Respiratory symptoms and bronchial responsiveness are related to dietary salt intake and urinary potassium excretion in male children

Six men were accidentally exposed to NO2 when they were changing a propeller using a gas burner in the poorly ventilated hold of a ship. All of them were admitted to hospital with shortness of breath and cough. Chest X-ray on admission revealed diffuse, patchy and infiltrative shadows, leading to the diagnosis of pulmonary edema in all five patients. Steroid therapy was effective and followed by a quick recovery in all patients. None developed third phase manifestations characterized pathologically by bronchiolitis obliterans.     

Effects of temperature, ammonium and glucose concentrations on yeast growth in a model wine system

In enology, alcoholic fermentation is a complex process involving several mechanisms. Slow and incomplete alcoholic fermentation is a chronic problem for the wine industry and factors leading to sluggish and stuck fermentations have been extensively studied and reviewed. The most studied cause of sluggish and stuck fermentation is the nitrogen content limitation. Nevertheless, other factors, such as temperature of fermentation and sugar concentration can affect the growth of yeasts. In this study we modelled the yeast growth‐cycle in wine model system as a function of temperature, sugar and ammonium concentrations; the individual effects and the interaction of these factors were analysed by means of a quadratic response surface methodology. Cell concentrations and weight loss were monitored in the whole wine fermentation process. The results of central composite design show that lower is the availability of nitrogen, higher is the cell growth rate; moreover, initial nitrogen concentration also influences survival time of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.     

Synthesis and Evaluation of Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Blocking Pyrroline Derivatives Endowed with Both Antiarrhythmic and Antioxidant Activities

Under the hypothesis that cardioprotective agents might benefit from synergism between antiarrhythmic activity and antioxidant properties, a small series of mexiletine analogues were coupled with the 2,2,5,5-tetramethylpyrroline moiety, known for its antioxidant effect, in order to obtain dual-acting drugs potentially useful in the protection of the heart against post-ischemic reperfusion injury. The pyrroline derivatives reported herein were found to be more potent as antiarrhythmic agents than mexiletine and displayed antioxidant activity. The most interesting tetramethylpyrroline congener, a tert-butyl-substituted analogue, was at least 100 times more active as an antiarrhythmic than mexiletine.     

Changes of the cell surface hydrophobicity of Lactobacillus acidophilus La‐5 in response to pH,temperature and inulin

The main topic of this study was to study how cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) could change in response to pH, temperature and inulin; Lactobacillus acidophilus La‐5 was used as a model microorganism. pH, temperature, inulin and incubation time (exposure to prebiotic or incubation at pH 4.0 and 9.0) were combined through a full factorial design and a Central Composite Design; the results were analysed using a multifactorial anova (first step) and a stepwise regression (second step). Temperature and pH significantly affected CSH: an increase in the temperature determined a significant increase in CSH, whereas the correlation pH vs. CSH was negative, as an increase in pH caused a significant decrease in CSH. Inulin played a significant role, but its effect could be influenced by temperature, pH and exposure time. This study is the first approach on the effects of some environmental factors on CSH and suggests that the culturing conditions and/or the exposure to some prebiotics could modify it with positive or negative effects.     

Microbiological and Sensorial Quality Assessment of Ready-to-Cook Seafood Products Packaged under Modified Atmosphere

ABSTRACT:  The effects of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) (30:40:30 O₂:CO₂:N₂ and 5:95 O₂:CO₂) on the quality of 4 ready-to-cook seafood products were studied. In particular, the investigation was carried out on hake fillets, yellow gurnard fillets, chub mackerel fillets, and entire eviscerated cuttlefish. Quality assessment was based on microbiological and sensorial indices determination. Both packaging gas mixtures contributed to a considerable slowing down of the microbial and sensorial quality loss of the investigated seafood products. Results showed that sensorial quality was the subindex that limited their shelf life. In fact, based primarily on microbiological results, samples under MAP remained acceptable up to the end of storage (that is, 14 d), regardless of fish specie. On the other hand, results from sensory analyses showed that chub mackerel fillets in MAP were acceptable up to the 6th storage d, whilst hake fillets, yellow gurnard fillets, and entire cuttlefish became unacceptable after 10 to 11 d. However, compared to control samples, an increase in the sensorial shelf life of MAP samples (ranging from about 95% to 250%) was always recorded.
Practical Application: Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) is an inexpensive and uncomplicated method of extending shelf life of packed seafood. It could gain great attention from the fish industrial sector due to the fact that MAP is a practical and economic technique, realizable by small technical expedients. Moreover, there is great attention from the food industry and retailers to react to the growing demand for convenience food, thus promoting an increase in the assortments of ready-to-cook seafood products.     

Dynamic behaviour of Li batteries in hydrogen fuel cell power trains

A Li ion polymer battery pack for road vehicles (48 V, 20 Ah) was tested by charging/discharging tests at different current values, in order to evaluate its performance in comparison with a conventional Pb acid battery pack. The comparative analysis was also performed integrating the two storage systems in a hydrogen fuel cell power train for moped applications. The propulsion system comprised a fuel cell generator based on a 2.5 kW polymeric electrolyte membrane (PEM) stack, fuelled with compressed hydrogen, an electric drive of 1.8 kW as nominal power, of the same typology of that installed on commercial electric scooters (brushless electric machine and controlled bidirectional inverter). The power train was characterized making use of a test bench able to simulate the vehicle behaviour and road characteristics on driving cycles with different acceleration/deceleration rates and lengths. The power flows between fuel cell system, electric energy storage system and electric drive during the different cycles were analyzed, evidencing the effect of high battery currents on the vehicle driving range. The use of Li batteries in the fuel cell power train, adopting a range extender configuration, determined a hydrogen consumption lower than the correspondent Pb battery/fuel cell hybrid vehicle, with a major flexibility in the power management.     

Dynamic behaviour of hydrogen fuel cells for automotive application

An experimental analysis was conducted on a 30 kW fuel cell power train with the aim to elucidate specific concerns of dynamic behaviour of hydrogen fuel cells in automotive applications. The study was conducted on a dynamic test bench able to simulate the behaviour of the reference vehicle, a minibus for historical centres collective service, on predefined driving cycle. The transient performance of the fuel cell system was firstly investigated without electric drive, using as load electric resistances electronically controlled. Experimental data were collected during warmup phases characterized by two acceleration slopes (150 W/s and 1500 W/s) and during a sequence of dynamic test cycles characterized by a very high acceleration slope of about 6 kW/s. The role of reactant feeding, humidification and cooling systems was investigated during all tests evaluating the performance during the transient steps in terms of cell voltage uniformity, expressed by the coefficient of variation C_v, used as statistical indicator. A driving cycle characterized by stop-and-go pattern and acceleration slopes compatible with a real utilization of the reference vehicle was finally adopted for tests on the overall power train. The results demonstrated a very good dynamic performance of the fuel cell stack as evidenced by the analysis of C_v, which resulted lower than 2.5% in all investigated working conditions, and by the overall power train efficiency which resulted about 30% with fuel cell system efficiency close to 50%.     

Inactivation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Salmonella enterica</Emphasis> in a Rice Beverage by Ultrasound: Study of the Parameters Affecting the Antibacterial Effect

The topic of this paper is the investigation of the antibacterial effect of ultrasound (US) towards Salmonella enterica in a rice beverage. The beverage was inoculated at different levels (8 and 5 log CFU/mL) and US-treated; then, a challenge test under refrigeration was carried out. The maximum net power of the equipment was 130 W; the treatment was carried out at 40–100% of the net power, for 2–10 min; the pulse was set to 2–10 s. For both the inoculum levels, power and time were the most important factors for the antimicrobial effect towards S. enterica. The combinations resulting in the highest inactivation of the pathogen were tested during the challenge test at 4 °C, and in some combinations, S. enterica remained below the detection limit for 13 days.     

Modelling the survival of Enterobacter cloacae in a model olive cover brine solution

The main goal of this research was the evaluation of the survival of Enterobacter cloacae in a model olive brine. Two different assays were run; the first experiment assessed the viability of the target in brines containing NaCl (6–12%) and p‐coumaric acid (0.0–0.05%), adjusted to different pHs (4–10) and stored at 10–30 °C for 9 days. The death rate and cell levels at selected times were modelled with a polynomial equation to highlight the individual and interactive effects of NaCl/p‐coumaric acid/pH/temperature. Then, a second experiment was run for 3 months (temperature, 10 °C; pH, 4.5–5.5; NaCl, 6–8%). The survival of E. cloacae was affected mainly by pH, then by salt and temperature; however, the significance of the variables changed within the time, as salt and temperature acted in a significant way only after 1 day.