Development of a Novel Thin-Layer Chromatographic Method of Screening the Red Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) Pigments in Alimentary Products

The aim of this study was to develop a thin-layer chromatographic method of qualitative analysis, aiming to confirm the presence of the red beetroot pigments in a given sample. The TLC system developed for this purpose consists of the precoated RP-18 F254s TLC plates and the acetonitrile + methanol + water + glacial acetic acid, 2:7:1:0.1 (v/v/v/v) mobile phase. With the use of this system, a striking horizontal separation of betacyanin pigments is obtained for both the red beetroot juice and the commercial betanin sample (with the left-to-right resolution distance of the two bands equal to ca. 6 mm), and a unique pattern of the two skewed chromatographic bands is observed. This striking phenomenon has been given a thorough consideration, and its tentative physicochemical justification was provided, based on analogical cases reported and extensively discussed in our earlier studies. Characteristic fingerprint obtained both for the beetroot juice and the commercial sample of betanin (resembling two slant butterfly wings) can prove very helpful for qualitative confirmation of the presence (or otherwise) of the betanin pigment in the red color juices and beverages, as it was demonstrated upon an example of elderberry juice with a confirmed fortification with the betanin pigment.

Justificação, Probabilidade e Independência

Epistemic justification has been widely accepted as both a gradational and relational notion. Given those properties, a natural thought is to take degrees of epistemic justification to be probabilities. In this paper, we present a simple Bayesian framework for justification. In the first part, after putting the model in an evidentialist form, we distinguish different senses of “being evidence for” and “confirming”. Next, we argue that this conception should accommodate the two relevant kinds of qualitative confirmation or evidential support. In the second part of the paper, we discuss the claim that this view is unable to satisfy the modified version of the conjunction closure for beliefs in probabilistically independent propositions. We defend that the underlying assumption on which this objection depends leads to an improper reading of the concept of epistemic probability. After providing a better interpretation of it, we put forward a rationale, which is based on the notion of conditional uncertainty, in support of a more plausible and restricted version of the closure of justification under conjunction.

Examintaion of Fabric Chemical Treatment Uniformity using a Mid-IR Focal Plane Array Detector

A macro sampling chamber equipped with mid-infrared (IR) focal plane array (FPA) detector was used to examine chemical treatments of cotton fabrics. Conventional IR methods typically examine individual points in a sample, while the FPA detector provides spatially resolved spectra that can corroborate chemical treatment and its distribution on the cotton fabric. Characterizations of three distinct treatments are presented: non-durable treatments of N, N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET), an active ingredient in commercially available insect repellents, a phosphazine-based fire retardant, and fabric treated with deuterated water. All chemical treatments examined in this study exhibited distinct vibrational bands that could be used as markers of the fabric treatments. Our results suggest that the mid-IR FPA detector can be used to characterize fabric treatment uniformity and provide qualitative confirmation of fabric chemical treatment.

Confirmation and Induction

How are scientific hypotheses and theories assessed against empirical data? Philosophers of science have tried to find out whether there are general principles underlying this activity. This chapter goes through the major types of philosophical theories of confirmation. It starts with two proposals that elaborate criteria of qualitative confirmation on the basis of (deductive) logic: instantialism and hypothetico-deductivism. The main part of the chapter is devoted to Bayesian confirmation theory (BCT), which relies on a probabilistic framework and is able to provide both qualitative and quantitative criteria of confirmation. We discuss in details the strengths and limits of BCT. In the closing section, we address the issue of how BCT (and Bayesianism in general) relate to the problem of induction.

Curtailing data biases in business research: Introducing a hybrid approach

This study elucidates the falsity of business research in relying on either respondents or informants alone for data collection, and argues that with the biased data, business research cannot provide unbiased solutions. We compare 400 reports (200 respondents and 200 informants) on the workplace deviance and assess the goodness of both the techniques. Analysis of variance andposthoc(descriptive discriminant analysis) indicate significant disparities between the two approaches across all items. In the informant’s role, people tend to overreport, whereas in the respondent’s part they underreport an undesirable behavior. Further, we find that conventional techniques for assessing the construct’s validity and common-method bias neither assures realistic measurement nor eliminate the response bias. Drawing on the theory of psychological projection, we propose a hybrid approach that curtails some of the main biases in data and measurement. Qualitative confirmation through informal interviews with managers in the investigated firms validates the proposed method.

SSR Markers for Analysing South American Nothofagus Species

Summary11 newly discovered microsatellites were used to identify SSR markers for characterising South American Nothofagus species. This was carried out in six species. The sample sizes used were between four and six individuals per species. The cross-genera transferability of 34 Quercus SSRs was also essayed. Out of the 11 new microsatellite markers, three proved to be polymorphic (NnBIO 11, NgBIO 13 and NgBIO 14). The qualitative confirmation of the inheritance of these markers could also be verified. Polymorphism was also observed in five of the cross-genera transferred SSRs (QrBIO7, quru-GA-0A01, quru-GA-0C11, quru-GA-0I01, quru-GA-0M07). The number of alleles per locus found range between 1 and 6 per species. The eight polymorphic SSRs identified in this study will constitute a valuable tool in the gene flow studies that are currently being carried out in natural populations of South American Nothofagus species. The confirmation of crossspecies and cross-genera transferability opens the way for the use of SSRs as bridge markers in genetic mapping.