Development of novel ultrathin structures based in amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus) protein isolate through electrospinning

Amaranth protein isolate (API) ultrathin structures have been developed using the electrospinning technique. The effects of pH, type of solvent and surfactant addition on the spinnability, morphology and molecular organization of the obtained structures have been studied. Regarding the effect of pH on API electrospinning, capsule morphologies were only obtained at extreme pH values (i.e. pH 2 and pH 12), which allowed the solubilisation of the proteins, and the process was favoured when the solutions were previously heated to induce protein denaturation. Fibre-like morphologies were only obtained when the solvent used for electrospinning was hexafluoro-2-propanol, as this organic solvent promotes the formation of random coil structures and, thus, an increase in the biopolymer entanglements.Capsule morphologies were obtained from the API-containing formic acid solutions and this solvent was better for electrospraying than the acetic acid, probably due to the higher viscosity and lower surface tension of the solutions thereof. Addition of 20 wt.% of Tween 80 considerably improved the formation of capsule-like structures from the formic acid solution, as this surfactant contributed to the formation of alpha helical structures. Similar results were obtained when combining the surfactant with the reducing agent 2-mercaptoethanol. However, denaturation of the protein structure was not sufficient for fibre formation through electrospinning, as the solution properties play a fundamental role in determining the morphology of the electrospun structures. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.A. Lopez-Rubio is recipient of a Ramon y Cajal contract from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. The authors thank the Spanish MICINN projects MAT2009-14533-C02-01, FUN-C-FOOD (CSD2007-00063), and Mexican project FOMIX-QRO-2011-C02-175350 for financial support and Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) for a graduate fellowship, to author Marysol Aceituno-Medina.Peer Reviewe

Photoprotection of folic acid upon encapsulation in food-grade amaranth (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L.) protein isolate – Pullulan electrospun fibers

In this work, the ability of amaranth protein isolate (API):pullulan structures obtained through electrospinning for the photoprotection of bioactive compounds was studied. The model bioactive compound encapsulated was folic acid, due to its great sensitivity to UV light exposure. Addition of 100 mg of folic acid per g of biopolymer to the biopolymeric solution used for electrospinning resulted in increased apparent viscosity and, thus, in thicker electrospun fibers. Very high encapsulation efficiency was obtained (>95%) using this encapsulation technology and no specific chemical interactions were established between the vitamin and the matrix materials as inferred from FTIR analysis. Encapsulation within the API:pullulan structures increased thermal stability of folic acid, which may be useful for food processing applications. Furthermore, no degradation of the encapsulated compound was observed after 2 h of UV exposure, while the characteristic UV–Vis spectrum from the photodegradation compounds of folic acid was observed after UV irradiation of the unprotected vitamin.The authors thank the Spanish MINECO project AGL2012-30647 and Mexican project FOMIX-QRO-2011-C02-175350 for financial support and Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) for a graduate fellowship, to author Marysol Aceituno-Medina.Peer reviewe

The growth of porous carbon fibres through in situ vapour deposition

RSC Advances34319769-1977

Eficiencia de levaduras para la cría masiva de Anastrepha ludens, a. obliqua y Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae)

La levadura inactiva en polvo es el único ingrediente disponible como fuente de proteína, en las dietas larvarias para la cría masiva de todas las especies de moscas de la fruta, proporcionando una proteína de alto valor biológico, vitaminas del complejo B, carbohidratos y grasas esenciales. Además, es el ingrediente con mayor costo, por lo cual se buscan continuamente alternativas de bajo costo. Desde el establecimiento de la cría masiva de A. ludens en 1994 y de A. obliqua en 1997 en la Planta de Metapa (México), se ha utilizado levadura tipo torula de una sola marca comercial, lo cual genera una  dependencia. Las levaduras secas inactivas existentes en el mercado, de acuerdo con su composición tienen potencial para ser utilizadas en la preparación de dietas para la producción masiva de moscas de la fruta. Por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar si los parámetros fisicoquímicos y microbiológicos que describen la composición de las levaduras permiten evaluar su eficiencia, mediante el establecimiento de un bioensayo a nivel experimental y semi-masivo para la preparación de dietas para la cría de larvas de moscas de la fruta. Se evaluaron seis levaduras comerciales para la cría y desarrollo de larvas de Anastrepha ludens, A. obliqua y Ceratitis capitata cepa Vienna 8 TSL sin inversión cromosómica, en las Plantas Moscafrut y Moscamed (SAGARPA-IICA) ubicadas en Metapa de Domínguez, Chiapas, México. Estas levaduras fueron seleccionadas con base en tres etapas: 1) Caracterización fisicoquímica y microbiológica de las levaduras. La caracterización fisicoquímica consistió en la determinación del contenido de humedad, pH, acidez, solubilidad, densidad y contenido de proteína, mientras que la caracterización microbiológica consistió en determinar el contenido total de hongos, levaduras y coliformes. 2) Bioensayo a nivel experimental: se realizó inicialmente con las seis marcas comerciales evaluando el rendimiento y calidad de moscas producidas; y 3) Evaluación a nivel semi-masivo: De acuerdo con los parámetros de rendimiento se redujeron a solo tres marcas para las pruebas a nivel semi-masivo; Lake States, Lallemand LBI2163b y Nutribio para A. ludens y A. obliqua, mientras que para C. capitata fueron utilizadas Lake States, Lallemand LBI2163b y extracto de levadura Nupro. Previo a esta evaluación, se determinó el contenido de vitaminas y de aminoácidos a las tres marcas finalistas. Los resultados indicaron que los parámetros microbiológicos y fisicoquímicos, incluyendo, la composición de aminoácidos, minerales y vitaminas de las levaduras, no permiten determinar la eficiencia de las levaduras para la cría masiva de Anastrepha ludens, A. obliqua y C. capitata. No obstante, las levaduras Nutribio y Lallemand LB12163b son una alternativa para la cría masiva de moscas de A. ludens y A. obliqua, respectivamente. Se sugiere que la evaluación de levaduras en la dieta larvaria requiere de un bioensayo a nivel experimental que incluya como variable respuesta la competencia sexual.  La levadura inactiva en polvo es el único ingrediente disponible como fuente de proteína, en las dietas larvarias para la cría masiva de todas las especies de moscas de la fruta, proporcionando una proteína de alto valor biológico, vitaminas del complejo B, carbohidratos y grasas esenciales. Además, es el ingrediente con mayor costo, por lo cual se buscan continuamente alternativas de bajo costo. Desde el establecimiento de la cría masiva de A. ludens en 1994 y de A. obliqua en 1997 en la Planta de Metapa (México), se ha utilizado levadura tipo torula de una sola marca comercial, lo cual genera una  dependencia. Las levaduras secas inactivas existentes en el mercado, de acuerdo con su composición tienen potencial para ser utilizadas en la preparación de dietas para la producción masiva de moscas de la fruta. Por ello, el objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar si los parámetros fisicoquímicos y microbiológicos que describen la composición de las levaduras permiten evaluar su eficiencia, mediante el establecimiento de un bioensayo a nivel experimental y semi-masivo para la preparación de dietas para la cría de larvas de moscas de la fruta. Se evaluaron seis levaduras comerciales para la cría y desarrollo de larvas de Anastrepha ludens, A. obliqua y Ceratitis capitata cepa Vienna 8 TSL sin inversión cromosómica, en las Plantas Moscafrut y Moscamed (SAGARPA-IICA) ubicadas en Metapa de Domínguez, Chiapas, México. Estas levaduras fueron seleccionadas con base en tres etapas: 1) Caracterización fisicoquímica y microbiológica de las levaduras. La caracterización fisicoquímica consistió en la determinación del contenido de humedad, pH, acidez, solubilidad, densidad y contenido de proteína, mientras que la caracterización microbiológica consistió en determinar el contenido total de hongos, levaduras y coliformes. 2) Bioensayo a nivel experimental: se realizó inicialmente con las seis marcas comerciales evaluando el rendimiento y calidad de moscas producidas; y 3) Evaluación a nivel semi-masivo: De acuerdo con los parámetros de rendimiento se redujeron a solo tres marcas para las pruebas a nivel semi-masivo; Lake States, Lallemand LBI2163b y Nutribio para A. ludens y A. obliqua, mientras que para C. capitata fueron utilizadas Lake States, Lallemand LBI2163b y extracto de levadura Nupro. Previo a esta evaluación, se determinó el contenido de vitaminas y de aminoácidos a las tres marcas finalistas. Los resultados indicaron que los parámetros microbiológicos y fisicoquímicos, incluyendo, la composición de aminoácidos, minerales y vitaminas de las levaduras, no permiten determinar la eficiencia de las levaduras para la cría masiva de Anastrepha ludens, A. obliqua y C. capitata. No obstante, las levaduras Nutribio y Lallemand LB12163b son una alternativa para la cría masiva de moscas de A. ludens y A. obliqua, respectivamente. Se sugiere que la evaluación de levaduras en la dieta larvaria requiere de un bioensayo a nivel experimental que incluya como variable respuesta la competencia sexual.

CALIFA, the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey: III. Second public data release

García-Benito, R. et. al.© ESO, 2015. This paper describes the Second Public Data Release (DR2) of the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. The data for 200 objects are made public, including the 100 galaxies of the First Public Data Release (DR1). Data were obtained with the integral-field spectrograph PMAS/PPak mounted on the 3.5 m telescope at the Calar Alto observatory. Two different spectral setups are available for each galaxy, (i) a low-resolution V500 setup covering the wavelength range 3745-7500 Å with a spectral resolution of 6.0 Å (FWHM); and (ii) a medium-resolution V1200 setup covering the wavelength range 3650-4840 Å with a spectral resolution of 2.3 Å (FWHM). The sample covers a redshift range between 0.005 and 0.03, with a wide range of properties in the color-magnitude diagram, stellar mass, ionization conditions, and morphological types. All the cubes in the data release were reduced with the latest pipeline, which includes improvedspectrophotometric calibration, spatial registration, and spatial resolution. The spectrophotometric calibration is better than 6% and the median spatial resolution is 2.4. In total, the second data release contains over 1.5 million spectra.R.G.B., R.G.D., and E.P. are supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion under grant AYA2010-15081. S.Z. is supported by the EU Marie Curie Integration Grant >SteMaGE> Nr. PCIG12-GA-2012-326466 (Call Identifier: FP7-PEOPLE-2012 CIG). J.F.B. acknowledges support from grants AYA2010-21322-C03-02 and AIB-2010-DE-00227 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), as well as from the FP7 Marie Curie Actions of the European Commission, via the Initial Training Network DAGAL under REA grant agreement number 289313. Support for L.G. is provided by the Ministry of Economy, Development, and Tourism's Millennium Science Initiative through grant IC12009, awarded to The Millennium Institute of Astrophysics, M.A.S.L.G. also acknowledges support by CONICYT through FONDECYT grant 3140566. A.G. acknowledges support from the FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement n. 267251 (AstroFIt). J.M.G. acknowledges support from the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the Fellowship SFRH/BPD/66958/2009 from FCT (Portugal) and research grant PTDC/FIS-AST/3214/2012. RAM was funded by the Spanish programme of International Campus of Excellence Moncloa (CEI). J.M.A. acknowledges support from the European Research Council Starting Grant (SEDmorph; P.I. V. Wild). I.M., J.M. and A.d.O. acknowledge the support by the projects AYA2010-15196 from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion and TIC 114 and PO08-TIC-3531 from Junta de Andalucia. AMI acknowledges support from Agence Nationale de la Recherche through the STILISM project (ANR-12-BS05-0016-02). M.M. acknowledges financial support from AYA2010-21887-C04-02 from the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad. P.P. is supported by an FCT Investigador 2013 Contract, funded by FCT/MCTES (Portugal) and POPH/FSE (EC). P.P. acknowledges support by FCT under project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-029170 (Reference FCT PTDC/FIS-AST/3214/2012), funded by FCT-MEC (PIDDAC) and FEDER (COMPETE). T.R.L. thanks the support of the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte by means of the FPU fellowship. PSB acknowledges support from the Ramon y Cajal program, grant ATA2010-21322-C03-02 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). C.J.W. acknowledges support through the Marie Curie Career Integration Grant 303912. V.W. acknowledges support from the European Research Council Starting Grant (SEDMorph P.I. V. Wild) and European Career Re-integration Grant (Phiz-Ev P.I.V. Wild). Y.A. acknowledges financial support from the Ramon y Cajal programme (RyC-2011-09461) and project AYA2013-47742-C4-3-P, both managed by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, as well as the >Study of Emission-Line Galaxies with Integral-Field Spectroscopy> (SELGIFS) programme, funded by the EU (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IRSES-612701) within the Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions schemePeer Reviewe

Influential Factors of Breastfeeding after Assisted Reproduction: A Spanish Cohort

The impact of assisted reproduction techniques (ART) when starting to breastfeed is an important issue that has been sparsely addressed in scientific literature and yet has contradictory results. This study aims to determine the relation between the mode of fertilization and breastfeeding by means of a retrospective longitudinal cohort study that included newborns and mothers who gave birth between 2012 and 2019 in a third-level regional hospital. Data were collected from a total of 11,285 women and newborns, of which 302 (2.6%) used ART. Logistic regression was used to establish models that determine the administration of exclusive breastfeeding (BF). Among the 1208 analyzed participants, 30% conceived using fertility treatment. In this group of participants, BF was less prevalent, both in the delivery room (25.8% versus 45.5%; p < 0.001) and when discharged from hospital (42.1% versus 57.9%; p < 0.001). Healthy newborns and BF in the delivery room were predictors of BF when discharged. On the other hand, the use of ART, an Apgar score lower than 7 at birth, the use of an epidural and a premature or underweight baby are considered negative predictors of exclusive BF when discharged. It is necessary to offer greater support for all mothers regarding BF, especially those who have conceived through ART, even more so in those cases that involve an epidural and/or caesarean section, starting throughout the dilation process

Non-conventional yeast species for lowering ethanol content of wines

Rising sugar content in grape must, and the concomitant increase in alcohol levels in wine, are some of the main challenges affecting the winemaking industry nowadays. Among the several alternative solutions currently under study, the use of nonconventional yeasts during fermentation holds good promise for contributing to relieve this problem. Non-Saccharomyces wine yeast species comprise a high number or species, so encompassing a wider physiological diversity than Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Indeed, the current oenological interest of these microorganisms was initially triggered by their potential positive contribution to the sensorial complexity of quality wines, through the production of aroma and other sensory-active compounds. This diversity also involves ethanol yield on sugar, one of the most invariant metabolic traits of S. cerevisiae. This review gathers recent research on non-Saccharomyces yeasts, aiming to produce wines with lower alcohol content than those from pure Saccharomyces starters. Critical aspects discussed include the selection of suitable yeast strains (considering there is a noticeable intra-species diversity for ethanol yield, as shown for other fermentation traits), identification of key environmental parameters influencing ethanol yields (including the use of controlled oxygenation conditions), and managing mixed fermentations, by either the sequential or simultaneous inoculation of S. cerevisiae and non-Saccharomyces starter cultures. The feasibility, at the industrial level, of using non-Saccharomyces yeasts for reducing alcohol levels in wine will require an improved understanding of the metabolism of these alternative yeast species, as well as of the interactions between different yeast starters during the fermentation of grape must.Experimental work by researchers from ICVV is supported by the Spanish Government trough MINECO and FEDER funds: MINECO AGL2012-32064 and AGL2015-63629-R grants, INIA RM2012-00007-00-00 grant, MINECO RTC-2014-2186-2 grant, MINECO training contract for AR, MINECO Formación Postdoctoral contract for JC. Experimental work by the authors from Polytechnic University of Marche is supported by Ricerca Scientifica di Ateneo RSA2015.Peer Reviewe

Essential Oil Bioactive Fibrous Membranes Prepared via Coaxial Electrospinning

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.A novel antimicrobial composite material was prepared by encapsulating orange essential oil (OEO) in zein prolamine (ZP) via the coaxial electrospinning (ES) technique. By manipulating process parameters, the morphological features of ZP/OEO fibers were modulated. Fine fibers with diameters ranging from 0.7 to 2.3 μm were obtained by regulating ZP solution concentration and process parameters during the ES process. Optimal loading capacity (LC) and encapsulation efficiency (EE) of OEO in fibrous ZP mats were determined to be 22.28% and 53.68%, respectively, and were achieved using a 35 w/v% ZP ES solution. The encapsulation of OEO was found to be reliant on ZP solution concentration (the enveloping medium). SEM analysis indicates the surface morphology of ZP/OEO electrospun fibers is dependent on ZP solution loading volume, with lower ZP concentrations yielding defective fibrous structures (for example, beaded and spindled-string like morphologies). Furthermore, this loading volume also influences OEO LC, EE, mat water contact angle and oil retention. CCK-8 assay and cell morphology assessment (HEK293T cells) indicate no significant change with electrospun ZP and ZP/OEO fibrous membranes over an 8 h period. Antimicrobial activity assessment using Escherichia coli, suggests composite nonwovens possess sterilization properties; elucidating potential application in active food packaging, food preservation and therefore sustainability