Drying Peppers: Technolocy and Properties

The peppers can be very diverse, from sweet to hot peppers, varying in shape, in colour, in properties and usages. While some are eaten in the fresh state, many of them undergo a drying process to be preserved for a longer time and to increase availability and convenience. Hence, after harvesting, in many cases a drying operation is involved, and the present chapter aims to address this operation, of pivotal importance. In ancient times, the drying of foods in general and peppers in particular was done by exposure to the solar radiation. However, despite its cheapness and easiness, this process involved many drawbacks, like long drying times, probability of adverse atmospheric conditions and contaminations of the product. Hence, nowadays its usage is reduced. The most popular industrial drying method is the hot air convective drying. However, the high temperatures to which the product is exposed can cause changes in the composition and nutritional value as well as in the physical properties or organoleptic quality of the products. Other alternative methods can be used, but sometimes they are more expensive or more time consuming, such as is the case of freeze drying. Still, this last also has visible advantages from the quality point of view, minimizing the changes in texture, colour, flavour or nutrients. The knowledge of adequate drying operating conditions allows the optimization of the product characteristics, and hence to know the drying kinetics or the isotherms is fundamental to properly design the most adequate drying processes, and therefore preserve the organoleptic characteristics as well as the bioactive compounds present.

Immunization with a circumsporozoite epitope fused to Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase in conjunction with cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 blockade confers protection against Plasmodium berghei liver-stage malaria

The adenylate cyclase toxoid (ACT) of Bordetella pertussis is capable of delivering its N-terminal catalytic domain into the cytosol of CD11b-expressing professional antigen-presenting cells such as myeloid dendritic cells. This allows delivery of CD8+ T-cell epitopes to the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I presentation pathway. Recombinant detoxified ACT containing an epitope of the Plasmodium berghei circumsporozoite protein (CSP), indeed, induced a specific CD8+ T-cell response in immunized mice after a single application, as detected by MHC multimer staining and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) ELISPOT assay. This CSP-specific response could be significantly enhanced by prime-boost immunization with recombinant ACT in combination with anti-CTLA-4 during the boost immunization. This increased response was accompanied by complete protection in a number of mice after a challenge with P. berghei sporozoites. Transient blockade of CTLA-4 may overcome negative regulation and hence provide a strategy to enhance the efficacy of a vaccine by amplifying the number of responding T cells.

Complete protection against P. berghei malaria upon heterologous prime/boost immunization against circumsporozoite protein employing Salmonella type III secretion system and Bordetella adenylate cyclase toxoid

Sterile immunity against malaria can be achieved by the induction of IFNgamma-producing CD8(+) T cells that target infected hepatocytes presenting epitopes of the circumsporozoite protein (CSP). In the present study we evaluate the protective efficacy of a heterologous prime/boost immunization protocol based on the delivery of the CD8(+) epitope of Plasmodium berghei CSP into the MHC class I presentation pathway, by either a type III secretion system of live recombinant Salmonella and/or by direct translocation of a recombinant Bordetella adenylate cyclase toxoid fusion (ACT-CSP) into the cytosol of professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs). A single intraperitoneal application of the recombinant ACT-CSP toxoid, as well as a single oral immunization with the Salmonella vaccine, induced a specific CD8(+) T cell response, which however conferred only a partial protection on mice against a subsequent sporozoite challenge. In contrast, a heterologous prime/boost vaccination with the live Salmonella followed by ACT-CSP led to a significant enhancement of the CSP-specific T cell response and induced complete protection in all vaccinated mice.

Sedimentology and age on profile Lz1023

A 270 cm long sediment sequence was recovered with a piston corer from east lobe Bonney, Taylor Valley, Antarctica, and characterized according to its sedimentological, mineralogical, and geochemical properties. It is the first record of such length recovered from east lobe Bonney. The sediment core is mainly composed of halite crystals of different sizes, water, and a relatively low and stable proportion of clastic particles. Although the sediment surface was probably disturbed by the coring process and absence or low contents of organic material or carbonates hampers the establishment of a robust chronology by radiocarbon dating, the core probably contains at least several hundred years of information about the history of the lake and the Bonney basin. Variations in halite crystal sizes and amount as well as variations in the composition of clastic material can be related to past lake level changes and evaporation cycles.

Combined reverse osmosis and freeze concentration of bleach plant effluents /

Mode of access: Internet.

Immunization of adults : a call to action.

Mode of access: Internet.