Inhibition impacts of natural clinoptilolite on biogenic amines production by common food-borne pathogens in arginine decarboxylase broth

The effect of natural clinoptilolite (CLINOPT) on ammonia (AMN) and biogenic amines (BAs) production by different food borne-pathogens (FBPs) was studied in arginine decarboxylase broth (ADB) using HPLC. All tested bacteria were found to have an ability to produce ammonia and BAs in ADB. It was demonstrated that ammonia and biogenic amine production could be significantly influenced by adding CLINOPT (P < 0.05). Both concentrations of CLINOPT (1 and 5%) had a clear inhibition effect only on putrescine (PUT) formation by both Gram negative and positive FBPs. On the other hand, CLINOPT resulted in strong increases in biogenic amines production by Enterococcus faecalis, although remarkable decreases were observed for biogenic amines by Salmonella paratyphi A in the presence of CLINOPT. Consequently, it can be concluded that the effect of CLINOPT on AMN and BAs production varied depending on not only FBPs, but also CLINOPT concentrations used

Effect of the icing with thyme, oregano and clove extracts on quality parameters of gutted and beheaded anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus) during chilled storage

PubMedID: 24128531The effect of ice containing thyme (0.04% w/v), oregano (0.03% w/v) and clove (0.02% w/v) extracts on the quality parameters of anchovy (Engraulis encrasicholus) was assessed through the chemical, sensory and microbiological methods. According to sensory analyses, anchovy stored in ice prepared with each plant extracts had a shelf life of 12 days, while batch stored in traditional ice had a shelf life of 9 days. pH were not significantly affected by the presence of plant extracts in the ice. However, a marked antioxidant effect (P < 0.05) could be detected with fish kept under plant extract icing systems, according to peroxide (PV) and thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values. Moreover, the employment of such icing systems led to lower (P < 0.05) total volatile base-nitrogen (TVB-N) value and free fatty acid (FFA) formation. Thus, TVB-N proved to be a suitable index for the spoilage of anchovies during chilled storage. The employment of such icing systems also led to significantly lower counts of aerobic mesophiles and psychrotrophic bacteria in anchovy muscle with skin, as compared with the traditional ice batch. This work demonstrates that the use of ice with plant extracts for the storage of gutted and beheaded anchovy can be recommended to improve the quality and extend the shelf life. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Adsorption of Cr(VI) by Mesoporous Pomegranate Peel Biowaste from Synthetic Wastewater under Dynamic Mode

This study aims to eliminate hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) ions from water using pomegranate peel (PGP) powder. Dynamic measurements are carried out to examine the influence of the operating factors on the adsorption efficiency and kinetics. The analyzed PGP is found to be amorphous with relatively high stability, contains hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups, a pH of zero charge of 3.9, and a specific surface-area of 40.38 m2/g. Adsorption tests indicate that PGP exhibits excellent removal effectiveness for Cr(VI) reaching 50.32 mg/g while the adsorption process obeys the Freundlich model. The thermodynamic study favors the exothermic physical adsorption process. The influence of operating parameters like the flow rate (1 to 3 mL/min), bed height (25 to 75 mm), concentration (10 to 30 mg/L), and temperature (298 to 318 K) on the adsorption process are investigated in column mode. To assess the performance characteristics of the column adsorption data, a non-linear regression has been used to fit and analyze four different kinetic and theoretical models, namely, Bohart-Adams, Thomas model, Clark, and Dose response. The obtained experimental results were found to obey the Dose Response model with a coefficient of regression R2 greater than 0.977. This study proved the excellent efficiency in the treatment of chemical industry effluents by using cost-effect abundant biowaste sorbent. This research demonstrated great efficacy in the treatment of chemical industrial effluents by using an abundant, cost-effective biowaste sorbent, thereby achieving the UN SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals) primary objective

Adsorption of Cr(VI) by Mesoporous Pomegranate Peel Biowaste from Synthetic Wastewater under Dynamic Mode

This study aims to eliminate hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) ions from water using pomegranate peel (PGP) powder. Dynamic measurements are carried out to examine the influence of the operating factors on the adsorption efficiency and kinetics. The analyzed PGP is found to be amorphous with relatively high stability, contains hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups, a pH of zero charge of 3.9, and a specific surface-area of 40.38 m2/g. Adsorption tests indicate that PGP exhibits excellent removal effectiveness for Cr(VI) reaching 50.32 mg/g while the adsorption process obeys the Freundlich model. The thermodynamic study favors the exothermic physical adsorption process. The influence of operating parameters like the flow rate (1 to 3 mL/min), bed height (25 to 75 mm), concentration (10 to 30 mg/L), and temperature (298 to 318 K) on the adsorption process are investigated in column mode. To assess the performance characteristics of the column adsorption data, a non-linear regression has been used to fit and analyze four different kinetic and theoretical models, namely, Bohart-Adams, Thomas model, Clark, and Dose response. The obtained experimental results were found to obey the Dose Response model with a coefficient of regression R2 greater than 0.977. This study proved the excellent efficiency in the treatment of chemical industry effluents by using cost-effect abundant biowaste sorbent. This research demonstrated great efficacy in the treatment of chemical industrial effluents by using an abundant, cost-effective biowaste sorbent, thereby achieving the UN SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals) primary objective

Thoracic sarcopenia as a predictive factor of SARS-COV2 evolution

Purpose: Evaluation of CT sarcopenia as a predictor of intensive care hospitalization during SARS-COV2 infection.Materials and methods: Single-center retrospective study of patients admitted to hospital with SARS-COV2 infection. The estimation of muscle mass (skeletal muscle index (SMI)) for sarcopenia, measure-ment of muscle density for muscle quality and body adiposity, were based on CT views on the T4 and L3 levels measured at admission. Demographic data, percentage of pulmonary parenchymal involvement as well as the orientation of patients during hospitalization and the risk of hospitalization in intensive care were collected.Results: A total of 162 patients hospitalized for SARS-COV2 infection were included (92 men and 70 women, with an average age of 64.6 years and an average BMI of 27.4). The muscle area measured at the level of L3 was significantly associated with the patient's unfavorable evolution (124.4cm2 [97; 147] vs 141.5 cm2 [108; 173]) (p 1/4 0.007), as was a lowered SMI (p < 0.001) and the muscle area measured in T4 (OR 1/4 0.98 [0.97; 0.99]), (p 1/4 0.026). Finally, an abdominal visceral fat area measured at the level of L3 was also associated with a risk of hospitalization in intensive care (249.4cm2 [173; 313] vs 147.5cm2 [93.1; 228] (p < 0.001).Conclusion: This study demonstrates that thoracic and abdominal sarcopenia are independently asso-ciated with an increased risk of hospitalization in an intensive care unit, suggesting the need to assess sarcopenia on admission during SARS-COV2 infection

Palmprint Recognition Through a Reliable Ultrasound Acquisition System and a 3D Template

Biometric systems based on ultrasonic images have the merits of being very resistent to spoof attacks. In this work, a 3D recognition procedure based on palmprint ultrasound images acquired through a reliable system, which uses a gel pad as coupling medium between the ultrasound probe and the hand, is proposed and experimentally evaluated. Several 2D palmprint images, at different under-skin depths, are extracted from the acquired volumetric image. For each of them a template is generated through an original procedure. The various templates are then opportunely combined to obtain a 3D template