Phenolics, which are secondary metabolites of plants, exhibit remarkable bioactivities. In this contribution, we have focused on their protective effect against chronic diseases rather than their antioxidant activities, which have been widely discussed in the literature. A large body of epidemiological studies has proven the bioactivities of phenolics in both standard compounds and natural extracts: namely, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities as well as reducing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disease. Phenolics also display anti-analgesic, anti-allergic, and anti-Alzheimer’s properties. Thus, this review provides crucial information for better understanding the bioactivities of phenolics in foods and fills a gap in the existing collective and overall knowledge in the field.

Using an effective potential method, a replica formulism is set up for describing supercooled liquids near their glass transition. The resulting potential is equivalent to that for an Ising spin glass in a magnetic field. Results taken from the droplet picture of spin glasses are then used to provide an explanation of the main features of fragile glasses.

We investigate an unconventional nature of the entropy production (EP) in nonequilibrium systems with odd-parity variables that change signs under time reversal. We consider the Brownian motion of a particle in contact with a heat reservoir, where particle momentum is an odd-parity variable. In the presence of an external momentum-dependent force, the EP transferred to environment is found not equivalent to usual reservoir entropy change due to heat transfer. There appears an additional unconventional contribution to the EP, which is crucial for maintaining the non-negativity of the (average) total EP enforced by the thermodynamic second law. A few examples are considered to elucidate the novel nature of the EP. We also discuss detailed balance conditions with a momentum-dependent force.

We calculate the renormalized quartic vertex function of the Ginzburg-Landau model for a superconducting film in a magnetic field by summing an infinite subset of diagrams, the so-called parquet graphs. Using this non-perturbative solution, we obtain the structure factor of the two-dimensional vortex liquid. We find growing crystalline order in the system as the temperature is lowered. Our results suggest that the length scale characterizing the crystalline order diverges only in the zerotemperature limit, which indicates the absence of a finite-temperature phase transition to the vortex lattice phase.

A new indicator, the ratio of insoluble bound phenolics (IBPs) to soluble phenolics (SPs), is suggested as an effective means to monitor changes in the antioxidant activity of lentils during germination. This indicator may be used to monitor other process-induced changes in antioxidant potential of food phenolics in other foods. The antioxidant activity of SPs, IBPs, and total value, the sum of both free and esterified phenolics, of germinated CDC Richlea lentil variety was evaluated for 4 days. Total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, and 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radical cation scavenging ability were employed to record antioxidant activities. An incremental increase in IBPs was found in TPC, TFC, DPPH, and ABTS radical cation scavenging ability, whereas SPs showed a declining trend in TFC, DPPH, and ABTS, except TPC during 4 days of germination. The ratio of IBPs to SPs increased using most methods, and this may be possibly due to the changes of phenolic compound formation from soluble into insoluble bound form during germination process. The ratio can be used as a novel method for monitoring process-induced changes in the antioxidant activity of foods.

Headspace volatiles of sesame oil (SO) from sesame seeds roasted at 9 different conditions were analyzed by a combination of solid phase microextraction (SPME)-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), electronic nose/metal oxide sensors (MOS), and electronic nose/MS. As roasting temperature increased from 213 to 247 °C, total headspace volatiles and pyrazines increased significantly (P < 0.05). Pyrazines were major volatiles in SO and furans, thiazoles, aldehydes, and alcohols were also detected. Roasting temperature was more discrimination factor than roasting time for the volatiles in SO through the principal component analysis (PCA) of SPME-GC/MS, electronic nose/MOS, and electronic nose/MS. Electronic nose/MS showed that ion fragment 52, 76, 53, and 51 amu played important roles in discriminating volatiles in SO from roasted sesame seeds, which are the major ion fragments from pyrazines, furans, and furfurals. SO roasted at 213, 230, and 247 °C were clearly differentiated from each other on the base of volatile distribution by SPME-GC/MS, electronic nose/MOS, and electronic nose/MS analyses. Practical Application: The results of this study are ready to apply for the discriminating samples using a combinational analysis of volatiles. Not only vegetable oils prepared from roasting process but also any food sample possessing volatiles could be targets for the SPME-GC/MS and electronic nose assays. Contents and types of pyrazines in sesame seed oil could be used as markers to track down the degree of roasting and oxidation during oil preparation.

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Two versions of the M-p-spin glass model have been studied with the Migdal-Kadanoff renormalization group approximation. The model with p = 3 and M = 3 has at mean-field level the ideal glass transition at the Kauzmann temperature and at lower temperatures still the Gardner transition to a state like that of an Ising spin glass in a field. The model with p = 3 and M = 2 has only the Gardner transition. In the dimensions studied, d = 2,3, and 4, both models behave almost identically, indicating that the growing correlation length as the temperature is reduced in these models--the analog of the point-to-set length scale--is not due to the mechanism postulated in the random first-order transition theory of glasses but is more like that expected on the analogy of glasses to the Ising spin glass in a field.