New method for obtaining the optimal Taylor expansions of a Boolean function

To each Boolean function is associated a pseudo-Boolean function whose value at any vertex is the weight (number of cubes) of the Boolean-function Taylor expansion at the same vertex. Some well known theorems of differential analysis allow us to obtain easily a formal expression of this pseudo-Boolean function. Any pseudo-Boolean minimising method may then be used to derive the optimal Taylor expansion.     

3D Printing and Nanotechnology: A Multiscale Alliance in Personalized Medicine

3D printing and nanotechnology have been two important tools in the development of therapeutic approaches for personalized medicine. More recently, their alliance has been improved in an effort to build innovative, versatile, multifunctional, and/or smart medical and pharmaceutical products. Therefore, an extensive review about scientific studies that ally 3D printing and nanomaterials in the development of new approaches for pharmaceutical and medical applications for the treatment and prevention of diseases is presented here. The articles are classified into five categories according to their main application: Cell growth and tissue engineering, antimicrobial, drug delivery, stimulus-response, and theranostics. Semisolid extrusion, inorganic nanoparticles, and cell growth and tissue engineering are the most reported 3D printing technique, type of nanomaterial, and application, respectively. The increase in papers dedicated to these areas is also notable, especially in the 2019 and 2020, when semisolid extrusion became the most used technique, overcoming fused deposition modelling. In fact, this review highlights that the possibility of an alliance between 3D printing and nanotechnology for the production of multiscale materials is undoubtedly a great opportunity for knowledge and innovation in the pharmaceutical and medical area.     

Absorbent polyvinyl alcohol–sodium carboxymethyl cellulose hydrogels for propolis delivery in wound healing applications

Second degree burns require dressings to heal. The ideal dressing should keep a moist environment, have low cost, be elastic and have a bactericidal effect. The potential of PVA‐NaCMC (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose) gels to combine the mechanical and swelling properties of PVA with the flexibility and high water uptake of NaCMC and the antimicrobial characteristics of propolis is investigated. The freeze‐thawed gels were characterized by FTIR and DSC. Their swelling behavior, their mechanical response, the delivery of active compounds and their antimicrobial properties were also determined. The main findings of the FTIR analysis were that no chemical bonding occurred between the materials. The DSC analysis revealed that the addition of NaCMC to PVA lowered the PVA crystallinity, as did the addition of propolis, leading to a more deformable gel (as can be observed from the tensile tests results). This also resulted in a higher rate of delivery of active compounds, higher weight loss and higher fluid uptake than comparable PVA‐propolis systems, as shown by the swelling tests and by the propolis delivery tests. Samples with 15% propolis content or more inhibited S. aureus colonies with 80% reduction, and are therefore highly absorbent and compliant antimicrobial gels for wound healing. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 57:1224–1233, 2017. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Multiplex PCR for the simultaneous detection of Salmonella spp. and Salmonella Enteritidis in food

Multiplex PCR assay (mPCR) for the detection of Salmonella spp. and S. Enteritidis was developed in this study using artificially contaminated chicken carcasses. The assay showed 100% specificity to detect approximately 1 CFU of Salmonella in 10 g of chicken skin after non‐selective enrichment. The mPCR was evaluated in Minas cheese, fresh pork sausage and chicken carcasses commercially available. Salmonella spp. was detected in nine of sixty‐six chicken carcasses, five of fifty‐two cheese samples, and five of fifty‐two sausage samples. The serovar Enteritidis was detected in two samples of contaminated sausage. The mPCR results were confirmed by conventional culture and biochemical identification of the isolates. Serotyping confirmed the presence of S. Enteritidis in sausage samples and showed contamination by serovars Schwarzengrund and Montevideo in chicken carcasses.     

Inorganic polyphosphate accumulation by Cunninghamella elegans (UCP 542) and its influence in the decolorization of textile azo dye Orange II

The inappropriate disposal of dyes in wastewater constitutes an environmental problem and can cause damage to the ecosystem. Alternative treatments have been reported that employ fungi that are particularly effective in the decolorization of textile effluents. In these methods, the biomass can be used for industrial removal of dyes by biosorption. The current study has investigated the accumulation of polyphosphate (poly P) in the fungus Cunninghamella elegans UCP 542 and evaluated the capacity of the inactivated biomass, obtained from 144 h of incubation, to decolorize the dye Orange II. The results suggest the transport of the inorganic phosphorus, as demonstrated through the cellular bioaccumulation. The biochemical and physiological aspects of bioaccumulation in the poly P form were related to the process of removal of the color of Orange II, with the reduction of 60 % of the dye solution.     

Consumer behaviour towards chicken breasts affected with myopathy (Wooden Breast): face-to-face vs. online tests

The incidence of the Wooden Breast myopathy (WB) in the meat industry is increasingly high and causes economic losses. This work seeks to study the impact of this myopathy on consumer perception. The aim of this study was to evaluate consumers' degree of knowledge, acceptability and purchase intention of chicken breasts affected by the WB. In face-to-face scenario, 197 participants evaluated samples of Normal (N), Moderate (WBM) and Severe WB (WBS) breasts fillet, whereas in the online scenario 200 participants analysed the photographic images of the samples. Participants' perceptions did not show differences among informed conditions, conversely to the scenario. N samples show higher scores in both tests in the face-to-face scenario, but this was not the case for the samples evaluated in the online scenario, where WBM samples were better accepted and did not present differences compared with N breast samples regarding purchase intention. This work shed light on the importance of the scenario for consumer perception and the necessity of reformulated objectives and experimental designs in the current pandemic context.