Reflector Antenna Analysis Using the Complex Equivalent Length Concept: Reciprocity and Coupling Between Feeds

This work presents a procedure for analyzing multiply fed reflector antennas in both transmission and reception modes, by using the Reflector Antenna Complex Equivalent Length (RA-CEL) concept. The RA-CEL is derived by combining the Feed Element Complex Equivalent Length (FE-CEL) Method with an Equivalent Current (EC) model on the reflector surface. This formulation, in terms of both electric and magnetic equivalent currents, is consistent with the reciprocity theorem. Its application to reflector antenna far-field pattern analysis, in both the transmission and reception modes, is presented. The proposed method accurately considers the mutual coupling among feeding array elements through the reflector surface, and its computational cost is substantially lower than required by a full-wave analysis. Some applications investigating the mutual coupling among feeding elements of reflector antennas are presented, and are compared with a reference solution given by the Method of Moments - Physical Optics hybrid method, and a numerical evaluation of the integral equation.     

Antimicrobial action of synthetic peptides towards wine spoilage yeasts

The antimicrobial action of selected short synthetic peptides against wine spoilage yeasts such as Cryptococcus albidus, Dekkera bruxellensis, Pichia membranifaciens, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Zygosaccharomyces bailii and Zygosaccharomyces bisporus has been examined. Peptides analyzed include nine sequence-related antifungal hexapeptides (PAFs) previously developed by a combinatorial approach, and two representative lactoferricin B (LfcinB)-derived peptides. Different peptides had distinct activity profiles. In vitro assays identified the peptides PAF26, PAF36, and LfcinB(17-31), as having growth inhibitory properties towards several of the yeasts at low micromolar concentrations. Z. bailii and Z. bisporus were the most sensitive yeasts. In addition to their fungistatic activity, the three peptides showed fungicidal properties towards Z. bailii, Z. bisporus, and S. cerevisiae in laboratory growth medium. Remarkably, only LfcinB(17-31) against Z. bisporus had inhibitory and fungicidal properties in wine at the concentrations assayed, showing that the antimicrobial action of each peptide is dependent on both the food matrix and the target micro-organism. Lack of fungicidal activity of peptides against Z. bailii in wine is related to the presence of salt ions other than divalent cations. On the contrary, fungicidal activity of LfcinB(17-31) towards Z. bisporus was not significantly affected by wine salts. Our data identify a bioactive peptide from natural origin with potential use against the food spoilage yeast Z. bisporus, and indicate that the application of antimicrobial peptides in wine preservation deserves further investigation.     

Estimation of prevalence and incidence of subclinical mastitis in a large population of Brazilian dairy herds

The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence and incidence of subclinical mastitis (SM) in a large population of Brazilian dairy herds and to describe how these indices changed over time. A data set comprising individual cow somatic cell counts (SCC) from 18,316 test days (TD) of 1,809 herds that participated in a Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) program between January 2011 and May 2015 was available for analysis. Only tests that had ≥10 lactating cows and that were performed at 30 ± 10-d intervals were used for analysis. The final data set included 8,285 TD from 517 herds located in 5 regions of the country. Prevalence (%) of SM was defined as the number of cows with SCC ≥200,000 cells/mL divided by the total number of tested cows on a given TD. The incidence of SM was defined as the number of cows whose SCC increased from <200,000 to ≥200,000 cells/mL over 2 consecutive TD divided by the sum of each cow's days at risk during this interval, expressed as new cases per cow month at risk. Prevalence and incidence of SM were compared among years, regions, herd size categories, and frequency of DHIA testing during the study period. The overall mean prevalence and incidence of SM including all tests performed during the study period was 46.4% and 0.17 new cases per cow month at risk, respectively. The prevalence of SM varied little from 2011 to 2015, and an increasing trend was observed over the years. Prevalence was lower in herds that performed ≥60 DHIA tests during the study period than in those that performed fewer tests and was not different among regions or herd size categories. Incidence of SM varied little over the years and was not different among the regions studied. Prevalence and incidence of SM in the 517 herds studied were high and did not improve over the years. These trends were observed across all herd size categories and regions studied. Producers who had more DHIA tests performed per herd during the study period had lower prevalence of SM. Results of this study highlight the need to establish large-scale milk quality programs in Brazil.     

Non-culture-based identification of mastitis-causing bacteria by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the detection limit of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for direct identification, without previous microbiological culture, of bovine mastitis-causing bacteria from milk samples. Milk samples (n = 15) were experimentally contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus uberis, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, and Escherichia coli to have bacterial counts ranging from 10³ to 10⁹ cfu/mL. These contaminated milk samples were subjected to a preparation protocol for bacterial ribosomal protein extraction using the MALDI Sepsityper kit (Bruker Daltonik, Bremen, Germany), which allowed MALDI-TOF MS coupled with Biotyper software (Bruker Daltonik) to identify bacterial fingerprints based on intact ribosomal proteins. The ability of MALDI-TOF MS to correctly identify bacterial strains from experimentally contaminated milk (without previous microbiological culture) depended on the bacterial count of the samples and on the species of the bacteria evaluated. Adequate identification at the bacterial species level (score ≥2.0) directly from milk samples required bacterial counts in the following ranges: ≥10⁶ cfu/mL of Staph. aureus, ≥10⁷ cfu/mL of E. coli, and ≥10⁸ cfu/mL of Strep. agalactiae, Strep. dysgalactiae, and Strep. uberis. We concluded that direct identification of mastitis-causing pathogens is possible for Staph. aureus, E. coli, Strep. agalactiae, Strep. dysgalactiae, and Strep. uberis, but correct identification depended on the bacterial count in the milk samples.     

Assessing the Impact of High-Pressure Processing on Selected Physical and Biochemical Attributes of White Cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata alba)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of combined pressure/temperature treatments (200, 400 and 600 MPa, at 20 and 40 °C) on key physical and chemical characteristics of white cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata alba). Thermal treatment (blanching) was also investigated and compared with high-pressure processing (HPP). HPP at 400 MPa and 20–40 °C caused significantly larger colour changes compared to any other pressure or thermal treatment. All pressure treatments induced a softening effect, whereas blanching did not significantly alter texture. Both blanching and pressure treatments resulted in a reduction in the levels of ascorbic acid, effect that was less pronounced for blanching and HPP at 600 MPa and 20–40 °C. HPP at 600 MPa resulted in significantly higher total phenol content, total antioxidant capacity and total isothiocyanate content compared to blanching. In summary, the colour and texture of white cabbage were better preserved by blanching. However, HPP at 600 MPa resulted in significantly higher levels of phytochemical compounds. The results of this study suggest that HPP may represent an attractive technology to process vegetable-based food products that better maintains important aspects related to the content of health-promoting compounds. This may be of particular relevance to the food industry sector involved in the development of convenient novel food products with excellent functional properties.     

Structural changes,chemical composition and antioxidant activity of cherry tomato fruits (cv. Micro‐Tom) stored under optimal and chilling conditions

BACKGROUND: Cherry tomato fruits cv. Micro‐Tom, a model plant for tomato genetics, were analysed in order to determine the main structural and chemical changes under optimal and chilling storage conditions. The comparison of Micro‐Tom to standard tomato cultivars will give an insight into suitability of this dwarf cultivar as a model for studying the influence of low‐temperature conditions on tomato fruits. RESULTS: During chilling, fruit tissue was progressively destroyed due to the collapse of the deep layers of the pericarp. Chilling lowered the typical tomato kinetics of ripening in sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose), organic acids (tartaric, malic, citric, ascorbic and succinic) and the antioxidants phenol and lycopene, while carotenoid synthesis seemed to be blocked. Glutathione level was elevated and the activity of ROS scavenging enzymes was altered. Essentially, Micro‐Tom fruits showed a quality evolution that was similar to that described for standard tomato cultivars. CONCLUSION: The cherry tomato cultivar Micro‐Tom could be used as a model for studying the influence of low temperature on biochemical and structural changes taking place during chilling injury conditions. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry