Study of strawberry flavored milk under pulsed electric field processing

Few studies exist on flavored milk processed by pulsed electric fields (PEF). The main concern is product stability. This study aimed to analyze the degradation of coloring agent Allura Red in strawberry milk under PEF. Four systems were tested containing Allura Red: two commercial milks and two model systems. PEF conditions were 40 kV/cm, 48 pulses (2.5 μs), and 55 °C; coloring agent was quantified via RP-HPLC. After processing, only minor changes were observed in color, Allura Red concentration, and pH. During storage (32 d) at refrigerated conditions (4 °C) commercial samples maintained pH above 6. Model systems dropped below pH 6 after 10 days of storage. Color of samples showed important decrease in a⁎; hue angle and chroma changed during storage. HPLC analysis reported a bi-phasic effect in Allura Red concentrations versus time. Concentration changed, reaching a maximum value during the middle of storage, possibly attributed to microbial growth, pH reduction, or interaction of proteins. However, PEF affected the stability of Allura Red in milk when additional ingredients were not added to the product

Study of strawberry flavored milk under pulsed electric field processing

Few studies exist on flavored milk processed by pulsed electric fields (PEF). The main concern is product stability. This study aimed to analyze the degradation of coloring agent Allura Red in strawberry milk under PEF. Four systems were tested containing Allura Red: two commercial milks and two model systems. PEF conditions were 40 kV/cm, 48 pulses (2.5 μs), and 55 °C; coloring agent was quantified via RP-HPLC. After processing, only minor changes were observed in color, Allura Red concentration, and pH. During storage (32 d) at refrigerated conditions (4 °C) commercial samples maintained pH above 6. Model systems dropped below pH 6 after 10 days of storage. Color of samples showed important decrease in a⁎; hue angle and chroma changed during storage. HPLC analysis reported a bi-phasic effect in Allura Red concentrations versus time. Concentration changed, reaching a maximum value during the middle of storage, possibly attributed to microbial growth, pH reduction, or interaction of proteins. However, PEF affected the stability of Allura Red in milk when additional ingredients were not added to the product

Pre-hospital management protocols and perceived difficulty in diagnosing acute heart failure

Aim To illustrate the pre-hospital management arsenals and protocols in different EMS units, and to estimate the perceived difficulty of diagnosing suspected acute heart failure (AHF) compared with other common pre-hospital conditions. Methods and results A multinational survey included 104 emergency medical service (EMS) regions from 18 countries. Diagnostic and therapeutic arsenals related to AHF management were reported for each type of EMS unit. The prevalence and contents of management protocols for common medical conditions treated pre-hospitally was collected. The perceived difficulty of diagnosing AHF and other medical conditions by emergency medical dispatchers and EMS personnel was interrogated. Ultrasound devices and point-of-care testing were available in advanced life support and helicopter EMS units in fewer than 25% of EMS regions. AHF protocols were present in 80.8% of regions. Protocols for ST-elevation myocardial infarction, chest pain, and dyspnoea were present in 95.2, 80.8, and 76.0% of EMS regions, respectively. Protocolized diagnostic actions for AHF management included 12-lead electrocardiogram (92.1% of regions), ultrasound examination (16.0%), and point-of-care testings for troponin and BNP (6.0 and 3.5%). Therapeutic actions included supplementary oxygen (93.2%), non-invasive ventilation (80.7%), intravenous furosemide, opiates, nitroglycerine (69.0, 68.6, and 57.0%), and intubation 71.5%. Diagnosing suspected AHF was considered easy to moderate by EMS personnel and moderate to difficult by emergency medical dispatchers (without significant differences between de novo and decompensated heart failure). In both settings, diagnosis of suspected AHF was considered easier than pulmonary embolism and more difficult than ST-elevation myocardial infarction, asthma, and stroke. Conclusions The prevalence of AHF protocols is rather high but the contents seem to vary. Difficulty of diagnosing suspected AHF seems to be moderate compared with other pre-hospital conditions

Malaria in pregnant women in an area with sustained high coverage of insecticide-treated bed nets

BACKGROUND\ud \ud Since 2000, the World Health Organization has recommended a package of interventions to prevent malaria during pregnancy and its sequelae that includes the promotion of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp), and effective case management of malarial illness. It is recommended that pregnant women in malaria-endemic areas receive at least two doses of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. This study assessed the prevalence of placental malaria at delivery in women during 1st or 2nd pregnancy, who did not receive intermittent preventive treatment for malaria (IPTp) in a malaria-endemic area with high bed net coverage.\ud \ud METHODS\ud \ud A hospital-based cross-sectional study was done in Ifakara, Tanzania, where bed net coverage is high. Primi- and secundigravid women, who presented to the labour ward and who reported not using IPTp were included in the study. Self-report data were collected by questionnaire; whereas neonatal birth weight and placenta parasitaemia were measured directly at the time of delivery.\ud \ud RESULTS\ud \ud Overall, 413 pregnant women were enrolled of which 91% reported to have slept under a bed net at home the previous night, 43% reported history of fever and 62% were primigravid. Malaria parasites were detected in 8% of the placenta samples; the geometric mean (95%CI) placental parasite density was 3,457 (1,060-11,271) parasites/mul in primigravid women and 2,178 (881-5,383) parasites/mul in secundigravid women. Fifteen percent of newborns weighed <2,500 g at delivery. Self-reported bed net use was statistically associated with lower risk for low birth weight [OR 0.34 (95% CI: 0.16-0.74) and OR 0.22 (95% CI: 0.08-0.59) for untreated and treated bed nets, respectively], but was not associated with placental parasitaemia [OR 0.74 (0.21-2.68) and OR 1.64 (0.44-6.19) for untreated and treated bed nets, respectively].\ud \ud CONCLUSION\ud \ud The observed incidence of LBW and prevalence of placental parasitaemia at delivery suggests that malaria remains a problem in pregnancy in this area with high bed net coverage when eligible women do not receive IPTp. Delivery of IPTp should be emphasized at all levels of implementation to achieve maximum community coverage

COMAP Early Science: VIII. A Joint Stacking Analysis with eBOSS Quasars

We present a new upper limit on the cosmic molecular gas density at $z=2.4-3.4$ obtained using the first year of observations from the CO Mapping Array Project (COMAP). COMAP data cubes are stacked on the 3D positions of 282 quasars selected from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) catalog, yielding a 95% upper limit for flux from CO(1-0) line emission of 0.210 Jy km/s. Depending on the assumptions made, this value can be interpreted as either an average CO line luminosity $L'_\mathrm{CO}$ of eBOSS quasars of $\leq 7.30\times10^{10}$ K km pc$^2$ s$^{-1}$, or an average molecular gas density $\rho_\mathrm{H_2}$ in regions of the universe containing a quasar of $\leq 2.02\times10^8$ M$_\odot$ cMpc$^{-3}$. The $L'_\mathrm{CO}$ upper limit falls among CO line luminosities obtained from individually-targeted quasars in the COMAP redshift range, and the $\rho_\mathrm{H_2}$ value is comparable to upper limits obtained from other Line Intensity Mapping (LIM) surveys and their joint analyses. Further, we forecast the values obtainable with the COMAP/eBOSS stack after the full 5-year COMAP Pathfinder survey. We predict that a detection is probable with this method, depending on the CO properties of the quasar sample. Based on these achieved sensitivities, we believe that this technique of stacking LIM data on the positions of traditional galaxy or quasar catalogs is extremely promising, both as a technique for investigating large galaxy catalogs efficiently at high redshift and as a technique for bolstering the sensitivity of LIM experiments, even with a fraction of their total expected survey data.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. To be submitted to Ap

COMAP Early Science: VIII. A Joint Stacking Analysis with eBOSS Quasars

We present a new upper limit on the cosmic molecular gas density at z = 2.4 − 3.4 obtained using the first year of observations from the CO Mapping Array Project (COMAP). COMAP data cubes are stacked on the 3D positions of 243 quasars selected from the Extended Baryon Oscillation SpectroscopicSurvey (eBOSS) catalog, yielding a 95% upper limit for flux from CO(1-0) line emission of 0.129 Jykm/s. Depending on the balance of the emission between the quasar host and its environment, this value can be interpreted as an average CO line luminosity L′CO of eBOSS quasars of ≤ 1.26 × 1011 K km pc2s−1, or an average molecular gas density ρH2 in regions of the universe containing a quasar of ≤ 1.52 × 108 M⊙ cMpc−3. The L′ CO upper limit falls among CO line luminosities obtained fromindividually-targeted quasars in the COMAP redshift range, and the ρH2 value is comparable to upper limits obtained from other Line Intensity Mapping (LIM) surveys and their joint analyses. Further, we forecast the values obtainable with the COMAP/eBOSS stack after the full 5-year COMAP Pathfinder survey. We predict that a detection is probable with this method, depending on the CO properties of the quasar sample. Based on the achieved sensitivity, we believe that this technique of stacking LIM data on the positions of traditional galaxy or quasar catalogs is extremely promising, both asa technique for investigating large galaxy catalogs efficiently at high redshift and as a technique for bolstering the sensitivity of LIM experiments, even with a fraction of their total expected survey data

Correction to “Using altimetry to help explain patchy changes in hydrographic carbon measurements”

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 114 (2009): C12099, doi:10.1029/2009JC005835