Can ozone be used as antimicrobial in the dairy industry? A systematic review

Milk and dairy products are abundantly consumed in all cultures, but unprocessed products can harbor pathogenic microorganisms that can cause serious health risks for its consumers. To avoid this, it is necessary to process the products. Ozonation is a clean technique that has antimicrobial power due to its oxidation potential, reducing the microorganisms and limiting the production of enzymes, but the effectiveness of ozone treatment can be affected by the temperature, pH, additives, humidity, and the amount of organic matter around the cells. The goal of this systematic review was to analyze whether the use of ozone could improve the microbiological quality of dairy products and whether it could be used as an antimicrobial technique. Six databases (PubMed, Scielo, CAPES, Science Direct, Science Core Collection, and PLOS) were used in this research, with 2 independent reviewers selecting articles up to November 21, 2020, with experiments that used ozone as an antimicrobial in dairy products. A total of 731 articles were found, but only 9 were selected. The remainder were excluded according to the following criteria: was not related to the main theme; was a review; did not contain microbiological analysis; did not mention the concentration of gas and time of the ozone treatment; and was not an experiment. Important points were noted in quality criteria, which resulted in the need to standardize the methodology applied in research to improve the quality of the experiments. Studies were carried out with many different samples of milk, but the best results in reducing the microorganism count were obtained from samples containing low levels of fat.     

Can natural and virtual environments be used to promote improved human health and wellbeing?

Exposure of individuals to natural environments, such as forests and coastlines, can promote stress reduction and assist in mental recovery following intensive cognitive activities. Settings as simple as hospital window views onto garden-like scenes can also be influential in reducing patients' postoperative recovery periods and analgesic requirements. This paper reviews the evidence supporting the exploitation of these restorative natural environments in future healthcare strategies. The paper also describes early research addressing the development of multisensory, computer-generated restorative environments for the benefit of patients with a variety of psychologically related conditions (including depression, attention deficit disorder, pain, and sleep deficit), who may be unable to access and experience real natural environments, such as those in hospices, military rehabilitation centers, and long-term care facilities. The Table of Contents art is a virtual reconstruction of Wembury Bay, in the southwest of the UK, based on imported Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) to provide the topography and a high-resolution aerial image to provide a template for the location of 3D building and vegetation models, rock features, and pathways. The 3D environment is rendered using the Unity 3 Game Development Tool and includes spatial sound effects (waves, wind, birdsong, etc.), physics-based features (such as early morning sea mist), time-of-day cycles, and real-time weather changes. The Village Church of St. Werburgh can also be seen in this image.     

Can iron and zinc in rice grains (Oryza sativa L.) be biofortified with nitrogen fertilisation under pot conditions?

BACKGROUND: Because only grain yield has been investigated, the influence of fertilisation by N on the concentration of Fe and Zn in polished rice has been overlooked in China. So, using the rice cultivars of the indica Zhenong 952 and the japonica Bing 98110, pot experiments were conducted to investigate the amounts of N fertiliser (applied as urea at rates of 0, 0.50, 1.00 and 1.50 g N pot^?1) that would lead to the optimum Fe and Zn concentrations in polished rice as well as grain yield. RESULTS: For Zhenong 952, the optimal Fe and Zn concentration as well as grain yield was attained at a N application of 1.00 g pot^?1; for Bing 98110 the optimum N was 1.50 g pot^?1. The ratio of Zn deposited in brown rice was about 40% of the total Zn in the plant irrespective of N application. However, Fe was only about 3%. Fe concentration in brown rice was approximately one‐half of the rice husk, one‐fifth of the peduncles, and one‐tenth of the leaves, and a little more than 1% of the root. CONCLUSION: The optimum N application, alone, on rice crops could increase Fe concentration in polished rice, but had an adverse effect for Zn. Fe appeared not to be as easily accumulated into rice seeds as was Zn. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Can degradation products be used as documentation for natural attenuation of phenoxy acids in groundwater?

In situ indicators of degradation are important tools in the demonstration of natural attenuation. A literature survey on the production history of phenoxy acids and degradation pathways has shown that metabolites of phenoxy acid herbicides also are impurities in the herbicide products, making the bare presence of these compounds useless as in situ indicators. These impurities can make up more than 30% of the herbicides. Degradation of phenoxy acids was demonstrated in microcosm experiments using groundwater and sediment contaminated with MCPP, dichlorprop, and related compounds such as other phenoxypropionic acids and chlorophenols. Field observations at two phenoxy acid-contaminated sites showed the occurrence of several impurities including metabolites in the groundwater. Neither the microcosm experiments nor the field observations verified that metabolites were actually produced or accumulated in situ. However, it was demonstrated that the impurity/parent herbicide ratios can be useful in situ indicators of degradation.     

Can artisanal “Coalho” cheese from Northeastern Brazil be used as a functional food?

Brazilian artisanal “Coalho” cheeses from six Northeast towns were investigated as a functional food based on their peptide profiles and antioxidant, zinc-binding and antimicrobial activities. The peptides (WSP) from “Coalho” cheese showed high antioxidant activity, the best value of TEAC being 2223 ± 10.10 μM, which means 91.1 ± 0.43% oxidative inhibition and peptide concentration for IC₅₀ of 7 mg/mL (21 μg of peptides) for sample from the town of Correntes. The smallest TEAC value (1896 ± 17 μM), which means 75.9 ± 0.7% oxidative inhibition and IC₅₀ of 10.5 mg/mL (31.5 μg of peptide), was obtained for samples from the town of São Bento do Una. The zinc-binding activities were: Arcoverde (72.21 ± 0.24%) Cachoeirinha (75.02 ± 0.02%), Capoeiras (61.78 ± 0.65%), Correntes (75.47 ± 0.5%), São Bento do Una (75.41 ± 0.15%), and Venturosa (74.36 ± 0.04%). The WSP extracts showed antimicrobial activity against Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All the results obtained suggest that “Coalho” cheese has potential as a functional food.     

Can routinely recorded reproductive events be used as indicators of disease emergence in dairy cattle? An evaluation of 5 indicators during the emergence of bluetongue virus in France in 2007 and 2008

In response to increasing risks of emerging infectious diseases, syndromic surveillance can be a suitable approach to detect outbreaks of such diseases across a large territory in an early phase. To implement a syndromic surveillance system, the primary challenge is to find appropriate health-related data. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether routinely collected dates of reproductive events in dairy cattle could be used to build indicators of health anomalies for syndromic surveillance. The evaluation was performed on data collected in France between 2003 and 2009. First, a set of 5 indicators was proposed to assess several types of reproductive disorders. For each indicator, the demographic coverage over the total number of cattle at risk was analyzed in time and space. Second, the ability to detect an emerging disease in an early phase was retrospectively evaluated during epidemics of bluetongue serotypes 1 and 8 (BTV-1, BTV-8) in France in 2007 and 2008. Reproductive indicators were analyzed weekly during these epidemics for each indicator in each infected French district (16 in 2007 and 50 in 2008 out of 94 districts). The indicators were able to detect the BTV epidemics despite their low demographic coverage on a weekly basis relatively to total number of cattle (median = 1.21%; range = 0–11.7%). Four indicators related to abortions, late embryonic death, and short gestations were abnormally elevated during both BTV epidemics. Median times to abnormal elevations in these indicators were 20 to 71 d after the first notification of clinical signs of BTV by veterinarians. These results demonstrate that reproduction data can be used as indicators of disease emergences, whereas in the specific case of these BTV epidemics, detection via these indicators was later than clinical detection by veterinarians. The emergence of bluetongue in 2007 in France was associated with gestations that were a few days shorter than expected. A short gestation indicator underwent high elevations relative to prior random fluctuations and was the earliest (out of the 4 indicators) to show abnormal elevations, making it possible to detect this emergence.     

Could predicting fatty acid profile by mid-infrared reflectance spectroscopy be used as a method to increase the value added by milk production chains?

The aims of this work were (1) to develop prediction equations from mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS) to establish a detailed fatty acid (FA) composition of milk; (2) to propose a milk FA index, utilizing MIRS-developed equations, in which the precision of the FA-prediction equations is taken into account to increase the value of milk; and (3) to show application examples. A total of 651 bulk cow milk samples were collected from 245 commercial farms in northwest Italy. The results of the 651 gas chromatography analyses were used to establish (421 samples) and to validate (230 samples) the outcomes of the FA composition prediction that had been obtained by MIRS. A class-based approach, in which the obtained MIRS equations were used, was proposed to define a milk classification. The method provides a numerical index [milk FA index (MFAI)] that allows a premium price to be quantified to increase the value of a favorable FA profile of milk. Ten FA were selected to calculate MFAI, according to their relevance for human health and potential cheese sensory properties, and animal welfare and environmental sustainability were also considered. These factors were selected as dimensions of MFAI. A statistical analysis and expert judgment aggregation were performed on the selected FA by weighting the FA and normalizing the dimensions to reduce redundancy. A class approach was applied, using the precision of the MIRS equations to establish the classes. The median FA concentration of the data set was set as a reference value of class 0. The width, number, and limits of classes above and below the median were calculated using the 95% confidence level of the standard error of prediction, corrected with the bias of each FA. A progressive number and a positive or negative sign were assigned to each FA class above or below the median according to their role in the above mentioned dimensions. The sum of the numbers of each class, associated with its sign for each FA, was used to generate MFAI. The MFAI was applied to dairy farms characterized by different feeding strategies, all of which deliver milk to a commercial dairy plant. The MFAI values ranged from 0.7 to 4.2, and large variations, which depended on the cows' diet and forage quality, were observed for each feeding system. The proposed method has been found to be flexible and adaptable to several contexts on both intensive and extensive dairy farms.     

Can the different heat shock response thresholds found in fermenting and respiring yeast cells be attributed to their differential redox states?

In this study we used a heat-shock (HS) reporter gene to demonstrate that respiring cells are intrinsically less sensitive (by 5 degrees C) than their fermenting counterparts to a sublethal heat shock. We also used an oxidant-sensitive fluorescent probe to demonstrate that this correlates with lower levels of sublethal reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation in heat-stressed respiring cells. Moreover, this relationship between HS induction of the reporter gene and ROS accumulation extends to respiring cells that have had their ROS levels modified by treatment with the anti-oxidant ascorbic acid and the pro-oxidant H(2)O(2). Thus, by demonstrating that the ROS/HSR correlation previously demonstrated in fermenting cells also holds for respiring cells (despite their greater HS insensitivity and higher level of intrinsic thermotolerance), we provide evidence that the intracellular redox state may influence both the sensitivity of the heat-shock response (HSR) and stress tolerance in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.