Individual cell lag time distributions of Cronobacter (Enterobacter sakazakii) and impact of pooling samples on its detection in powdered infant formula

Cells of six strains of Cronobacter were subjected to dry stress and stored for 2.5 months at ambient temperature. The individual cell lag time distributions of recovered cells were characterized at 25 °C and 37 °C in non-selective broth. The individual cell lag times were deduced from the times taken by cultures from individual cells to reach an optical density threshold. In parallel, growth curves for each strain at high contamination levels were determined in the same growth conditions. In general, the extreme value type II distribution with a shape parameter fixed to 5 (EVIIb) was the most effective at describing the 12 observed distributions of individual cell lag times. Recently, a model for characterizing individual cell lag time distribution from population growth parameters was developed for other food-borne pathogenic bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes. We confirmed this model’s applicability to Cronobacter by comparing the mean and the standard deviation of individual cell lag times to populational lag times observed with high initial concentration experiments. We also validated the model in realistic conditions by studying growth in powdered infant formula decimally diluted in Buffered Peptone Water, which represents the first enrichment step of the standard detection method for Cronobacter. Individual lag times and the pooling of samples significantly affect detection performances.     

Combined effect of high pressure treatment and anti-microbial bio-sourced materials on microorganisms' growth in model food during storage

Antimicrobial bio-sourced films based on poly(lactic acid) containing either carvacrol or allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) were prepared and their antimicrobial properties were assessed on Botrytis cinerea during storage and after a high pressure (HP) “pasteurisation-like” treatment (up to 800 MPa at ambient temperature). A dry process (extrusion + thermomoulding) was used to shape the material. The high temperature encountered during film processing dramatically decreased the carvacrol and AITC content in the film, leading to a less efficient antimicrobial activity. The use of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) to encapsulate the active compounds before film processing proved to be efficient to protect the AITC against thermal degradation and to control its release from the films during its use. PLA-based films containing either AITC or β-CD encapsulated AITC showed a significant activity against B. cinerea. An effective combination between the antimicrobial activity of AITC-based films and the high pressure treatment was observed on a model food system (PDA) inoculated with N × 10⁴ (N ~ 1–9) conidia of B. cinerea. An HP treatment of only 300 MPa associated with an antimicrobial PLA/β-CD system providing an initial quantity of active agents equivalent to 4 mg of AITC/L of air (i.e. almost 2 folds lower than the minimal inhibition concentration of the active packaging used alone, which was determined to be equal to 10 mg/L of air in the same conditions) was found more efficient (total inhibition of B. cinerea growth during 10 days) than an 800 MPa HP treatment used alone (increase of the lag phase growth of 3.3 days).

Industrial relevance

The consumer demand for “fresh like” product containing reduced amount of preservatives without compromising human and environmental safety needs the development of new preservation strategies. As a consequence, the concept of “hurdle technologies” has risen up. The combined effect of HP treatment and volatile antimicrobial packaging allowed the use of lower individual treatment intensities to inhibit B. cinerea growth. Combining such “hurdles” is of relevance in the context of development of low-cost and eco-friendly food technologies.     

In vitro comparisons between Carica papaya and pancreatic lipases during test meal lipolysis: Potential use of CPL in enzyme replacement therapy

High levels of lipase activity are known to occur in Carica papaya latex, and this activity is being used in some biotechnological applications. The lipolytic activity of C. papaya lipase (CPL) on dietary triacylglycerols (TAG) has not yet been studied. Hence, the aim of this study was to characterise the specific activity of CPL on dietary TAG present in a crude preparation. Also, we have determined its stability during the lipolysis of a test meal at various pH values mimicking those occurring in the gastro-intestinal tract, with or without bile, and have compared these properties with those of porcine pancreatic extract (PPE) and human pancreatic lipase (HPL). CPL showed maximum stability at pH 6.0, both with and without bile. Some residual activity was still observed at pH 2 (20%), whereas the pancreatic lipases tested were immediately completely inactivated at this pH. In the absence of bile, the highest specific activities were measured at pH 6 in the case of CPL, PPE and HPL. Adding bile slightly decreased the CPL activity in the 4–6 pH range, thus shifting the optimum CPL activity to pH 7, where the presence of bile had no effect. Lipolysis levels decreased with the pH, but CPL was still more active than PPE at pH 5 on a relative basis. These results suggest that CPL might be a promising candidate for use as a therapeutic tool on patients with pancreatic exocrine insufficiency.     

Design challenges of a 65 nm CMOS stacked folded differential PA structure for mobile communications

In this paper, a novel phase-locked loop (PLL) architecture with multiple charge pumps, which is used to design a fast-locking PLL and a low-phase-noise PLL, is proposed. The effective capacitance and resistance of the loop filter in terms of voltage is scaled up/down according to the locking status by controlling the magnitude and direction of the charge pump current. Two PLLs, one with a fast-locking characteristic and the other with a low-phase-noise characteristic, are designed and fabricated in a 0.35-μm CMOS process based on the proposed architecture. The fast-locking PLL has a locking time of less than 6 μs and a phase noise of −90.45 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset. The low-phase-noise PLL has a locking time of 25 μs, a phase noise of −105.37 dBc/Hz at 1 MHz offset, and a reference spur of −50 dBc. Both PLLs have an 851.2 MHz output frequency.     

Chemometric analysis of combined NIR and MIR spectra to characterize French olives

Chemometric treatment of near‐infrared (NIR) and mid‐infrared (MIR) combined spectra was used firstly to predict oil and water contents in fresh olive fruit samples (n = 223) and secondly to classify these samples into five principal French cultivar origins (Aglandau, Cailletier, Olivière, Salonenque, and Tanche). The study was carried out during four crop years (2005/2006 to 2008/2009) to take into account the seasonal variations. The comparison of the results obtained in the combined range (REP = 2.6% for the water content and 3.5% for the oil content) provides an obvious advantage compared to the NIR and MIR techniques used separately. Fresh olive fruit cultivars were satisfactorily classified with the partial least squares‐discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) method in the combined range. After use of the K‐means clustering on the PLS‐DA scores, all the samples were well classified into their five groups of origin. The use of infrared combined spectra allows a considerable improvement in estimating olive fruit quality (oil and water contents, varietal origins).     

Wheat gluten-coated papers for bio-based food packaging: Structure,surface and transfer properties

The objective of the present work was to understand how the structural, surface, water vapour and gas barrier properties of wheat gluten (WG) coated paper could be influenced by the features of paper. For this purpose, a surface treated paper (TP) and an untreated paper (UTP) were compared. Penetration of WG-coating into the bulk of paper was more pronounced in UTP than TP. This led to the formation of a significant junction zone resulting in an interpenetrated structure for WG–UTP, suggesting a composite-like structure, while a bi-layer one was obtained for WG–TP. Differences in WG penetration were related to the hydrophilicity, roughness and porosity of the paper used. Even though the extent of penetration did not greatly affect the surface properties (water and oil resistance), the transfer properties (water vapour, O₂ and CO₂) of WG-coated papers were significantly improved when WG-coating highly penetrated: while the WG–TP behaved as a micro-perforated material, the WG–UTP behaved as WG-film.     

Error evaluation on experimental stress–strain curve obtained from tube bulging test

To get precise material data for advanced numerical modelling of tube hydroforming process, the tube bulging test is recommended. Stresses and strains in the tube cannot be evaluated easily and several approaches have been proposed. A review is proposed and points out their advantages and drawbacks.     

Solid/Liquid Separation of Pig Manure by Biological Flotation: Pilot-Scale Study

Many problems are associated with pig manure production like high biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, nitrogen, and phosphorus contents. Manure produces may be used in land spreading for agricultural purposes. Over application of liquid manure or runoff caused by precipitation contribute notably to surface or overland flow of phosphorus. In this study, the LISOX process is proposed for use in medium size farms, namely a 2,000-head swine farm. The LISOX process uses biological passive flotation, without any gas addition, to enable the flocs to rise to the surface. Results show that this technology is able to considerably reduce the solids content in the final effluent to 1.1±0.3% and reached solids content of 17.9±2.6% in the combined solid manure obtained at the end of the LISOX process. Total phosphorus (Pt) concentrations have been reduced from 1,234±428?mg/L to 146±46?mg/L in the final effluent, while a value of Pt of 20.6±7.9?g/kg has been obtained in the final solid fraction of the treated manure. The initial ammonium ion/total phosphorus ratio of 2.3±1.0 has been increased to respectively 16.4±4.6 and 17.6±5.4 after the primary and the secondary flotation, which is clearly much higher than the target value (NH4/Pt>7).     

Understanding Interactive Legends: a Comparative Evaluation with Standard Widgets

Interactive information visualization systems rely on widgets to allow users to interact with the data and modify the representation. We define interactive legends as a class of controls combining the visual representation of static legends and interaction mechanisms of widgets. As interactive legends start to appear in popular websites, we categorize their designs for common data types and evaluate their effectiveness compare to standard widgets. Results suggest that 1) interactive legends can lead to faster perception of the mapping between data values and visual encodings and 2) interaction time is affected differently depending on the data type. Additionally, our study indicates superiority both in terms of perception and interaction of ordinal controls over numerical ones. Numerical techniques are mostly used in today's systems. By providing solutions to allowing users to modify ranges interactively, we believe that interactive legends make it possible to increase the use of ordinal techniques for visual exploration.