Effect of process variables on the osmotic dehydration of star-fruit slices

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)The objective of this work was to study the effect of blanching and the influence of temperature, solution concentration, and the initial fruit:solution ratio on the osmotic dehydration of star-fruit slices. For blanching, different concentrations of citric and ascorbic acids were studied. The samples immersed in 0.75% citric acid presented little variation in color in relation to the fresh star-fruit. Osmotic dehydration was carried out in an incubator with orbital shaking, controlled temperature, and constant shaking at 120 rpm. The influence of process variables was studied in trials defined by a complete 2(3) central composite design. In general, water loss and solids gain were positively influenced by temperature and by solution concentration. Nevertheless, lower temperatures reduced water loss throughout the osmotic dehydration process. An increase in the amount of dehydrating solution (initial fruit:solution ratio) slightly influenced the evaluated responses. The process carried out at 50 degrees C with a solution concentration of 50% resulted in a product with lower solids gain and greater water loss. Under these conditions, blanching minimized the effect of the osmotic treatment on star-fruit browning, and therefore the blanched fruits showed little variation in color in relation to the fresh fruit.322357365SAE (Servico de Apoio ao Estudante - UNICAMP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

The smaller vesicomyid bivalves in the genus Isorropodon (Bivalvia, Vesicomyidae, Pliocardiinae) also harbour chemoautotrophic symbionts

Species of Isorropodon are vesicomyid bivalves for which little information is available regarding host phylogeny and bacterial symbioses. In this study we investigated the symbioses in three Isorropodon species from three cold seep areas: Isorropodon bigoti (Gulf of Guinea), Isorropodon megadesmus (Gulf of Cadiz) and Isorropodon perplexum (Eastern Mediterranean). Analysis of bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences demonstrated that each vesicomyid species harbours a single symbiont phylotype, that symbionts from the three species cluster together, and that they are closely related to other known vesicomyid symbionts. These results are confirmed by other marker genes (encoding 23S rRNA and APS reductase) and by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Due to their extended depth range and transoceanic distribution Isorropodon species are interesting examples to further study evolutionary processes in bivalve hosts and their associated symbionts

Phylogeny and Diversification Patterns among Vesicomyid Bivalves

Vesicomyid bivalves are among the most abundant and diverse symbiotic taxa in chemosynthetic-based ecosystems: more than 100 different vesicomyid species have been described so far. In the present study, we investigated the phylogenetic positioning of recently described vesicomyid species from the Gulf of Guinea and their western Atlantic and Pacific counterparts using mitochondrial DNA sequence data. The maximum-likelihood (ML) tree provided limited support for the recent taxonomic revision of vesicomyids based on morphological criteria; nevertheless, most of the newly sequenced specimens did not cluster with their morphological conspecifics. Moreover, the observed lack of geographic clustering suggests the occurrence of independent radiations followed by worldwide dispersal. Ancestral character state reconstruction showed a significant correlation between the characters “depth” and “habitat” and the reconstructed ML phylogeny suggesting possible recurrent events of ‘stepwise speciation’ from shallow to deep waters in different ocean basins. This is consistent with genus or species bathymetric segregation observed from recent taxonomic studies. Altogether, our results highlight the need for ongoing re-evaluation of the morphological characters used to identify vesicomyid bivalves

Spatial Evaluation and Modeling of Dengue Seroprevalence and Vector Density in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Dengue is a major public health problem in many tropical regions of the world, including Brazil, where Aedes aegypti is the main vector. We present a household study that combines data on dengue fever seroprevalence, recent dengue infection, and vector density, in three neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during its most devastating dengue epidemic to date. This integrated entomological–serological survey showed evidence of silent transmission even during a severe epidemic. Also, past exposure to dengue virus was highly associated with age and living in areas of high movement of individuals and social/commercial activity. No association was observed between household infestation index and risk of dengue infection in these areas. Our findings are discussed in the light of current theories regarding transmission thresholds and relative role of mosquitoes and humans as vectors of dengue viruses

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel at s√=8 TeV with ATLAS

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The analysis is performed in the H → γγ decay channel using 20.3 fb−1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp → H → γγ fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 ±9.4(stat.) − 2.9 + 3.2 (syst.) ±1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations

Evidence for the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to tau leptons with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for H → τ τ decays are presented, based on the full set of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during 2011 and 2012. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 4.5 fb−1 and 20.3 fb−1 at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV respectively. All combinations of leptonic (τ → `νν¯ with ` = e, µ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ν) tau decays are considered. An excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.5 (3.4) standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the direct coupling of the recently discovered Higgs boson to fermions. The measured signal strength, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, of µ = 1.43 +0.43 −0.37 is consistent with the predicted Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model

Diabetes with Hypertension as Risk Factors for Adult Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in a Predominantly Dengue Serotype 2 Epidemic: A Case Control Study

Dengue is a major vector borne disease in the tropical and subtropical regions. An estimated 50 million infections occur per annum in over 100 countries. A severe form of dengue, characterized by bleeding and plasma leakage, known as dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is estimated to occur in 1–5% of hospitalized cases. It can be fatal if unrecognized and not treated in a timely manner. Previous studies had found a number of risk factors for DHF. However, screening and clinical management strategies based on these risk factors may not be applicable to all populations and epidemics of different serotypes. In this study, we found significant association between DHF and diabetes mellitus and diabetes mellitus with hypertension during the epidemic of predominantly serotype 2 (year 2007 and 2008), but not during the epidemic of predominantly serotype 1 (year 2006). Diabetes mellitus and hypertension are prevalent in Singapore and most parts of South-East Asia, where dengue is endemic. Therefore, it is important to address the risk effect of these co-morbidities on the development of DHF so as to reduce morbidity and mortality. Our findings may have impact on screening and clinical management of dengue patients, when confirmed in more studies