it. Paradoxically, drug announcers spend billions of dollars worldwide in humorous OTC ads. An experiment with real consumers was designed as between-and-within-subjects, to test three hypotheses. Sixty women were exposed to pairs of humorous and non-humorous TVCs, for each of the three drug categories (analgesics, vitamins, and laxatives). We used fictional brand names and real ads, and measured four dependant variables: attitude toward the advertising (AAD), attitude toward the brand (ABR), purchase intention (PI), and brand choice (BC), after subjects being exposed to manipulations of two independent variables: humorous vs. non-humorous TV commercials, for the drug categories. Conditional logit model confirmed that humor does not help to persuade respondents, whose choices, attitudes, and purchase intention were less favorable with humorous TVCs, in comparison to non-humorous executions. Future research is presented regarding marketing for pharmaceutical products.

The influence of emotional contagion on products evaluation

Emotional Contagion is the mechanism that includes mimicking and the automatic synchronization of facial expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements with another person and, consequently, convergence of emotions between the sender and receiver. Researches of this mechanism conducted usually in the fields of Psychology and Marketing tends to investigate face-to-face interactions. However, the question remains to what extent, if any, emotional contagion may occur with facial expressions in photos, since many purchase situations are brought on by catalogues or websites. This thesis has the goal to verify this gap and, in addition, verify whether emotional contagion is more common in females than in males as stated in previous studies. Emotions have been studied because it is intuitively apparent that emotions affect the dynamics of the interaction between a salesperson and customers (Verbeke, 1997); in other words, emotions may significantly affect consumer behavior. Therefore, this thesis also verified whether the facial expressions that transmit emotions could be associated to product evaluations. To investigate these questions, an experiment was done with 171 participants, which were exposed to either smiling (positive emotion) or neutral advertising. The differences between the individual advertisements were limited to the facial expressions of figures in the advertisements (either smiling or neutral/without smiling). One specialist and two students analyzed videotaped records of the participants’ responses, and found that participants who saw the positive stimulus mimicked the picture (smiling back) confirming the Emotional Contagion in Photos (the first hypothesis). The second hypothesis was to analyze if there is difference based in gender. The results demonstrated that there is not a significant difference between genders; female and male equally suffer Emotional Contagion. The third hypothesis was related to whether the positive emotions vs. neutral emotions acquired from the positive facial expression in the photo are associated to a positive evaluation of the product also displayed in the photo. Evidences show that the ad with a positive expression could change more positively the attitude, the sympathy, the reliability, and the intention of purpose of the participant compared to those who were exposed to the neutral condition. Therefore, the analysis concludes that the facial expressions displayed in photos produce emotional contagion and may interfere on the evaluation product. A discussion of the theoretical and practical implications and limitations for these findings are presented.