Natural food mastication capability in preschool children according to their oral condition: A preliminary study

This study investigated, for the first time, the masticatory capability of preschool children using natural foods, and the impact of an early oral health alteration (early childhood caries: ECC) on the granulometry of ready-to-swallow food boluses. Thirteen children with ECC were compared to 13 preschool children with a healthy oral condition. Oral health criteria and NOT-S scores (Nordic Orofacial dysfunction Test-Screening) were recorded. For each child, number of masticatory cycles (Nc), chewing time (Ti), and frequency (Fq = Nc/Ti) were recorded during mastication of raw carrot (CAR), cheese (CHS) and breakfast cereals (CER) samples. Food boluses were collected by stopping children at their food-dependent individual swallowing threshold (Nc), and the median food bolus particle size value (D50) was calculated. Correlations were sought between oral health and masticatory criteria. In the ECC group, mean Fq values were significantly decreased for all three foods (p ≤ .001) and mean D50 values were significantly increased (p ≤ .001) compared to the control group (i.e., D50 CAR = 4,384 μm ± 929 vs. 2,960 μm ± 627). These alterations were related to the extent of ECC. The NOT-S mean global score was significantly increased in children with ECC (2.62 ± 1.37 vs. 1 ± 0.91 in the control group, p ≤ .01), due to “Mastication and swallowing” domain impairment. This study gives granulometric normative values for three foods in preschool children and shows the impact of ECC on D50 values. The progression of children's masticatory capability after dental treatment, and the impact of such modifications of sensory input on future eating habits should be explored.     

Modulation of Starch Digestibility in Breakfast Cereals Consumed by Subjects with Metabolic Risk: Impact on Markers of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation during Fasting and the Postprandial Period

Scope : Decreasing postprandial glycaemic excursions may have a beneficial effect on inflammatory and oxidative stress profiles. In this study, we investigated the impact of carbohydrate digestibility modulation per se, as a means of reducing the glycaemic response, on metabolic and inflammatory responses in subjects with metabolic risk factors. Methods and results : Twenty healthy subjects with metabolic risk consumed a cereal product either high in Slowly Digestible Starch (HSDS) or low in SDS (LSDS) at breakfast daily for 3 weeks, in a cross‐over design. Following each 3‐week session, postprandial glycaemia, insulinaemia, the lipid profile, inflammation and oxidative stress markers were assessed and compared to those induced by ingestion of a glucose solution (as a reference). The 2‐h glycaemic and insulinaemic responses were significantly lower following the HSDS breakfast compared with the LSDS breakfast or glucose. No significant differences between the products were observed in terms of the lipid profile, C‐reactive protein, IL‐6 and tumour necrosis factor alpha. We observed a slight increase in fasting lipid peroxidation markers, including an increase in plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and a decrease in whole blood glutathione (GSH), without significant alteration of urinary F2‐isoprostanes or plasma glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity. Conclusion : Consumption of HSDS products for 3 weeks significantly altered both postprandial glycaemia and insulinaemia, but was not sufficient to modify the inflammatory profile. Consumption of both cereal products was associated with a slightly higher fasting oxidative stress profile.     

Fermentation of salmon fillets with a variety of lactic acid bacteria

The influence of five strains of lactic acid bacteria (four Lactobacillus and one Carnobacterium) on the quality of fermented salmon fillets was studied. Best starter growth (increase of more than 1 log in 3 days) and acidification of muscle (e.g. pH reduction of approximately 0.7 units in 5 days) were achieved with the two commercial strains L. sake LAD and L. alimentarius BJ33. pH reduction was consistently lower (e.g. reduction of 0.2 units in 5 days) with C. piscicola 85. Protein breakdown as observed on SDS-PAGE gels was similar for all strains. In contrast, the starter strain did influence texture and colour changes. Fast acidifying strains L. sake LAD and L. alimentarius BJ33 brought about a firmer overall texture and a lighter colour, while softening of flesh occurred in samples processed with C. piscicola 85. Sensory evaluations indicated that samples processed with fast acidifying strains were preferred. L. sake LAD and L. alimentarius BJ33 are regarded as suitable starters for fermentation of salmon fillets.     

Heuristiques et effets cognitifs dans l'évaluation du risque.

Studied the influence of various cognitive modalities on risk assessment. Human Ss: 78 normal male and female French adults (university students). Ss were presented with information related to a potential environmental danger and asked to evaluate the degree of risk. The information involved 3 categories of data presented under 3 experimental conditions: representativeness, availability, and anchoring of the relevant information. A control condition offering no information on which to base the risk assessment was also included. Subjective evaluations of the degree of risk served as the dependent variable. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of extrusion-cooking on the hypoglycaemic properties of citrus fibre: An in-vitro study

Orange and lemon peels were extruded under controlled conditions of varying severity, and their physico-chemical characteristics and effect on the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch and glucose diffusion were studied. Extrusion-cooking treatment increased the soluble fraction of dietary fibre as well as solubilised pectic substances and arabino-galactomannan chains. The apparent viscosities of aqueous extracts of extruded fibre were increased slightly for orange and more markedly for lemon fibre. With both fibre sources, viscosities values were higher in Tris-maleate buffer (0.1 M) than in NaCl (154 mM). However, these modifications had no effect on starch hydrolysis and glucose diffusion in vitro.     

De‐embedding of filters in multiplexers via rational approximation and interpolation

In this article, we present a method to recover electrical parameters of filters embedded in a multiplexer for which scattering measurements are given. Unlike other approaches proposed for this problem, this method does not require a priori knowledge of the scattering parameters of the junction. This feature renders the procedure well suited for tuning purposes or for fault diagnosis. Technically, the algorithm starts with a rational approximation step, to derive a rational representation of certain scattering parameters of the multiplexer. This representation is then used in a second step to identify an electrical model of each filter. This second step relies on a rational interpolation technique used to extract the filter's responses. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:647–654, 2015.     

Impact of Traffic Management on Black Carbon Emissions: a Microsimulation Study

This paper investigates the effectiveness of traffic management tools, including traffic signal control and en-route navigation provided by variable message signs (VMS), in reducing traffic congestion and associated emissions of CO₂, NO_x, and black carbon. The latter is among the most significant contributors of climate change, and is associated with many serious health problems. This study combines traffic microsimulation (S-Paramics) with emission modeling (AIRE) to simulate and predict the impacts of different traffic management measures on a number traffic and environmental Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) assessed at different spatial levels. Simulation results for a real road network located in West Glasgow suggest that these traffic management tools can bring a reduction in travel delay and BC emission respectively by up to 6 % and 3 % network wide. The improvement at local levels such as junctions or corridors can be more significant. However, our results also show that the potential benefits of such interventions are strongly dependent on a number of factors, including dynamic demand profile, VMS compliance rate, and fleet composition. Extensive discussion based on the simulation results as well as managerial insights are provided to support traffic network operation and control with environmental goals. The study described by this paper was conducted under the support of the FP7-funded CARBOTRAF project.     

Influence of Stoichiometry on the Electrical and Mechanical Behavior of Yttrium Oxide Ceramics

Because of their method of preparation, ceramics contain point defects, the concentration of which may vary from the center to the boundary of the grains, which may change the bulk properties of the material. The electronic structure of the oxygen-related defects has been studied by electron spectroscopy in yttria ceramics submitted to various heating conditions under controlled atmospheres. The differences in the mechanical and electrical behaviors are observed to correlate with the defect content.     

Does fusion of domains from unrelated proteins affect their folding pathways and the structural changes involved in their function? A case study with the diphtheria toxin T domain

We investigated whether the structural and functional behaviorsof two unrelated protein domains were modified when fused. TheIgG-binding protein ZZ derived from staphylococcal protein Awas fused to the N- and/or C-terminus of the diphtheria toxintransmembrane domain (T). T undergoes a conformational changefrom a soluble native state at neutral pH to a molten globule-likestate at acidic pH, leading to its interaction with membranes.We found that this molten globule state was not connected tothe GdnHCl-induced unfolding pathway of T. The pH-induced transitionof T, and also the unfolding of T and ZZ at neutral and acidicpH, were unchanged whether the domains were isolated or fused.The position of ZZ, however, influenced the solubility of Tnear its pK_i. SPR measurements revealed that T has a high affinityfor membranes, isolated or within the fusion proteins (K_D<10^-11 M). This work shows that in the case of T and ZZ, thefusion of protein domains with different stabilities does notalter the structural changes involved in folding and function.This supports the use of T as a soluble membrane anchor.