Physico-chemical and rheological properties of prato cheese during ripening

The influence of storage temperature (6, 12 and 18°C) on texture parameters of Prato cheese were evaluated during 22 days of ripening. A reduction of firmness, gumminess and elasticity was observed; however, cohesiveness and adhesiveness increased. With the increasing temperature, firmness and gumminess reduced, whereas the elasticity, cohesiveness and adhesiveness did not change. It can be concluded that storage temperature influences the texture profile of Prato cheese which present differences in the evaluated parameters during 22 days of ripening.Keywords: Cheese ripening, hard cheese, colour, texture profile analysis

Effect of anti-inflammatory treatment on systemic inflammation, immune function, and endometrial health in postpartum dairy cows

Systemic inflammation (SI) is increasingly studied in several species because it may be central in many metabolic disturbances and be a risk factor for clinical disease. This proof-of-concept study evaluated the effects of the anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam on markers of SI and energy metabolism, polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) function, and endometritis in clinically healthy postpartum dairy cows. Cows received meloxicam (0.5 mg/kg of body weight; n = 20) once daily for 4 days (10-13 days postpartum) or were untreated (n = 22). Blood samples were collected -7, 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 21, 28, and 35 days relative to calving to measure serum concentrations of metabolic and inflammatory markers. Function of peripheral blood PMN were evaluated at 5, 10, 14, and 21, and proportion of PMN in endometrial cytology were performed at 5, 10, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days postpartum. Meloxicam decreased serum haptoglobin from the second until the last day of treatment, and improved indicators of energy metabolism (lesser beta-hydroxybutyrate and greater insulin-like growth factor-1 during treatment, and greater glucose at the end of treatment than control cows). This improved PMN function at 14 days postpartum, but the endometrial inflammatory status was not affected

Análise de rótulos de BCAA comercializados no município de Volta Redonda-RJ

Os BCAA são substâncias formadas a partir da conjugação de leucina, isoleucina e valina. No Brasil, segundo a ANVISA, dispensam registros por não possuírem legislação específica. Todavia, devem cumprir requisitos de composição e qualidade estabelecidos pelos regulamentos técnicos. O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar, segundo parâmetros regulamentares da ANVISA, os rótulos dos produtos comercializados como aminoácidos de cadeia ramificada - BCAA. Trata-se de um estudo observacional, onde os produtos foram selecionados em uma loja especializada em comercialização de ergogênicos nutricionais na cidade de Volta Redonda. Todos os produtos comercializados com a descrição BCAA tiveram suas embalagens avaliadas segundo requisitos técnicos específicos das Resoluções nº 18, de 27 de Abril de 2010, nº 23, de 15 de março de 2000 e Portaria SVS/MS nº 222, de 24 de março de 1998. Para a tabulação dos resultados, foram utilizados modelos clássicos de análises estatísticas descritivas. A maioria dos produtos avaliados estava em conformidade com a legislação brasileira pertinente a comercialização de BCAA, apresentando 92,6% de conformidades. Apesar de ainda não terem comprovação científica a cerca de seus benefícios, os BCAA são muito utilizados no meio esportivo, logo, há necessidade de fiscalização destes, de forma a adequá-los as exigências propostas pela ANVISA. ABSTRACTAnalysis of BCAA labels sold in Volta Redonda-RJThe BCAA are substances formed from the combination of leucine, isoleucine and valine. In Brazil according to ANVISA, they needn’t records because of lack of specific legislation. However, it’s must comply with the composition and quality requirements established by technical regulations. The present study aimed to evaluate according ANVISA regulatory parameters the labels of the products marketed as branched chain amino acids - BCAA. This is an observational study. The products were selected from a store specializing in nutritional ergogenics. All BCAA had her evaluated packages according to resolutions of ANVISA. To tabulate the results, we used classical descriptive statistical analysis models. Most products were evaluated in accordance with the relevant marketing BCAA Brazilian’s law, with 92.6 % compliance with the legislation of the information. Although not yet scientifically proven, BCAAs are highly used in sports. It is necessary to monitor of use in order to adapt them the requirements proposed by ANVISA

Latent cluster analysis of ALS phenotypes identifies prognostically differing groups

BACKGROUND Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a degenerative disease predominantly affecting motor neurons and manifesting as several different phenotypes. Whether these phenotypes correspond to different underlying disease processes is unknown. We used latent cluster analysis to identify groupings of clinical variables in an objective and unbiased way to improve phenotyping for clinical and research purposes. METHODS Latent class cluster analysis was applied to a large database consisting of 1467 records of people with ALS, using discrete variables which can be readily determined at the first clinic appointment. The model was tested for clinical relevance by survival analysis of the phenotypic groupings using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS The best model generated five distinct phenotypic classes that strongly predicted survival (p<0.0001). Eight variables were used for the latent class analysis, but a good estimate of the classification could be obtained using just two variables: site of first symptoms (bulbar or limb) and time from symptom onset to diagnosis (p<0.00001). CONCLUSION The five phenotypic classes identified using latent cluster analysis can predict prognosis. They could be used to stratify patients recruited into clinical trials and generating more homogeneous disease groups for genetic, proteomic and risk factor research

A PageRank-based heuristic for the minimization of open stacks problem.

The minimization of open stacks problem (MOSP) aims to determine the ideal production sequence to optimize the occupation of physical space in manufacturing settings. Most of current methods for solving the MOSP were not designed to work with large instances, precluding their use in specific cases of similar modeling problems. We therefore propose a PageRank-based heuristic to solve large instances modeled in graphs. In computational experiments, both data from the literature and new datasets up to 25 times fold larger in input size than current datasets, totaling 1330 instances, were analyzed to compare the proposed heuristic with state-of-the-art methods. The results showed the competitiveness of the proposed heuristic in terms of quality, as it found optimal solutions in several cases, and in terms of shorter run times compared with the fastest available method. Furthermore, based on specific graph densities, we found that the difference in the value of solutions between methods was small, thus justifying the use of the fastest method. The proposed heuristic is scalable and is more affected by graph density than by size

Molecular ecology meets systematic conservation planning

Integrative and proactive conservation approaches are critical to the long-term persistence of biodiversity. Molecular data can provide important information on evolutionary processes necessary for conserving multiple levels of biodiversity (genes, populations, species, and ecosystems). However, molecular data are rarely used to guide spatial conservation decision-making. Here, we bridge the fields of molecular ecology (ME) and systematic conservation planning (SCP) (the ‘why’) to build a foundation for the inclusion of molecular data into spatial conservation planning tools (the ‘how’), and provide a practical guide for implementing this integrative approach for both conservation planners and molecular ecologists. The proposed framework enhances interdisciplinary capacity, which is crucial to achieving the ambitious global conservation goals envisioned for the next decade

Chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy associated with ulcerative colitis: a reported case in literature

AbstractBackground: Peripheral neuropathy is known to be related to inflammatory bowel disease and it is one of the most frequently reported neurologic complications. Various studies have found peripheral nervous system complications, rather than central nervous system involvement, to be predominant. In the literature, there are a few cases of inflammatory polyneuropathy developed in the course of ulcerative colitis : 5 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, one case of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, 10 cases of neuropathy and one case of perineuritis. Case presentation: We describe a case of chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy associated with ulcerative colitis. Conclusion: Peripheral neuropathy is not a common manifestation of IBD, highlighting the need for careful exclusion of other causes of neuropathy when both conditions are encountered in clinical practice. Â

Combined effects of time spent in physical activity, sedentary behaviors and sleep on obesity and cardio-metabolic health markers: a novel compositional data analysis approach

<div><p>The associations between time spent in sleep, sedentary behaviors (SB) and physical activity with health are usually studied without taking into account that time is finite during the day, so time spent in each of these behaviors are codependent. Therefore, little is known about the combined effect of time spent in sleep, SB and physical activity, that together constitute a composite whole, on obesity and cardio-metabolic health markers. Cross-sectional analysis of NHANES 2005–6 cycle on N = 1937 adults, was undertaken using a compositional analysis paradigm, which accounts for this intrinsic codependence. Time spent in SB, light intensity (LIPA) and moderate to vigorous activity (MVPA) was determined from accelerometry and combined with self-reported sleep time to obtain the 24 hour time budget composition. The distribution of time spent in sleep, SB, LIPA and MVPA is significantly associated with BMI, waist circumference, triglycerides, plasma glucose, plasma insulin (all p<0.001), and systolic (p<0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (p<0.003), but not HDL or LDL. Within the composition, the strongest positive effect is found for the proportion of time spent in MVPA. Strikingly, the effects of MVPA replacing another behavior and of MVPA being displaced by another behavior are asymmetric. For example, re-allocating 10 minutes of SB to MVPA was associated with a lower waist circumference by 0.001% but if 10 minutes of MVPA is displaced by SB this was associated with a 0.84% higher waist circumference. The proportion of time spent in LIPA and SB were detrimentally associated with obesity and cardiovascular disease markers, but the association with SB was stronger. For diabetes risk markers, replacing SB with LIPA was associated with more favorable outcomes. Time spent in MVPA is an important target for intervention and preventing transfer of time from LIPA to SB might lessen the negative effects of physical inactivity.</p></div