The absorption spectra of solutions of certain salts of cobalt, nickel, copper, iron, chromium, neodymium, praseodymium, and erbium in water, methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, and acetone, and in mixtures of water with the other solvents.

"A continuation of the work of Jones and Uhler on the absorption spectra of solutions (Carnegie publication no. 60)" cf. Pref.

Reviewed evidence about the safety of the daily use of alcohol-based mouthrinses

Current scientific knowledge provides clear evidence that alcohol-based mouthwashes can be beneficial in a daily oral health routine, including dental hygiene and plaque control. Several issues are worth discussing, in spite of the wealth of supporting evidence. Despite some undesirable effects to some people, like burning sensation, and some contraindications, like the use by infants, alcohol addicts and patients with mucosal injuries, there is no reason to avoid the use of alcohol-containing mouthwashes as long as they are used following proper guidance by dental professionals and the manufacturers' instructions. The alleged correlation between oral cancer and alcohol-based mouthrinses presents so little, weak, inconsistent and even contradictory evidence in the literature that any kind of risk warning to patients would be uncalled for. Antimicrobial mouthrinses are safe and effective in reducing plaque and gingivitis, and should be part of a comprehensive oral health care regimen that includes brushing, flossing and rinsing to prevent or minimize periodontal disease.

Chemical and volatile composition of jujube wines fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae with and without pulp contact and protease treatment

Abstract This study evaluated the chemical and volatile composition of jujube wines fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae A1.25 with and without pulp contact and protease treatment during fermentation. Yeast cell population, total reducing sugar and methanol contents had significant differences between nonextracted and extracted wine. The nonextracted wines had significantly higher concentrations of ethyl 9-hexadecenoate, ethyl palmitate and ethyl oleate than the extracted wines. Pulp contact also could enhance phenylethyl alcohol, furfuryl alcohol, ethyl palmitat and ethyl oleate. Furthermore, protease treatment can accelerate the release of fusel oils. The first principal component separated the wine from the extracted juice without protease from other samples based on the higher concentrations of medium-chain fatty acids and medium-chain ethyl esters. Sensory evaluation showed pulp contact and protease could improve the intensity and complexity of wine aroma due to the increase of the assimilable nitrogen.

Chemical profile of rums as a function of their origin. The use of chemometric techniques for their identification

To identify chemical descriptors to distinguish Cuban from non-Cuban rums, analyses of 44 samples of rum from 15 different countries are described. To provide the chemical descriptors, analyses of the the mineral fraction, phenolic compounds, caramel, alcohols, acetic acid, ethyl acetate, ketones, and aldehydes were carried out. The analytical data were treated through the following chemometric methods: principal component analysis (PCA), partial least square-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA), and linear discriminate analysis (LDA). These analyses indicated 23 analytes as relevant chemical descriptors for the separation of rums into two distinct groups. The possibility of clustering the rum samples investigated through PCA analysis led to an accumulative percentage of 70.4% in the first three principal components, and isoamyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, copper, iron, 2-furfuraldehyde (furfuraldehyde), phenylmethanal (benzaldehyde), epicatechin, and vanillin were used as chemical descriptors. By applying the PLS-DA technique to the whole set of analytical data, the following analytes have been selected as descriptors: acetone, sec-butyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, ethyl acetate, methanol, isoamyl alcohol, magnesium, sodium, lead, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, 4-hydroxy3,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde (syringaldehyde), methaldehyde (formaldehyde), 5-hydroxymethyl-2furfuraldehyde (5-HMF), acetalclehyde, 2-furfuraldehyde, 2-butenal (crotonaldehyde), n-pentanal (valeraldehyde), iso-pentanal (isovaleraldehyde), benzaldehyde, 2,3-butanodione monoxime, acetylacetone, epicatechin, and vanillin. By applying the LIDA technique, a model was developed, and the following analytes were selected as descriptors: ethyl acetate, sec-butyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, isoamyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, caramel, catechin, vanillin, epicatechin, manganese, acetalclehyde, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoic acid, 2-butenal, 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzoic acid, cyclopentanone, acetone, lead, zinc, calcium, barium, strontium, and sodium. This model allowed the discrimination of Cuban rums from the others with 88.2% accuracy.

L'éthylglucuronide: un marquer de la consommation d'alcool [Ethyl glucuronide: a biomarker of alcohol consumption]

Excessive alcohol consumption represents a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality. It is therefore indispensable to be able to detect at-risk drinking. Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) is a specific marker of alcohol consumption. The determination of ethyl glucuronide in urine or blood can be used to prove recent driving under the influence of alcohol, even if ethanol is no longer detectable. The commercialization of an EtG specific immunological assay now allows to obtain preliminary results rapidly and easily with satisfying sensitivity. Moreover, the detection of ethyl glucuronide in hair offers the opportunity to evaluate an alcohol consumption over a long period. The EtG concentration in hair is in correlation with the amount of ingested alcohol. Thus, the analysis of ethyl glucuronide can be used to monitor abstinence, to detect alcohol relapse and to identify at-risk drinkers. However, a cut off allowing to detect chronic alcohol abuser reliably still does not exist. Therefore, it is recommended to perform the analysis of ethyl glucuronide in complement to the existing blood markers. A study financed by the Swiss Foundation for Alcohol Research is actually conducted by the West Switzerland University Center of Legal Medicine in order to establish an objective cut-off.

Potentialities of two solventless extraction approaches—Stir bar sorptive extraction and headspace solid-phase microextraction for determination of higher alcohol acetates, isoamyl esters and ethyl esters in wines

A stir bar sorptive extraction with liquid desorption followed by large volume injection coupled to gas chromatography–quadrupole mass spectrometry (SBSE-LD/LVI-GC–qMS) was evaluated for the simultaneous determination of higher alcohol acetates (HAA), isoamyl esters (IsoE) and ethyl esters (EE) of fatty acids. The method performance was assessed and compared with other solventless technique, the solid-phase microextraction (SPME) in headspace mode (HS). For both techniques, influential experimental parameters were optimised to provide sensitive and robust methods. The SBSE-LD/LVI methodology was previously optimised in terms of extraction time, influence of ethanol in the matrix, liquid desorption (LD) conditions and instrumental settings. Higher extraction efficiency was obtained using 60 min of extraction time, 10% ethanol content, n-pentane as desorption solvent, 15 min for the back-extraction period, 10 mL min−1 for the solvent vent flow rate and 10 °C for the inlet temperature. For HS-SPME, the fibre coated with 50/30 μm divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) afforded highest extraction efficiency, providing the best sensitivity for the target volatiles, particularly when the samples were extracted at 25 °C for 60 min under continuous stirring in the presence of sodium chloride (10% (w/v)). Both methodologies showed good linearity over the concentration range tested, with correlation coefficients higher than 0.984 for HS-SPME and 0.982 for SBES-LD approach, for all analytes. A good reproducibility was attained and low detection limits were achieved using both SBSE-LD (0.03–28.96 μg L−1) and HS-SPME (0.02–20.29 μg L−1) methodologies. The quantification limits for SBSE-LD approach ranging from 0.11 to 96.56 μg L−and from 0.06 to 67.63 μg L−1 for HS-SPME. Using the HS-SPME approach an average recovery of about 70% was obtained whilst by using SBSE-LD obtained average recovery were close to 80%. The analytical and procedural advantages and disadvantages of these two methods have been compared. Both analytical methods were used to determine the HAA, IsoE and EE fatty acids content in “Terras Madeirenses” table wines. A total of 16 esters were identified and quantified from the wine extracts by HS-SPME whereas by SBSE-LD technique were found 25 esters which include 2 higher alcohol acetates, 4 isoamyl esters and 19 ethyl esters of fatty acids. Generally SBSE-LD provided higher sensitivity with decreased analysis time.

Energy balance for ethyl alcohol production from crops

Energy requirements to produce ethyl alcohol from three different crops in Brazil (sugarcane, cassava, and sweet sorghum) were calculated. Figures are presented for the agricultural and industrial phases. The industrial phase is always more energy-intensive, consuming from 60 to 75 percent of the total energy. Sugarcane is the more efficient crop for ethyl alcohol production, followed by sweet sorghum and cassava from a net energy viewpoint. The utilization of sweet sorghum stems might increase the total energy gain from this crop to almost the same level as sugarcane. Cassava has a lower energy gain at the present state of agriculture in Brazil. Copyright © 1978 AAAS.

Influence of fast and slow distillation on ethyl carbamate content and on coefficient of non-alcohol components in Brazilian sugarcane spirits

Ethyl carbamate is an impurity present in distilled beverages. Given the risk of it being a carcinogenic substance, Brazilian legislation has determined that its presence in distilled beverages, such as 'aguardente' and 'cachaca' (two types of sugarcane spirits), should be limited to a maximum of 150 mu g/L. Ordinary spirits usually contain variable amounts of ethyl carbamate, although in lower concentrations than the maximum determined by law. The finding that commercial spirits had a much lower concentration of this impurity (around 50 mu g/L) led the authors to research the reasons for the differences, and these are explored in this paper, with a focus on the speed of the distillation process and its influence on the spirit's composition. The team conducted research in a sugarcane distillery producing 'aguardente' using a simple pot still and measured the influence of fast and slow distillation on the presence of ethyl carbamate and non-alcohol components in the process. The results demonstrated that the speed of distillation was proportionally related to the concentration of ethyl carbamate and secondary components in the beverage's composition. Copyright (c) 2012 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling

Determination of eight fatty acid ethyl esters in meconium samples by headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A number of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) have recently been detected in meconium samples. Several of these FAEEs have been evaluated as possible biomarkers for in utero ethanol exposure. In the present study, a method was optimized and validated for the simultaneous determination of eight FAEEs (ethyl laurate, ethyl myristate, ethyl palmitate, ethyl palmitoleate, ethyl stearate, ethyl oleate, ethyl linoleate and ethyl arachidonate) in meconium samples. FAEEs were extracted by headspace solid-phase microextraction. Analyte detection and quantification were carried out using GC-MS operated in chemical ionization mode. The corresponding D5-ethyl esters were synthesized and used as internal standards. The LOQ and LOD for each analyte were <150 and <100 ng/g, respectively. The method showed good linearity (r(2)>0.98) in the concentration range studied (LOQ -2000 ng/g). The intra- and interday imprecision, given by the RSD of the method, was lower than 15% for all FAEEs studied. The validated method was applied to 63 authentic specimens. FAEEs could be detected in alcohol-exposed newborns ( >600 ng/g cumulative concentration). Interestingly, FAEEs could also be detected in some non-exposed newborns, although the concentrations were much lower than those measured in exposed cases.

Comparing topiramate with naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence

To compare the efficacy of topiramate with naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence. The investigation was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 12-week study carried out at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. A total of 155 patients, 18-60 years of age, with an International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) diagnosis of alcohol dependence. After a 1-week detoxification period, patients were assigned randomly to receive topiramate (induction to 300 mg/day), naltrexone (50 mg/day) or placebo. Time to first relapse (consumption of > 60 g ethyl alcohol), cumulative abstinence duration and weeks of heavy drinking. In intention-to-treat analyses, topiramate was statistically superior to placebo on a number of measures including time to first relapse (7.8 versus 5.0 weeks), cumulative abstinence duration (8.2 versus 5.6 weeks), weeks of heavy drinking (3.4 versus 5.9) and percentage of subjects abstinent at 4 weeks (67.3 versus 42.6) and 8 weeks (61.5 versus 31.5), but not 12 weeks (46.2 versus 27.8). Results remained significant after controlling for Alcoholics Anonymous attendance, which was higher in topiramate than in other groups. There were no significant differences between naltrexone versus placebo or naltrexone versus topiramate groups, but naltrexone showed trends toward inferior outcomes when compared to topiramate. The results of this study support the efficacy of topiramate in the relapse prevention of alcoholism. Suggestive evidence was also obtained for superiority of topiramate versus naltrexone, but this needs to be verified in future research with larger sample sizes.

A novel method for solid-phase synthesis of oligosaccharides using the N-1-(4,4-dimethyl-2,6-dioxocyclohexylidene)ethyl (Dde) linker

The application of the N-1-(4,4-dimethyl-2,6-dioxocyclohexylidene)ethyl (Dde) linker for the solid-phase synthesis of oligosaccharides is described. The oligosaccharide products can be cleaved from the resin by hydrazine, ammonia or primary amines, but the linker is stable under the conditions of oligosaccharide synthesis. The first sugar can be attached to the resin linker via a vinylogous amide bond, or by ether linkage using a p-aminobenzyl alcohol converter. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.