No description available.

No description available.

There is an ongoing and increasing interest in the significant and essential role that food plays in the health and survival of all people. As masticatory efficiency diminishes drastically in edentulous patients, many researchers in the past two decades have been studying how dietary intake varies when different types of oral rehabilitation are provided. Since the use of implants to support prostheses in edentulous mandibles has been shown to significantly improve masticatory performance, the question remains as to whether this improvement will influence nutritional status. In the present study, we used several nutritional markers to compare the nutritional status of edentulous patients who randomly received either mandibular conventional dentures or implant-supported overdentures one year previously. Although the conventional denture wearers reported having more difficulty chewing hard foods, no significant differences were detected in any of the nutritional markers. Therefore, even though chewing is more difficult for the patients wearing conventional dentures, it appears that the nutritional status of these two groups is similar.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Soil and Water, 2001. / Bibliography: leaves 106-132.

Phytochemical and enzymatic experiments were conducted to study the metabolism of phenolic compounds in the cotyledons of flax (Linum usitatissimum L. ‘Koto’) infected with strains #3. and #210 of flax rust (Melampsora lini Pers. Lév.). The primary objective was to further the understanding of the role of phenolic compounds in the host-parasite relationship with respect to resistance and susceptibility. The phenolic constituents of flax include about 14 esters and glycosides of cinnamic acids, viz., p-coumaric, caffeic, ferulic and sinapic acids, and 8 glycosides of flavones, 4 of which are of the apigenin-type and 4 of the luteolin-type. Most of the cinnamic acid derivatives have a free hydroxyl group and would therefore be good substrates for oxidation. Except for an initial drop, the total soluble phenolic content in infected resistant tissue was always higher than in the healthy control or in infected susceptible tissue. This quantitative change in phenolic content after infection supports the involvement of phenolics in resistance. Tracer studies showed that the metabolism of phenylalanine in flax follows the order cinnamic → p-coumaric → caffeic → ferulic acids. There was no qualitative change in the pathway of phenylalanine metabolism after infection. The incorporation of phenylalanine-U-(14)C into phenolic compounds was higher in the resistant combination than in the healthy control or the susceptible combination. The resistant reacting tissue also showed the highest conversion of monohydric phenols into dihydric phenols. On the other hand, incorporation of phenylalanine-U-(14)C into protein was highest in the susceptible combination. There was a higher accumulation of radioactivity from phenylalanine-U-(14)C into ethanol-insoluble, non-proteinaceous material around the lesions in the resistant than in the susceptible combination. These findings are in agreement with the hypothesis that, after infection, there is an enhanced flow of aromatic amino acids into protein synthesis in the susceptible tissue whereas in the resistant reacting tissues there is a shift in favour of phenolic metabolism. The enhancement of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase by as much as 5-fold in the resistant tissue at 2 days after inoculation also supports the above hypothesis. The activities of peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and β-glucosidase were also enhanced in the resistant combination, whereas in the susceptible combination polyphenol oxidase and β-glucosidase activities were lower than in the healthy control. There was a sequential enhancement of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, total soluble phenolic content and polyphenol oxidase in the resistant reacting tissue. These results suggest that oxidation of phenolic compounds is important for resistance and that the suppression of the oxidative enzyme, polyphenol, oxidase, may be essential for the survival of the pathogen in this biotroph-host combination. The evidence suggests that phenolic metabolism plays an important role in resistance and susceptibility in host-parasite relations. It is very likely that phenolic compounds and their oxidative products only execute the job of resistance. The triggering mechanism for the enhancement of phenolic metabolism, which remains unknown, and the mechanisms by which phenolic metabolites act against the pathogen are discussed. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

As the environmental concern grows, researchers try to find material which can be environmental friendly and biodegradable to some extent. At present, flax fibre cannot fully replace glass fibre. Some attempts have been made to replace the glass fibre.<p> Studies show the physical and mechanical properties of natural fibres are comparable with glass fibre, so it can replace glass fibre in the process of making biocomposites. <p> The properties of biocomposites depend on the fibre used. Research shows that to get a better biocomposite, the fibre has to be chemically treated to improve adhesion between fibre and polymer matrix. After the chemical treatment, the fibre has to be dried to minimum moisture content so the drying of flax fibre is essential in the process of making biocomposites. <p> In this research, oilseed flax fibre is dried and drying characteristics were investigated. After drying, the physical properties of the fibre were tested and analysed.<p> The fibre was dried using three different drying methods, namely, microwave, microwave-convection, and microwave-vacuum environments. Curve fitting with four empirical methods has been carried out to determine the drying constant, coefficient of determination and standard error values. The results showed that microwave-vacuum drying method is more efficient (in terms of final moisture content) than microwave and microwave-convection drying. Although microwave-vacuum drying took the most time and did not result in promising colour values, the maximum moisture removal is achieved because fibres can be dried for a longer period of time with a comparatively low temperature.<p> The results of physical properties were analysed for untreated and treated and dried flax fibre. The tensile strength and elastic modulus of untreated and treated fibre did not show any significant change. Because the diameter of flax fibre cannot be consistent, a range of values can be obtained. The diameter range of fibre bundle 30-300 µm was examined for these tests. The tensile strength obtained from these fibre bundles ranged between 16 to 667 MPa and elastic modulus values were 2 GPa up to 63 GPa.<p> The scanning electron micrograph (SEM) was also analysed for untreated and treated-dried fibre. The fibre which was dried with high power or longer period of time showed black spots, probably due to local heating. The fibre dried with microwave-vacuum developed some black spots which were clearly seen in the SEM.<p> Differential scanning calorimetric data showed a shift in temperature of degradation. In this research, degradation temperature of cellulose was found 350(+/-10)°C for the treated and dried flax fibre.<p> In conclusion, the flax fibre has a potential to be used in biocomposite production. The microwave-vacuum works best for drying where the fibre can be dried up to a less than 1% of moisture content.

As the environmental concern grows, researchers try to find material which can be environmental friendly and biodegradable to some extent. At present, flax fibre cannot fully replace glass fibre. Some attempts have been made to replace the glass fibre.<p> Studies show the physical and mechanical properties of natural fibres are comparable with glass fibre, so it can replace glass fibre in the process of making biocomposites. <p> The properties of biocomposites depend on the fibre used. Research shows that to get a better biocomposite, the fibre has to be chemically treated to improve adhesion between fibre and polymer matrix. After the chemical treatment, the fibre has to be dried to minimum moisture content so the drying of flax fibre is essential in the process of making biocomposites. <p> In this research, oilseed flax fibre is dried and drying characteristics were investigated. After drying, the physical properties of the fibre were tested and analysed.<p> The fibre was dried using three different drying methods, namely, microwave, microwave-convection, and microwave-vacuum environments. Curve fitting with four empirical methods has been carried out to determine the drying constant, coefficient of determination and standard error values. The results showed that microwave-vacuum drying method is more efficient (in terms of final moisture content) than microwave and microwave-convection drying. Although microwave-vacuum drying took the most time and did not result in promising colour values, the maximum moisture removal is achieved because fibres can be dried for a longer period of time with a comparatively low temperature.<p> The results of physical properties were analysed for untreated and treated and dried flax fibre. The tensile strength and elastic modulus of untreated and treated fibre did not show any significant change. Because the diameter of flax fibre cannot be consistent, a range of values can be obtained. The diameter range of fibre bundle 30-300 µm was examined for these tests. The tensile strength obtained from these fibre bundles ranged between 16 to 667 MPa and elastic modulus values were 2 GPa up to 63 GPa.<p> The scanning electron micrograph (SEM) was also analysed for untreated and treated-dried fibre. The fibre which was dried with high power or longer period of time showed black spots, probably due to local heating. The fibre dried with microwave-vacuum developed some black spots which were clearly seen in the SEM.<p> Differential scanning calorimetric data showed a shift in temperature of degradation. In this research, degradation temperature of cellulose was found 350(+/-10)°C for the treated and dried flax fibre.<p> In conclusion, the flax fibre has a potential to be used in biocomposite production. The microwave-vacuum works best for drying where the fibre can be dried up to a less than 1% of moisture content.