Survival and growth of Yersinia enterocolitica strains inoculated in skimmed milk treated with high hydrostatic pressure

Four human pathogenic strains of Yersinia enterocolitica (serotypes O:1, O:3, O:8, and O:9) were inoculated (7-8 log CFU/ml) in UHT skimmed milk and treated at 300, 400, and 500 MPa for 10 min at 20 degrees C, and then kept at 8 degrees C to assess their evolution for 15 days. Treatments at 400 and 500 MPa caused the highest lethality, generally reaching counts below detection level (1 CFU/ml) in the culture media. At 300 MPa, the most baroresistant serotypes were O:3 and O:8. After 15 days of storage at 8 degrees C, Y. enterocolitica showed growth over 8 log (CFU/ml) in all treatments. Kinetic study of microbial inactivation in skimmed milk was performed with serotype O:8 at 300 MPa, showing a tailing after 35 min of pressure treatment.     

Changes in textural, microstructural, and colour characteristics during ripening of cheeses made from raw, pasteurized or high-pressure-treated goats’ milk

Goats’ milk cheeses were made from raw (RA), pasteurized (PA; 72°C, 15 s) or pressure-treated (PR; 500 MPa, 15 min, 20°C) milk to compare textural, microstructural, and colour characteristics in relation to ripening time. Texture, microstructure and colour were evaluated by uniaxial compression and stress relaxation tests, confocal laser scanning microscopy and Hunter colorimetry, respectively.Raw and PR cheeses were firmer and less fracturable than PA cheese, but differences became less notable toward the end of ripening. PA and PR cheeses were less cohesive than RA cheese. Although cheeses exhibited a loss of elastic characteristics with ageing, PR cheese showed the most elastic behaviour initially. Confocal laser scanning micrographs displayed PR cheese with a regular and compact protein matrix, with small and uniform fat globules resembling the structure of RA cheese. Finally, colour evaluation demonstrated significant differences between cheeses due to milk treatments and ripening time.     

Design of a large-scale cable-driven robot with translational motion

The design of a new cable-driven robot for large-scale manipulation is presented with focus on the tension condition in the cables. In this robot, the arrangement of the cables is such that the moving platform has three translational motions. The robot has potentials for large-scale robotic manipulations, machining of large parts and material handling. The design analysis presented here is towards the synthesis of the robot as well as the sizing of the actuators and cables. The synthesis of this robot is dependent on the results of the tensionable workspace analysis previously published by the Alikhani et al. [6]. The analysis of the cable forces is presented in detail, which is then used to size the actuators. For this purpose, a geometrical approach is used to represent the capability of the end-effector for applying forces and moments as convex polyhedra. The design problem is then reduced to the sizing of these polyhedra according to the design requirements and manufacturing limitations. A prototype is also designed and fabricated, which is presented at the end to further elaborate on the proposed approach.     

Hybrid domain adaptation for sensor-based human activity recognition in a heterogeneous setup with feature commonalities

Pattern Analysis and Applications - Common approaches in the cross-domain sensor-based human activity recognition are based on the homogeneous domain adaptation which relies on the assumption that...     

Chemical composition and immunomodulatory activity of a pectic polysaccharide from the ground thistle Cirsium esculentum Siev.

The pectic polysaccharide cirsiuman CE was extracted from the stems of the ground thistle Cirsium esculentum Siev. using 0.7% aqueous ammonium oxalate, yielding 10.4% of the air-dried material. The backbone of cirsiuman was proved to consist of 1,4-α-d-galactopyranosyluronan blocks interconnected by 1,2-linked l-rhamnose residues. The side chains were attached to the 4-position of the l-rhamnopyranose residues. The side chains include 1,4-β-galactopyranan, which contains 3,4- and 4,6-substituted d-galactopyranose residues as branched points, and 1,5-α-arabinofuranan bearing 3,5-substituted α-l-arabinofuranose residues as the branching points. Oral administration of cirsiuman was found to prevent induction of oral tolerance to ovalbumin (OVA), increased the levels of serum IgG2a, and downregulated serum IgE responses, therefore it was tested for anti-allergic properties. The score of systemic anaphylactic reaction and the levels of both serum IgE and IL-4 were found to decrease; however, IFN-γ response was upregulated by cirsiuman feeding.     

Electrochemical study of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid and its interaction with Cu(II) and H2O2 in aqueous solutions: implications for wood decay

The electrochemical behavior of 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (2,3-DHBA) and the electron-transfer characteristics between Cu(II) and 2,3-DHBA were studied in aqueous solutions using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The overall electrochemical oxidation process of 2,3-DHBA by Cu(II) may be classified as a chemical reaction involving one-electron oxidation of 2,3-DHBA to its semiquinone radical in solution, followed by an electron-transfer reaction involving the oxidation of the semiquinone radical to a quinone at the electrode surface. In the presence of H2O2, oxidation of 2,3-DHBA by Cu(II) is enhanced due to the regeneration of Cu(II) by H2O2 oxidizing Cu(I). The redox cycling between Cu(I)/Cu(II) and H2O2 also produces hydroxyl radicals (OH). Even though the presence of OH may not be detected at the surface of a glassy carbon electrode, production of electroactive dissolved oxygen (O2) suggests the presence of OH. The production of O2 is dependent on Cu(II):H2O2 concentration ratio. At the electrode surface and when the initial Cu(II):H2O2 is less than 1, O2 is produced, suggesting that H2O2 may act as a scavenger for OH; at initial Cu(II):H2O2 > 1, the production of O2 is not favored, and OH will be involved in the oxidation of Cu(I) and the organic ligand. The reaction mechanisms proposed in this study indicate that OH production by chelator-mediated Fenton reactions is favorable under conditions found in the wood cell wall.     

Effect of Compression and Decompression Rates of High Hydrostatic Pressure on Inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus in Different Matrices

Staphylococcus aureus ATCC6538 was inoculated in skimmed milk, orange juice, and Tris buffer samples. Inoculated samples were subjected to high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatments at 700 MPa for 5 min at 4 °C starting temperature with fast, medium, and slow rates of compression and decompression. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of changing rates of compression and decompression on inactivation of S. aureus during HHP processing. Immediate effect of different HHP treatments was not significantly different. However, during subsequent storage in refrigeration, highest microbial inactivation was the result of treatments with fast compression and slow decompression rates in all matrices.     

Ultraviolet Light-Assisted Photocatalytic Disinfection of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> and Its Effects on the Quality Attributes of White Grape Juice

Ultraviolet (UV) light-assisted titanium dioxide (TiO₂) photocatalysis is an emerging technology in food safety that utilizes TiO₂ photocatalysts to accelerate the generation of reactive oxygen species during UV illumination. In this work, we studied the use of immobilized TiO₂-SiO₂ photocatalysts illuminated with UVA radiation (350 nm; 14.8 mW/cm²) for the inactivation of Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 in white grape juice, and compared the effectiveness of the photocatalytic disinfection with respect to the quality attributes of white grape juice against those of thermal and UVC (254 nm; 19.7 mW/cm²) treated samples. To obtain a 5-log reduction of the target microorganism, treatment durations of UVA in the absence and presence of the photocatalyst were 60 and 40 min, respectively. A 5-log reduction with UVC radiation led to the loss of health-related compounds such as vitamin C, total phenolic content, and total antioxidant capacity at 92.0?±?1.1%, 19.4?±?5.6%, and 54.3?±?10.0%, respectively. However, the same level of reduction with UVA led to a loss of 74.2?±?2.3%, 7.1?±?3.6%, and 39.7?±?2.5%, and with UVA-assisted photocatalytic method resulted in a loss of 75.8?±?6.1%, 13.6?±?5.8%, and 45.6?±?4.4% of vitamin C, total phenolic content, and total anti-oxidant capacity, respectively. Given its efficacy in deactivating E. coli while retaining a relatively higher level of health-related constituents in the fruit juice compared to other common pasteurization techniques, the photocatalyst developed in this study provides a promising technology for food disinfection.     

Asymptotic decay rate of non-classical strain gradient Timoshenko micro-cantilevers by boundary feedback

In non-classical micro-beams, the strain energy of the system is obtained based on the non-classical continuum mechanics. This paper presents the problem of boundary control of a vibrating non-classical micro-cantilever Timoshenko beam to achieve the asymptotic decay rate of the closed loop system. For this aim, we need to establish the well-posedness of the governing partial differential equations (PDEs) of motion in presence of boundary feedbacks. A linear control law is constructed to suppress the system vibration. The control forces and moments consist of feedbacks of the velocities and spatial derivatives of them at tip of the micro-beam. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed boundary controllers, numerical simulations of the open loop and closed loop PDE models of the system are worked out using finite element method (FEM). New Timoshenko beam element stiffness and mass matrices are derived based on the strain gradient theory and verification of this new beam element is accomplished.     

Body composition and serum and liver lipids in rats fed distillers' dried grains

This study examined the body composition and serum and liver lipids in weanling rats fed diets containing distillers' dried grains with solubles (DDGS) from either white wheat (WW), red wheat (RW), corn (CO) or WW fortified with essential amino acids (FWW) as a sole protein source (1.6 % N in the diet). Although the DDGS-fed groups had significantly lower body weights compared with the casein control (RC) after a 28-day feeding trial, there were no significant differences among the dietary groups in percentages of body water, protein, lipid or ash. Serum cholesterol was significantly higher in rats fed the RW diet, and serum triglyceride was higher in the RC and FWW groups compared with the other dietary groups. Liver cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations (mg g^?1 liver) were not significantly different among the five dietary groups.