Combination of Homogenization, Citrus Extract and Vanillic Acid for the Inhibition of Some Spoiling and Pathogenic Bacteria Representative of Dairy Microflora

This research proposes the optimization of a preserving treatment (homogenization—high-pressure homogenization (HPH)—and some safe antimicrobial compounds) able to inhibit the spoiling and pathogenic microflora of milk. In the first phase, 16 strains, including lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, pseudomonads and enterobacteria, were studied in order to assess their resistance to homogenization (pressure ranging from 50 to 150 MPa for single-step treatments; multi-step treatments were performed at 150 MPa through two or three passes across the homogenizing valve). Lactobacilli and bifidobacteria were the most resistant microorganisms (as a threefold treatment at 150 MPa was required to achieve a cell reduction of 1–2 log cfu/ml), followed by pathogens and then by pseudomonas and enterobacteria. Then, a mixture design was further used to define combinations of homogenization (0–150 MPa pass^?1), vanillic acid (0–0.24 %) and citrus extract (0–300 ppm), to control the growth of a mixture of pseudomonas, enterobacteria and lactic acid bacteria; results were used to build two successive models: a primary model for the estimation of the physiological parameters of the microorganisms, whose fitting parameters were used to build a secondary model (polynomial equation) to predict the effectiveness of the combinations of HPH, citrus extract and vanillic acid. Statistical analysis highlighted that a prolongation of shelf life by 4 days (evaluated by pseudomonas cell counts) could be achieved combining homogenization at 75 MPa with either 0.12 % of vanillic acid or 150 ppm of citrus extract.     

Variability in the content of soluble sugars and cell wall polysaccharides in red‐ripe cherry and high‐pigment tomato cultivars

BACKGROUND: Soluble sugars and cell wall polysaccharides are well known for contributing to a range of ‘quality’ characteristics of fresh vegetables such as flavour, texture and healthy properties. Red‐ripe berries of 14 cultivars of cherry tomatoes and four cultivars of high‐pigment tomato hybrids, cultivated in the south of Italy, were analysed for their content of these important qualitative parameters. RESULTS: Sakura appeared to be the cultivar with the highest amount of soluble sugars (53 g kg^?1 fresh weight (f.w.)), mainly glucose and fructose, and, hence the ‘sweetest’ among cherry tomatoes. High‐pigment tomatoes, especially HLY02 and HLY13, showed a soluble sugar content much lower than cherry tomatoes, as expected for industrial, normal‐size tomatoes. Variations in the fructose/glucose ratio, of between 0.68 and 1.48, were evidenced among the different tomato cultivars. Cell wall polysaccharides isolated from whole fresh red‐ripe berries of each cultivar were analysed chemically. The amount of matrix polysaccharides (0.9–3.4 g kg^?1 f.w.) and cellulose (0.16–1.86 g kg^?1 f.w.), as well as their glycosidic composition, showed significant differences among the different cultivars. Cellulose to matrix polysaccharide ratio was highly variable and ranged between 0.06–1.44 and 0.17–0.77 in cherry and high‐pigment tomato cultivars, respectively. CONCLUSION: The differences evidenced in the total soluble sugar and cell wall polysaccharide composition, not only among different types of tomatoes but also different cultivars within the same typology, may play a fundamental role in the quality of tomatoes and deserve further investigations. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

The development of tobacco use in adolescence among "snus starters" and "cigarette starters": an analysis of the Swedish "BROMS" cohort

Whether the use of smokeless tobacco can facilitate the transition to cigarette smoking and/or to prolonged tobacco use in adolescence is unclear. We analyzed data from a cohort of 2,938 Swedish adolescents, with six follow-up assessments of tobacco use between the ages of 11 and 18 years. The majority of tobacco users (70%) started by smoking cigarettes, 11% took up snus before smoking, and 19% used both tobacco types close in time. Ever users of tobacco at baseline had a higher risk of being current smokers and/or smokeless tobacco users at the end of follow-up compared with never users, with the highest excess relative risk for "mixed users." Adolescents who initiated tobacco use with cigarettes had a non-significantly increased probability to end up as current smokers compared with snus starters (adjusted OR=1.42; 95% CI 0.98-2.10) The OR of smoking for "mixed starters" was 2.54 (95% CI 1.68-3.91). The risk of becoming current user of any tobacco was also significantly enhanced for "mixed starters." Marked sex differences were observed in these associations, as initiation with cigarettes rather than with snus predicted current smoking or tobacco use only among females. Progression of tobacco use in adolescence is not predicted by onset with snus or cigarettes, but rather by initiation with both tobacco types close in time and/or at young age. The proportion of adolescent smoking prevalence attributable to a potential induction effect of snus is likely small.     

Use of Lysozyme,Nisin, and EDTA Combined Treatments for Maintaining Quality of Packed Ostrich Patties

ABSTRACT: The antimicrobial effectiveness of lysozyme, nisin, and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) combination treatments (Mix₁: 250 ppm lysozyme, 250 ppm nisin, 5 mM EDTA; Mix₂: 500 ppm lysozyme, 500 ppm nisin, 5 mM EDTA) on bacterial growth of ostrich patties packaged in air, vacuum, and 2 different modified atmospheres (MAP₁: 80% O₂, 20% CO₂; MAP₂: 5% O₂, 30% CO₂, 65% N₂) was evaluated. Moreover, the lipid oxidation was evaluated as well as color and sensory characteristics. The growth of total viable counts and lactic acid bacteria were strongly inhibited by the antimicrobial treatments in all the running time (Inhibition Index >97%) whereas for Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas spp. lower inhibition indices from 12% to about 28% were observed. The lipid oxidation was more pronounced in the control respect to the treated meat patties. Moreover, the mixture at low concentration of lysozyme and nisin showed the best antioxidative effect. High concentrations of lysozyme and nisin showed the greatest color loss. Also, off-odors for the untreated patties developed faster than the treated samples. Practical Application: Great interest is developing in food bio-preservation, because of the ever-increasing needs to protect consumers' health and to valorize the naturalness and safety of food products.     

Cognitive-based multi-radio prototype for industrial environment

Today, a large number of cost-saving and energy-efficient applications are enabled by wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs). Usually, these solutions have serious connectivity problems in scenarios where other wireless technologies are co-located sharing the frequency spectrum (e.g., industrial shop-floors). To cope with this issue, the concept of multi-radio (MR) has been introduced, which promotes the simultaneous use of multiple radio communication interfaces, leveraging their different characteristics, to improve the overall system performance and reliability. The proposed approach based on cognitive algorithm considers two wireless technologies operating at the 2.4-GHz frequency band, namely Wi-Fi and 6LoWPAN, and provides a concrete implementation of the system using a real test-bed industry scenario. The solution provides a reliable communication infrastructure for manufacturing processes, firstly combining the properties of several physical layer standards and secondly providing the ability to recover from temporary network failures by switching from a communication channel to another one.     

NASA takes lead U.S. role in Earth observation

The role being played by NASA in preparing for the observance of the International Space Year (ISY) is discussed. Key themes of the inaugural meeting of the Space Agency Forum on ISY (SAFISY), held in Durham, NH, in April 1988, are examined. The thirteen different SAFISY Earth science projects, which are using space technologies to assess such environmental issues as ozone depletion, deforestation, and global warming, are described briefly. An ISY educational campaign, stressing both the scientific results of space exploration and the benefits of space applications, is discussed     

Age-related changes in the avian primary lymphoid organs (thymus and bursa of Fabricius)

The avian primary lymphoid organs, the thymus and the bursa of Fabricius, undergo age-dependent changes leading in some cases to the complete atrophy of the organ. Nevertheless, the timetable of the involutive process as well as the consequences in the structure and functionality of the organs vary largely in the time frame and structural changes among species. On the other hand, and in contrast with the large body of literature reporting the structural and functional changes in mammalian primary lymphoid organs, the age-dependent changes in avian thymus and bursa of Fabricius are scarce, fragmentary, and heterogeneous. This article reviews the current literature on this topic, and focuses primarily on the involution of the bursa of Fabricius.     

Emergent functionality among intelligent systems: Cooperation within and without minds

In this paper, the current AI view that emergent functionalities apply only to the study of subcognitive agents is questioned; a hypercognitive view of autonomous agents as proposed in some AI subareas is also rejected. As an alternative view, a unified theory of social interaction is proposed which allows for the consideration of both cognitive and extracognitive social relations. A notion of functional effect is proposed, and the application of a formal model of cooperation is illustrated. Functional cooperation shows the role of extracognitive phenomena in the interaction of intelligent agents, thus representing a typical example of emergent functionality.     

Inhibition of Autophagy Negates Radiofrequency-Induced Adaptive Response in SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells

In the last years, radiofrequency (RF) has demonstrated that it can reduce DNA damage induced by a subsequent treatment with chemical or physical agents in different cell types, resembling the adaptive response, a phenomenon well documented in radiobiology. Such an effect has also been reported by other authors both in vitro and in vivo, and plausible hypotheses have been formulated, spanning from the perturbation of the cell redox status, to DNA repair mechanisms, and stress response machinery, as possible cellular mechanisms activated by RF pre-exposure. These mechanisms may underpin the observed phenomenon, and require deeper investigations. The present study aimed to determine whether autophagy contributes to RF-induced adaptive response. To this purpose, SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells were exposed for 20 h to 1950 MHz, UMTS signal, and then treated with menadione. The results obtained indicated a reduction in menadione-induced DNA damage, assessed by applying the comet assay. Such a reduction was negated when autophagy was inhibited by bafilomycin A1 and E64d. Moreover, CRISPR SH-SY5Y cell lines defective for ATG7 or ATG5 genes did not show an adaptive response. These findings suggest the involvement of autophagy in the RF-induced adaptive response in human neuroblastoma cells; although, further investigation is required to extend such observation at the molecular level.