Plant-Oil-Based Fibre Composites for Boat Hulls

Plant-oil-based fibre composites for boat hulls are an interesting and growing group of materials. Although many problems are to be tackled at different stages of their preparation, the green composites are already successfully commercialised. Within this paper, the most important chemical and physical characteristics of both natural fibres and sustainable resins are provided in the form of a comprehensive review. Finally, the complex issue of interactions filler–matrix is considered.     

Threshold dose for peanut: Risk characterization based upon published results from challenges of peanut-allergic individuals

Population thresholds for peanut are unknown. However, lowest- and no-observed adverse effect levels (LOAELs and NOAELs) are published for an unknown number of peanut-allergic individuals. Publications were screened for LOAELs and NOAELs from blinded, low-dose oral challenges. Data were obtained from 185 peanut-allergic individuals (12 publications). Data were analyzed by interval-censoring survival analysis and three probability distribution models fitted to it (Log-Normal, Log-Logistic, and Weibull) to estimate the ED₁₀. All three models described the data well and provided ED₁₀’s in close agreement: 17.6, 17.0, and 14.6 mg of whole peanut for the Log-Normal, Log-Logistic, and Weibull models, respectively. The 95% lower confidence intervals for the ED₁₀’s were 9.2, 8.1, and 6.0 mg of whole peanut for the Log-Normal, Log-Logistic, and Weibull models, respectively. The modeling of individual NOAELs and LOAELs identified from three different types of published studies – diagnostic series, threshold studies, and immunotherapy trials – yielded significantly different whole peanut ED₁₀’s of 11.9 mg for threshold studies, 18.0 mg for diagnostic series and 65.5 mg for immunotherapy trials; patient selection and other biases may have influenced the estimates. These data and risk assessment models provide the type of information that is necessary to establish regulatory thresholds for peanut.     

Threshold dose for peanut: Risk characterization based upon diagnostic oral challenge of a series of 286 peanut-allergic individuals

Clinical records of 286 consecutive patients reacting positively with objective symptoms to double-blind, placebo-controlled oral peanut challenges at University Hospital, Nancy, France were examined for individual No Observed Adverse Effect Levels (NOAELs) and Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Levels (LOAELs). After fitting to a log-normal probability distribution model, the ED₁₀ and ED₀₅ were 14.4 and 7.3 mg (expressed as whole peanut), respectively, with 95% lower confidence intervals of 10.7 and 5.2 mg, respectively. Compared to results from a previous study where the ED₁₀ was based upon individual peanut thresholds gleaned from 12 publications, a statistically significant difference was observed between the ED₅₀’s, but not the ED₁₀’s of the two probability distribution curves. The Nancy patient group contains more sensitive subjects than the group from the published literature thus contributing to the observed differences. Minimum eliciting dose-distributions for patients with histories of more severe reactions (grade 4 or 5; 40 subjects) did not differ significantly from those of patients with histories of less severe reactions (grades 1–3; 123 subjects). These data and this modeling approach could be used to establish population thresholds for peanut-allergic consumers and thereby provide a sound basis for allergen control measures in the food industry.     

What if it is the other way around? Early introduction of peanut and fish seems to be better than avoidance

For many years, the advice to prevent food allergy was to postpone the introduction of allergens like egg, fish and peanut. However, elimination of food allergens during pregnancy and infancy failed to prevent food allergy. Instead, several studies indicate that early introduction of food like fish and peanuts may be beneficial. The most compelling illustration of this has been presented for peanuts. The prevalence of peanut allergy is lower in children in Israel than in the UK, despite introduction of peanut during infancy in Israel. Other studies have reported that early introduction of fish reduced the risk of allergic sensitization and allergic diseases like eczema.
Conclusion:  Early introduction rather than avoidance may be a better strategy for the prevention of food allergy. The mechanism may be that early introduction of food allergens during infancy might induce tolerance, thereby preventing the development of allergy.     

Ingestion — Associated adverse events necessitating pediatric ICU admissions

Objective  To review the pattern of food-associated pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions. Methods  A retrospective chart review was conducted to analyse the pattern of food-associated PICU admissions at a teaching hospital between January 2004 and May 2007. Results  Ten cases (7 boys and 3 girls, aged 9 month to 11.7 year) were identified. One girl developed progressive generalized urticarial rash and anaphylactic shock following consumption of bird nest drink. A boy presented with the classic triads of acute onset altered mental state, respiratory depression and small pupils following consumption of a bottle of presumed “green tea”, which was subsequently found to contain methadone. In the remaining 8 cases, dried mango, peanut, peanut-shell, fishmeat ball, pork chop, bread and bone were the culprits, impacting in the airway or oesophagus. All but one patient had short ICU stay (≤3 days). Ingestion-associated adverse events can be protean and may necessitate PICU admissions. All age groups can be affected. Solids are usually associated with symptoms from local obstruction or suffocation, while fluids may be associated with systemic manifestations. Conclusion  Presentations were generally acute, dramatic and unmistaken. The majority of patients made prompt and uneventful recovery and had short PICU stay.     

超声波提取花生壳总黄酮及其鉴别

目的:为充分利用花生壳植物资源,避免资源的浪费,探讨花生壳总黄酮的提取及鉴别方法。方法:采用超声波乙醇浸提法从花生壳中提取黄酮类物质,对所提取的黄酮类物质进行验证,并用分光光度法测定含量。结果:测得样品中总黄酮的含量C=0.5937 mg/ml,回收率为101.1%,其纯度和产率均较高。结论:该方法采用全物理过程,无任何污染,是提取花生壳黄酮类物质的有效途径。     

The relationship between sialic acid content and peanut agglutinin binding on senescent and enzyme treated human erythrocytes

Young, old and neuraminidase treated human red blood cells (RBC) were investigated with peanut agglutinin (PNA), a lectin with a specificity similar to that of serum T-agglutinin. The effect of serum agglutinins on this interaction was also investigated. The density and distribution of PNA receptors were evaluated by agglutination with PNA and binding of ferritin-conjugated PNA (PNA-F), or PNA labeled with radioactive iodine ([¹³¹I]PNA). The results were correlated with the distribution of membrane bound sialic acids, as evaluated by chemical analysis and rate of agglutination with poly-l-lysine (PLL). Untreated RBC of all ages did not agglutinate with PNA and failed to bind PNA-F and [¹³¹I]PNA. Treatment of young RBC with neuraminidase, which resulted in reduction of membrane-bound sialic acids to an extent similar to that of physiologically aged RBC, resulted in the concomitant exposure of PNA binding sites and in the agglutination of these cells by autologous serum. Pretreatment of the neuraminidase treated RBC with autologous serum resulted in partial inhibition of the binding capacity of PNA on the RBC. The results indicate that the normal age-related loss of sialic acids in circulating RBC is not identical with enzymatic removal of sialic acids by neuraminidase. The observations suggest that different mechanisms are functional in the recognition and sequestration of old RBC and of RBC treated with neuraminidase.