MILLET FLOUR ADDITION IMPROVES THE QUALITY OF THE GLUTEN-FREE BREADS BASED ON RICE FLOURS

The aim of the present study was to assess the possibility of obtaining high quality gluten-free bread using composite flours consisting of three different varieties of rice grain flours in admixture with millet flour. Fifteen composite flours were obtained and tested by mixing the flours of the long, round and medium rice grain with different amounts of millet flour (10-50%). Bread samples were obtained out of dough prepared through the one-stage method. The results of the specific volume of the bread samples indicated that the composite flours based on rice flours obtained by milling long and round grains allowed obtaining higher quality final products. The most promising results in terms of firmness of the bread crumb after 24 hours of storage were obtained in case of samples prepared with long or round grain rice flours supplemented with 20-30% millet flour

Limits of postnatal management of congenital diaphragmatic hernia

Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie “Grigore T. Popa” Iasi, Disciplina de Chirurgie Pediatrică, Spitalul Clinic de Urgenţe pentru Copii “Sf. Maria” Iaşi, Clinica de Chirurgie şi Ortopedie Pediatrică, Spitalul Clinic de Urgenţe pentru Copii “Sf. Maria” Iaşi, Secţia Clinica de Anestezie şi Terapie Intensivă, Universitatea de Medicină si Farmacie “Grigore T. Popa” Iaşi, Disciplina de Neonatologie 5 Spitalul Clinic de Obstetrică-Ginceologie ”Cuza-Vodă”, Iaşi, Centrul Regional de Terapie Intensivă NeonatalăIntroducere: Managementul postnatal al herniei diafragmatice congenitale (CDH) implică abordarea multidisciplinară şi este nonstandardizat în majoritatea centrelor de chirurgie pediatrică. Obiectiv: Evaluarea statusului managementului cazurilor cu hernie diafragmatică congenitală tratate într-un centru terţiar de chirurgie pediatrică, respectiv de terapie intensivă pediatrică. Material si Metode: Am revizuit rezultatele tuturor cazurilor de hernie diafragmatică congenitală din ultimele 30 de luni, tratate în departamentul de chirurgie pediatrică al Spitalului Clinic de Urgenţe pentru Copii “Sf. Maria” din Iaşi, România. Rezultate: A fost inclus un număr total de 14 cazuri. Dintre acestea, 64% (9 cazuri) au fost diagnosticate antenatal. Un număr de 12 cazuri au fost tratate chirurgical, 8 prin abord deschis prin laparotomie şi 4 prin abord minim invaziv toracoscopic cu o mortalitate generală de 78%. Factorii de risc postnatali, cum ar fi localizarea herniei, prematuritatea, greutatea mică la naştere şi mărimea defectului, au fost confirmaţi în lotul de studiu ca fiind corelaţi cu mortalitatea inregistrată. Durata medie de spitalizare a fost de 43 de zile. Pentru cele 3 cazuri de supravieţuitori durata medie de urmărire a fost de 1 an. Concluzii: Chiar în condiţiile managementului nostru actualizat mortalitatea pe care am înregistrat-o a fost foarte ridicată şi s-a corelat cu prezenţa factorilor de risc postnatali. Hipertensiunea pulmonară persistentă a fost dificil de evaluat şi a reprezentat o continuă provocare de management, mai ales din cauza lipsei, în secţia de Terapie Intensivă Pediatrică, a posibilităţilor terapeutice postoperatorii, de tip ventilaţie cu frecvenţă înaltă, ventilaţie cu oxid nitric sau ECMO.Introduction: Postnatal management of congenital diaphragmatic hernia involves a multidisciplinary approach and is non-standardized in most pediatric surgery departments. Objective: To evaluate the status of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) management in a tertiary department of pediatric surgery and neonatal intensive care unit. Study design: We reviewed the last 30 months' outcomes of all cases of CDH treated in NICU and the department of pediatric surgery of “Sf. Maria” Emergency Children Hospital Iasi, Romania. Results: A total of 14 cases were included. Of these, 64% (9 cases) were prenatally diagnosed. A number of 12 cases were surgically treated, 8 by abdominal open approach and 4 by thoracoscopic minimally invasive approach with an overall mortality rate of 78%. Postnatal risk factors of mortality such as side of hernia, prematurity, low birth weight, and size of the defect were confirmed in our study group. The median time of hospital stay was 43 days. For the 3 survivors, the mean period of follow-up was 1 year. Conclusions: Despite our updated management of CDH, mortality was still very high and was associated with postnatal risk factors. Persistent pulmonary hypertension was difficult to evaluate and presented persistent challenges in management

Evaluation of a Methylcellulose and Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel as a Vehicle for Rectal Delivery of Biologics

Biologics have changed the management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), but there are concerns regarding unexpected systemic toxicity and loss of therapeutic response following administration by injection. Local delivery of biologics directly to the inflamed mucosa via rectal enema administration addresses the problems associated with systemic administration. Hydrogels are potentially useful delivery vehicles enabling rectal administration of biologics. Here, we prepared a hydrogel system based on methylcellulose (MC) and hyaluronic acid (HA), which possesses mucosal healing properties, incorporating a model macromolecular drug, namely (fluorescently-labeled) bovine serum albumin (BSA). The BSA-loaded MCHA hydrogel showed temperature-dependent gelation (liquid-like at 20 °C and gel-like at 37 °C) and shear thinning behavior, with these being important and desirable characteristics for rectal application (enabling easy application and retention). BSA release from the MCHA system at 37 °C was linear, with 50% of the loaded drug released within 2 h. The system demonstrated acceptable toxicity towards intestinal (colon) Caco-2 epithelial cells, even at high concentrations. Importantly, application of the BSA-loaded MCHA hydrogel to polarized Caco-2 monolayers, with or without an exemplar absorption enhancer, resulted in transintestinal permeability of BSA. The study therefore indicates that the MCHA hydrogel shows potential for topical (rectal) delivery of biologics in IBD

Proteases as Tools for Modulating the Antioxidant Activity and Functionality of the Spent Brewer’s Yeast Proteins

The functionality of the peptides obtained through enzymatic hydrolysis of spent brewer’s yeast was investigated. Hydrolysis was carried out for 4–67 h with bromelain, neutrase and trypsin. The resulting hydrolysates were characterized in terms of physical-chemical, antioxidant and techno-functional properties. The solid residues and soluble protein contents increased with the hydrolysis time, the highest values being measured in samples hydrolyzed with neutrase. Regardless of the hydrolysis time, the maximum degree of hydrolysis was measured in the sample hydrolyzed with neutrase, while the lowest was in the sample hydrolyzed with trypsin. The protein hydrolysate obtained with neutrase exhibited the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity (116.9 ± 2.9 μM TE/g dw), followed by the sample hydrolyzed with trypsin (102.8 ± 2.7 μM TE/g dw). Upon ultrafiltration, the fraction of low molecular weight peptides (−1. These results indicate that the investigated proteases are suitable for modulating the overall functionality of the yeast proteins

Mechanism of β–cyclodextrin - thyme nanocomplex formation and release: In silico behavior, structural and functional properties

Nanoencapsulation of thyme essential oil (TEO) volatiles into β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and their release requires in-depth kinetic, structural and in silico studies for elucidating the mechanisms for attaining the equilibrium state. Monoclinic crystalline structures of β-CD/TEO with 5 –10 μm were formed by TEO encapsulation and visualized using SEM. The β-CD:TEO 8.5:1.5 (w/w) ratio ensures 71.66% TEO retention efficiency and a cumulative release in hexane after 7 h of 75%. Thymol molecule is the favourite candidate to occupy the inner cavity of β-CD, although competition by carvacrol, o-cymene, 2-carene and camphene against thymol was noticed by GC/MS when increasing the TEO concentration. The molecular mechanics calculations suggested that binding of thymol, carvacrol and o- cymene within the hydrophobic cavity of β-CD is thermodynamically achievable, having complexation energy between -18.48 ÷ -22.07 kcal/mol, nonetheless the most stable complex is formed with α- pinene, if energy input is provided, displaying the lowest complexation energy, -25.89 kcal/mol. All inclusion complex (IC) powders had similar antiradical activity against DPPH (40 - 43%). The IC2 β-CD/TEO 8.5:3.00 (w/w) powder displayed antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus, while IC3 β-CD:TEO 8.5:1.50 (w/w) exhibited the strongest antifungal activity of all powders against Geotrichum candidum and Rhodotorula glutinis. The ICs obtained suggest a competitive mechanism of TEO components in occupying the β-CD inner cavity that predispose each powder formulae for specific applications in food in relation with their functional properties

Tailoring the Health-Promoting Potential of Protein Hydrolysate Derived from Fish Wastes and Flavonoids from Yellow Onion Skins: From Binding Mechanisms to Microencapsulated Functional Ingredients

This study focuses on combining different bioprocessing tools in order to develop an in-depth engineering approach for enhancing the biological properties of two valuable food by-products, namely fish waste and yellow onion skins, in a single new bioactive formulation. Bone tissue from phytophagous carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) was used to obtain bioactive peptides through papain-assisted hydrolysis. The peptides with molecular weight lower than 3 kDa were characterized through MALDI-ToF/ToF mass spectrometry and bioinformatics tools. As a prerequisite for microencapsulation, the ability of these peptides to bind the flavonoids extracted from yellow onion skins was further tested through fluorescence quenching measurements. The results obtained demonstrate a considerable binding potency with a binding value of 106 and also the presence of one single or one class of binding site during the interaction process of flavonoids with peptides, in which the main forces involved are hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions. In the freeze-drying microencapsulation process, an efficiency for total flavonoids of 88.68 ± 2.37% was obtained, considering the total flavonoids and total polyphenols from the powder of 75.72 ± 2.58 quercetin equivalents/g dry weight (DW) and 97.32 ± 2.80 gallic acid equivalents/g DW, respectively. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test on the L929 cell line cultivated in the presence of different concentrations of microencapsulated samples (0.05–1.5 mg/mL) proved no sign of cytotoxicity, the cell viability being over 80% for all the samples