The sourdough bread bacteria Lactobacillus hammesii produces antifungal compounds as it digests bread flour. Christopher Intagliata reports
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As many San Franciscans have noticed, sourdough bread stays fresher longer than the regular stuff. Sourdough?s extended freshness is due to extra fermentation that traps more moisture in the dough. But now we know that sourdough?s longevity is also because it can ward off mold. Because bacteria in some sourdough starters actually produce mold-killing compounds?essentially natural preservatives.
Most sourdough starters contain strains of Lactobacillus bacteria, like the poster child Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis. Eight years ago, researchers isolated another strain called Lactobacillus hammesii from a French sourdough starter.
They've now discovered that the strain pumps out a potent antifungal as it digests bread flour. So they baked bread with the L. hammesii starter, sliced it, and waited. The loaf resisted mold for 12 days?a few days more than L. sanfranciscensis sourdough, and twice as long as typical bread. Those results are in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. [Brenna A. Black et al., Antifungal hydroxy-fatty acids produced during sourdough fermentation: microbial and enzymatic pathways, and antifungal activity in bread]
L. hammesii isn't the most common sourdough strain. But researchers say it could eliminate the need for added preservatives. Which would mean store-bought sourdough that's additive-free and lasts for weeks. Assuming you can wait that long to eat it.
Foto de archivo del 30 de marzo de 2012 del presidente de la FIFA, Joseph Blatter, en Zurich, Suiza. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus,File)
Foto de archivo del 30 de marzo de 2012 del presidente de la FIFA, Joseph Blatter, en Zurich, Suiza. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus,File)
ZURICH (AP) ? FIFA has banned 74 more officials and players from world soccer for helping fix matches, this time in Italy and South Korea.
FIFA says it imposed sanctions on 70 people, including 11 who were banned for life, after a series of cases prosecuted by Italian soccer authorities.
FIFA says the charges involved "match-fixing (direct involvement or omission to report match-fixing), illegal betting or corrupt organization (association to commit illicit acts)."
Prosecutors in Cremona, Bari and Napoli have pieced together a conspiracy they believe was organized from Singapore to bet on rigged Italian soccer games.
Last week, Italian authorities detained suspect Admir Suljic, a Slovenian national, when he landed in Milan on a flight from Singapore. Suljic, alleged to be an associate of Singaporean businessman Tan Seet Eng, faces charges of criminal association and sports fraud.
Tan, also known as Dan Tan, is accused of heading a crime syndicate that has made millions of dollars gambling on fixed matches around the world.
Singapore police said last week that Tan was assisting its investigation into alleged match-fixing.
FIFA said the four new South Korean cases follow worldwide sanctions imposed on 10 people last year and a further 41 last month.
The latest global sanctions were announced two days after FIFA extended bans to 58 people found guilty of match-fixing offenses in China. Of those, FIFA expelled 33 from soccer for life, including 2002 World Cup referee Lu Jun.
FIFA can apply worldwide sanctions after national associations complete their own investigations and impose bans.
Famous fraud cases foster a revolution in photograph conservation researchPublic release date: 27-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society
Two fraud cases that sent shock waves through the world of photography are helping to trigger a revolution in photo conservation science, according to the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
Sarah Everts, C&EN European correspondent, explains that the prestige and prices of photographs long dismissed by the art establishment as a second-tier medium began to rival those of paintings and sculptures in the 1980s. Collectors began paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and even up to $1 million for vintage and contemporary photographs. Fraud cases appeared in parallel with that rise in popularity.
The article describes those cases, and explains how they led to million-dollar settlements that helped stimulate photo conservation research, transforming a niche field into what is now a mature science. Those conservation efforts embrace everything from family snapshots to priceless masterpieces, the article points out.
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The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
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Famous fraud cases foster a revolution in photograph conservation researchPublic release date: 27-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society
Two fraud cases that sent shock waves through the world of photography are helping to trigger a revolution in photo conservation science, according to the cover story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News. C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
Sarah Everts, C&EN European correspondent, explains that the prestige and prices of photographs long dismissed by the art establishment as a second-tier medium began to rival those of paintings and sculptures in the 1980s. Collectors began paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and even up to $1 million for vintage and contemporary photographs. Fraud cases appeared in parallel with that rise in popularity.
The article describes those cases, and explains how they led to million-dollar settlements that helped stimulate photo conservation research, transforming a niche field into what is now a mature science. Those conservation efforts embrace everything from family snapshots to priceless masterpieces, the article points out.
###
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Follow us: Twitter Facebook
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
All Critics (42) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (3)
A sobering but welcome dose of honesty regarding issues and events that have otherwise been shrouded in secrecy and overheated rhetoric.
Israelis, generally speaking, tend to be tough, but the men who've commanded Shin Bet, Israel's secret service, are in a whole other category.
A lesser filmmaker might've been tripped up by such a narrow focus. A lesser filmmaker might've misjudged the melange of archival footage, fabricated surveillance footage and talking heads, which Moreh handles with a blend of cinematic flash and tact.
The film makes explicit and implicit endorsements. The strategy of vengeance and overkill is ineffective and leads Israel to horrific behavior described only through metaphor.
The subjects' openness is refreshing - and sometimes frightening.
A feat - of access and of passionate and appropriately unsettling political commentary.
An inside look into one of the most secretive and sophisticated intelligence apparatus in the world may not be what you expected.
Filmmaker Dror Moreh gives a unique look, from those in the know, of the inner workings of Israel's home intelligence service.
As Moreh probes the men, we, whether we agree with them or not, find ourselves drawn into their moral maze in all of its complexity.
This is a film that leaves a knot in the stomach, and no easy solutions as to how to get rid of it.
The 'other' Oscar-nominated feature about a war on terror, Dror Moreh's documentary The Gatekeepers proves more intellectually engaging than Hollywood's Zero Dark Thirty, and at least as unsettling.
Important and incomplete.
A blunt, clear-eyed, first-hand take on decades of Middle Eastern history, from practically the founding of the Jewish state up through the recent fits and starts of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Moreh has assembled a thorough, evenhanded and fascinating examination of people and operations straight out of a spy novel.
This brave documentary draws a line in the sand. One just wishes Moreh had asked these men what they were doing to change the situation now other than having changed their minds.
From the moment you hear one of these former insiders admitting his misgivings over an act of violence he perpetrated, you can't help but be drawn in.
The access boggles the mind, and some of the stories are riveting.
[T]houghtfully examines the difficulties of protecting a democracy from internal enemies. . .with realpolitik towards peace [and] repeated criticism of government leaders.
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Public release date: 27-Feb-2013
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