Influence of processing on the volatile profile of strawberry spreads made with isomaltulose

[EN] A new strawberry spread formulated with fructose and isomaltulose (replacing sucrose partially or totally) and a high percentage of fruit was developed in line with the new trend of healthier products. This work studies the influence of some process variables (percentage of sugar, pectin and citric acid, and time of thermal treatment) on the volatile profile of these spreads with different formulations. The ripeness of the raw strawberries influences the concentrations of some of the compounds in the spreads, such as isobutyl acetate, butyl butyrate, 3-hexen-1-yl acetate or propan-2-ol. The process conditions have an important effect on the volatile profiles. Most of the esters and alcohols decreased whereas 13 new compounds appear, mostly furans (furfural, 2-acetylfurane, 5-methyl furfural, mesifurane) and aldehydes (octanal, nonanal, decanal and benzaldeyhde). In general, the spreads formulated with sucrose-isomaltulose that contained higher levels of pectin and citric acid gave better results in the preservation of the original aromatic compounds in raw strawberries.Authors would like to thank Direccion General de Investigacion del Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia (AGL2008-01745/ALI) as well as the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for the financial support given to this investigation.Peinado Pardo, I.; Rosa Barbosa, EM.; Heredia Gutiérrez, AB.; Escriche Roberto, MI.; Andrés Grau, AM. (2013). Influence of processing on the volatile profile of strawberry spreads made with isomaltulose. Food Chemistry. 138(1):621-629. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.09.104S621629138

Evolution of patient characteristics and outcomes concerning diabetic foot ulcer care in Belgium between 2008 and 2020

Background/Aims: Since 2005, recognized Belgian multidisciplinary diabetic foot clinics (MDFCs) participate to biennial audit-feedback cycles, allowing to study the epidemiology of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) and monitor/improve quality of care. We investigated how patient and foot characteristics, treatment and outcome evolved between 2008 and&nbsp;2020. &nbsp; Methods: Data were cross-sectionally collected between 2008 and 2020. Recognized MDFCs included the first 52 patients with a new DFU of Wagner 2 or higher during the audit period. Person and ulcer characteristics were recorded at baseline together with treatment and outcome during a 6-month follow-up period. A neutral weighting was applied to all variables. Evolution over time was studied in a repeated cross-sectional way using Generalized Estimating Equations (SAS9.4). &nbsp; Results: The number of people with a new DFU included were 985 in 2008 (20 MDFCs) and increased to 1.579 in 2020 (35 MDFCs). Patients became older (2008: 68.2±0.4 years; 2020: 70.1±0.3 years; p&lt;0.0001), had a longer median (P25-P75) diabetes duration (2008: 14.2 (7.5-23.4) years; 2020: 16.3 (9.5-24.5) years; p=0.0002) and more often type 2 diabetes (2008: 87.8%; 2020: 91.2%; p=0.0013). Comorbidity rates were high. Presentation to the MDFC on the patient’s own initiative strongly elevated over time (collected since 2011: 20.6%; 2020: 35.1%; p&lt;0.0001). Moreover, median (P25-P75) patient-reported presentation delay reduced significantly from 4 (2-8) weeks in 2008 to 3 (1-8) weeks in 2020 (p=0.0134). Proportion of severe DFU (SINBAD≥3) diminished across the audits (2008: 91.6%; 2020: 82.3%; p=0.0115). Proportion of patients receiving offloading (collected since 2011: 74.6%; 2020: 63.2%; p=0.4750), undergoing a revascularization when having critical limb ischemia (2008: 66.4%; 2020: 67.0%; p=0.7860), minor amputation (2008: 16.8%; 2020: 21.1%; p=0.1636) or major amputation (2008: 3.6%; 2020: 2.9%; p=0.5882) remained unchanged over time. Nonetheless, healing after 6 months follow-up decreased slightly from 47.2% in 2008 to 43.8% in 2020 (p=0.0296). Inter-center variability remained high throughout&nbsp;time. &nbsp; Conclusions: Despite the positive evolution of faster presentation to the MDFC with less severe DFU, the outcome did not change over time and even a slight decrease in healed DFU after 6 months could be observed. A negative trend towards less offloading might be an underlying&nbsp;cause.</p

Pattern recognition techniques screening for drugs of abuse with gas chromatography - Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

As many drugs of abuse are relatively volatile substances, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and more recently gas chromatography-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (GC-FTIR) became the most powerful techniques applied for their identification. We are presenting a combination of pattern recognition techniques discriminating illicit amphetamines according to the substitution pattern associated with the psychotropic activity (stimulants and hallucinogens) for which they are abused, and with the corresponding level of health hazard. As we determined, GC-FTIR provides the best selectivity in identifying the structural features associated with the full constellation of pharmacological effects of amphetamines. The toxicological questions to be answered and the spectroscopic features enabling the screening based on soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) are discussed. The accuracy, sensitivity and selectivity of the system recommend its use for automating the investigations of illicit drugs for epidemiological, clinical, administrative and forensic purposes. As opposed to the traditional tests screening for drugs of abuse, the system may also be applied as a broad-spectrum screening test. The extent to which the output of a query for amphetamines may be used for assessing the class identity of a negative (i.e. other hallucinogens or stimulants, sympathomimetic amines, narcotics and precursors) was determined by a systematic principal component analysis (PCA). The basic information is summarized in tables according to the category or class of compounds found suitable for screening. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

One-year impact of bariatric surgery on serum anti-Mullerian-hormone levels in severely obese women

International audienceINTRODUCTION: Although bariatric surgery seems to increase spontaneous fertility by improving ovulatory function in young women, its impact on ovarian reserve remains largely unknown.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate changes in serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels in reproductive-age severely obese women after bariatric surgery (BS).METHODS: AMH levels were measured retrospectively in 39 women (mean age 34.6 ± 1.1 years, range 18-45) that underwent a sleeve gastrectomy or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) at baseline, and 6 and 12 months after BS. Metabolic and micronutrient status, including fasting plasma insulin and glucose, HOMA-IR, leptin, adiponectin, calcium, albumin, transthyretin, ferritin, vitamins (B9, B12, B1, A, E, D), zinc, and selenium, were assessed in all patients before and 1 year after BS.RESULTS: Of the patients, 79% had class-3 obesity. At 6 and 12 months, mean total weight losses (TWL) were 26 and 30%; mean excess weight losses (EWL) were 61.7 and 70.2%. Compared to baseline, AMH levels significantly decreased by 18% at 6 months, and 32% at 12 months post-operatively (p = 0.010 and p = 0.001, respectively). There was no correlation between AMH variation and changes in metabolic parameters or micronutrient levels. Remarkably, changes in AMH levels did not differ between sleeve and RYGB patients and were not correlated with EWL.CONCLUSION: This pilot study shows a drastic reduction in AMH levels at 1 year after BS in reproductive-age severely obese women, which was not related to weight loss: this suggests a negative impact of BS on ovarian reserve, at least in the short term