Amaranth functional cookies exert potential antithrombotic and antihypertensive activities

In this study, amaranth flour was used as an ingredient to prepare gluten-free cookies. The production process and attributes of amaranth cookies were characterised, and the potential use of amaranth flour as a functional ingredient was analysed. Cookies exhibited a non-uniform reddish brown colour and a cookie factor ratio of 4.5 ± 0.6. Storage studies indicated that after 3 weeks at room temperature cookies presented slight variations in the texture. Simulated gastrointestinal digestion of this product was able to release peptides capable of exerting potential antithrombotic and antihypertensive activities, IC₅₀ values of 0.22 ± 0.04 and 0.23 ± 0.03 mg mL⁻¹ protein, respectively. This work demonstrates for the first time that food made with amaranth flour exerts potential antithrombotic and antihypertensive activity. In conclusion, these amaranth cookies could be an alternative way of incorporating potentially health beneficial products for people who choose a conscious diet, including coeliac or vegan consumers.     

Quality enhancement of the abundant under‐valued crustacean,lobster krill (Munida spp.), during its chilled storage

Lobster krill (Munida genus) represents an under‐valued crustacean frequently caught on European fishing banks. In this work, its sensory, microbiological and biochemical qualities were evaluated during chilled storage. Additionally, the effects of a prestorage antimelanosic treatment consisting of soaking in sodium metabisulphite (SMB) solutions at two different concentrations (0.25% and 0.75%) were also studied. SMB prestorage treatment provided lobster specimens that still exhibited acceptable sensory quality after 10 days of storage, while control specimens were unacceptable at that time. SMB treatment also resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) inhibition of microbial growth, mainly of Enterobacteriaceae, psychrotrophes and proteolytic bacteria. Low lipid oxidation levels were observed for all batches; however, a significantly higher (P < 0.05) retention of polyunsaturated fatty acids was found in SMB‐treated lobster, especially in the 0.75% SMB batch. The results presented here open the way to the potential commercialisation of currently under‐utilised lobster krill as a chilled product.     

A review on some classes of algebraic systems

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we review some algebraic control system. Precisely, linear and bilinear systems on Euclidean spaces and invariant and linear systems on Lie groups. The fourth classes of systems have a common issue: to any class, there exists an associated subgroup. From this object, we survey the controllability property. Especially, from those coming from our contribution to the theory.     

A practical assessment of risk-averse approaches in production lot-sizing problems

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an empirical assessment of four state-of-the-art risk-averse approaches to deal with the capacitated lot-sizing problem under stochastic demand. We analyse two mean-risk models based on the semideviation and on the conditional value-at-risk risk measures, and alternate first and second-order stochastic dominance approaches. The extensive computational experiments based on different instances characteristics and on a case-study suggest that CVaR exhibits a good trade-off between risk and performance, followed by the semideviation and first-order stochastic dominance approach. For all approaches, enforcing risk-aversion helps to reduce the cost-standard deviation substantially, which is usually accomplished via increasing production rates. Overall, we can say that very risk-averse decision-makers would be willing to pay an increased price to have a much less risky solution given by CVaR. In less risk-averse settings, though, semideviation and first-order stochastic dominance can be appealing alternatives to provide significantly more stable production planning costs with a marginal increase of the expected costs.     

Design of novel urogenital pharmabiotic formulations containing lactobacilli,salivaricin CRL 1328 and non-microbial compounds with different functionalities

Context: The administration of pharmabiotics is a promising alternative to antimicrobial drugs for the treatment and/or prevention of female urogenital infections.

Objective: To design pharmabiotic formulations including bioactive ingredients of microbial origin combined with non-microbial substances and then to evaluate the stability of the combinations during freeze-drying and storage.

Materials and methods: Different formulations including Lactobacillus gasseri CRL 1263, Lactobacillus salivarius CRL 1328, salivaricin CRL 1328 (a bacteriocin) and non-microbial compounds (lactose, inulin and ascorbic acid) were assayed, and the ingredients were freeze-dried together or separately. The formulations were stored in gelatin capsules at 4?°C for 360?d.

Results: The viability of lactobacilli was affected to different extents depending on the strains and on the formulations assayed. L. salivarius and ascorbic acid were successfully combined only after the freeze-drying process. Salivaricin activity was not detected in formulations containing L. gasseri. However, when combined with ascorbic acid, lactose, inulin or L. salivarius, the bacteriocin maintained its activity for 360?d. The selected microorganisms proved to be compatible for their inclusion in multi-strain formulations together with lactose, inulin and ascorbic acid. Salivaricin could be included only in a L. salivarius CRL 1328 single-strain formulation together with non-microbial substances.

Conclusions: This study provides new insights into the design of urogenital pharmabiotics combining beneficial lactobacilli, salivaricin CRL 1328 and compounds with different functionalities.