Design and characterization of a novel fermented beverage from lentil grains

The experimental activities carried out in this study aimed at designing a lentil-based beverage rich in soluble and digestible proteins. In order to extract soluble proteins, lentil grains were soaked in water overnight, blended, treated with proteolytic enzymes and fermented with Lactobacillus strains. Protein enzymatic hydrolysis, carried out with four commercial food grade enzyme preparations, showed that bromelin, at the enzyme to substrate ratio of 10%, was the best solution to produce this novel beverage. Even though the seven Lactobacillus strains were all able to ferment aqueous extract within 24 h, L. acidophilus ATCC 4356, L. fermentum DSM 20052 and L. paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 20312 showed the highest growth rate and the lowest pH values. In fermented lentil-based beverages, the antinutritional factor phytic acid decreased up to 30%, similarly, the highest reduction in raffinose oligosaccharides content reached about 12% the initial concentration. It is worthy of note that the viable density of all strains remained higher than 7 log cfu/mL after 28 days of cold storage. The results here reported show for the first time the possibility to obtain a probiotic lentil-based beverage rich in soluble proteins, peptides and amino acids with low content in main antinutritional factors

Prevalence of antibodies to the BK and JC papovaviruses in isolated populations

A total of 173 sera from isolated Brazilian Indian populations, 39 from the Diauarun area, and 68 from the Alto Xingú area, respectively in the North and the South of the Xingú National Park and 66 Kren-Akorore Indians, were examined for hemagglutination - inhibiting (HI) antibodies against BK and JC viruses. The global percentages of positive sera (;>;; 1:40) were 5.2% for BK virus and 1.7% for JC virus. The distribution of positive sera according to the population groups showed one individual to be positive for BK virus in the Diauarun Indians and none of the sera contained HI antibody to JC virus; in the Alto Xingú Indians, 4 were positive for BK virus and 3 others were positive for JC virus; as regards Kren-Akorore Indians none of the sera contained antibody to JC virus, and only 4 were BK positive. Due to the limited number of observations it was neither possible to determine the time of occurrence of seroconversion nor correlate the positivity rates for both viruses in the different tribes with the respective "contact" with the white population.Foram estudados 173 soros de índios brasileiros, sendo 39 da área Diauarum, 68 do Alto Xingú e 66 índios Kren-Akorore. A pesquisa de anticorpos inibidores da hemaglutinação para os papovavirus BK e JC mostrou uma percentagem global de positividade (;>;; 40) para os virus BK de 5,2% e para o virus JC de 1,7%. A distribuição dos soros positivos segundo sua origem foi a seguinte: dos 39 índios Diauarum somente um apresentou titulo significante para o virus BK e nenhum deles foi positivo para o virus JC; dos 68 índios do Alto Xingú, 4 apresentaram título significante para o virus BK e 3 para o virus JC, sendo estes últimos diferentes dos indivíduos positivos para o virus BK; dos 66 índios Kren-Akorore, 4 mostraram possuir título significante para o virus BK, sem positividade para o virus JC. O número reduzido de soros não permitiu estabelecer o momento da ser o conservação, em termos de idade, como não permitiu relacionar as taxas de positividade com o maior ou menor "contato" com a população branca

Use of selected lactic acid bacteria for the fermentation of legume-based water extracts

In this study, the effect of selected Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356, Limosilactobacillus fermentum DSM 20052, and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei DSM 20312 strains on the sensory characteristics, and protein and amino acid content of fermented water extracts derived from lupin, pea, and bean grains is reported. Even though all strains were able to grow over 7 log cfu mL(-1) and to decrease pH in the range of -0.52 to -1.25 within 24 h, the release of an unpleasant ferric-sulfurous off-odor from the fermented bean water extract prohibited further characterization. Lupin and pea grain-based beverages underwent an in-depth sensory evaluation using a simplified check-all-that-apply (CATA) method, finding new and appreciable sensory notes such as cooked ham, almonds, and sandalwood. Fermented lupin water extract showed higher total protein content (on average, 0.93 mg mL(-1)) in comparison to that of pea grains (on average, 0.08 mg mL(-1)), and a free amino acid content (on average, 3.9 mg mL(-1)) close to that of cow milk. The concentrations of these nutrients decreased during refrigerated storage, when the lactic acid bacteria load was always higher than 7 log cfu mL(-1). The results of this study indicated that lactic fermentation improves the sensory characteristics of these innovative legume-based beverages, which sustained high loads of viable lactobacilli up to the end of cold storage

Finite element modeling of nonequilibrium fluid-wall interaction at high-Mach regime

The numerical modeling of the aerodynamic interactions at high-Altitudes and high-Mach numbers is considered in view of its importance when studying problems where the continuum hypothesis at the foundation of the Navier- Stokes equations becomes invalid. One of the difficulties associated with these flight conditions is that both the velocity and the temperature of the fluid do not abide by the no-slip conditions at the wall. A weak Galerkin finite element formulation of the Maxwell-Smoluchowki model is introduced to discretize the velocity slip and temperature jump conditions with better accuracy than the standard finite element approximation. The methodology is assessed on configurations such as cylinders and spheres for flow conditions ranging from quasi-equilibrium to nonequilibrium. Improvements are observed in the slip regime compared with available data. Nonetheless, the results in the transition regime highlight the need for more sophisticated physical modeling to address nonequilibrium at the wall

Characterization of red-fleshed pear accessions from Emilia-Romagna region

Germplasm collections represent a reservoir of traits and genes that might be used in breeding programs to cope with the evolving market demand. Some old pear accessions still cultivated in the Apennine Mountains in Italy possess a red flesh fruit. This paper reports the molecular analysis of 33 red-fleshed pear accessions, collected in different areas of the Emilia-Romagna region and genotyped with 18 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers with the aim of improving germplasm conservation strategies for old red-fleshed pears and for supporting ongoing breeding programs. The molecular profiles revealed both cases of synonymy and homonymy and only 6 unique genotypes were identified. S-genotypes were also established in order to highlight the genetic relationships among these landraces. Four of the unique genotypes have been clustered based on pomological data

IDIOPATHIC PARTIAL EPILEPSY WITH AUDITORY FEATURES (IPEAF): A CLINICAL AND GENETIC STUDY OF 53 SPORADIC CASES

The purpose of our study was to describe the clinical characteristics of sporadic (S) cases of partial epilepsy with auditory features (PEAF) and pinpoint clinical, prognostic and genetic differences with respect to previously reported familial (F) cases of autosomal dominant partial epilepsy with auditory features (ADPEAF). We analysed 53 patients (24 females and 29 males) with PEAF diagnosed according to the following criteria: partial epilepsy with auditory symptoms, negative family history for epilepsy and absence of cerebral lesions on NMR study. All patients underwent a full clinical, neuroradiological and neurophysiological examination. Forty patients were screened for mutations in LGI1/epitempin, which is involved in ADPEAF. Age at onset ranged from 6 to 39 years (average 19 years). Secondarily generalized seizures were the most common type of seizures at onset (79%). Auditory auras occurred either in isolation (53%) or associated with visual, psychic or aphasic symptoms. Low seizure frequency at onset and good drug responsiveness were common, with 51% of patients seizure-free. Seizures tended to recur after drug withdrawal. Clinically, no major differences were found between S and F patients with respect to age at onset, seizure frequency and response to therapy. Analysis of LGI1/epitempin exons failed to disclose mutations. Our data support the existence of a peculiar form of non-lesional temporal lobe epilepsy closely related to ADPEAF but without a positive family history. This syndrome, here named IPEAF, has a benign course in the majority of patients and could be diagnosed by the presence of auditory aura. Although LGI1 mutations have been excluded, genetic factors may play an aetiopathogenetic role in at least some of these S cases

Differentiation of Pseudomonas syringae subsp. savastonoi strains isolated from various host plants by restriction fragment lengh polymorphism

A 1.8 kb DNA fragment encoding a putative protein similar to precorrin-3 methylase, a protein of Pseudomonas aeruginosa involved in cobalamin biosynthesis, was cloned from an olive strain of the plant pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas syringae subsp. savastanoi. This fragment, potentially involved also in virulence, methionine prototrophy and ability to elicit a hypersensitive response, was used as a probe for detecting restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in 52 strains of P. s. subsp. savastanoi isolated from olive, oleander and ash. Southern blot analysis revealed a single strongly hybridizing band in all P. s. subsp. savastanoi strains and EcoRI polymorphism was detected among strains isolated from olive plants. In addition, when HindIII was used as a restriction enzyme, the P. s. subsp. savastanoi strains isolated from olive clearly differed from those isolated from oleander and ash on the basis of the size of a single hybridizing band. This clear difference between the strains isolated from olive and those isolated from oleander further supports the hypothesis that the populations of P. s. subsp. savastanoi which infect the above-mentioned host plants differ from one another