Characterization of rheological properties and thermal stability of fish myofibrillar proteins

Effects of moisture content, pH, and salt concentration on dynamic rheological properties and gel fracture quality of Pacific whiting surimi were investigated. Torsion tests showed that shear stress decreased rapidly and strain values decreased gradually as moisture concentration increased. As pH increased, fracture shear stress and strain values increased, whereas lightness values (L*) decreased. Increasing salt concentration up to 1% increased fracture shear stress and strain values, but further increase affected negatively. A strong relationship was found between the G' and fracture stress values as affected by moisture or pH, but not by salt concentration. Linear regression analyses indicated that while moisture concentration and pH can be used as an index estimating final gel quality, salt concentration cannot be used. Thermal stability, proteolytic enzyme degradation, and thermal aggregation patterns of myofibrillar proteins from various fish species were also compared. There was a species effect for both optimum setting and chopping temperatures. While cold water fish species had the highest shear stress values at 5 °C or lower temperatures, warm water fish species had higher fracture shear stress values at 20-30 °C. Proteolytic enzyme activity increased linearly with incubation time when the test was conducted at the optimum autolysis temperature up to 240 mm. SDSPAGE analysis showed that myosin heavy chain was the major protein targeted by proteolytic enzymes. For all tested fish species, a 0.5 °C/min heating rate resulted in higher turbidity values followed by 1 °C/min, and then 2 °C/min. There was a species effect on the temperature where turbidity started to increase. The transition temperatures obtained from temperature sweep measurements were very close to those obtained from DSC, indicating that peaks obtained from the dynamic tests were related to the protein unfolding

Minimal Processing and Modified Atmosphere Packaging of Carrot Discs: Effects of Packaging Film and Product Weight

Carrot (Daucus carota L.) discs were prepared and packaged in low density polyethylene (LDPE) bags with or without aluminium silicate under passive modified atmosphere, and then stored at 4 °C for 21 days. The effects of modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) treatments on oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations in the headspace, color, texture, mass loss, pH, total titratable acidity (TTA), β-carotene content and sensory quality of packaged carrot discs were determined. Oxygen levels decreased and carbon dioxide levels increased significantly within 7 days and stayed stable for the rest of the storage time. While L* and WI values increased, a* and b* values decreased at the end of the storage. Storage time was the most significant factor affecting physiological, physicochemical and sensory attributes. β-carotene content was 5.89 g kg−1 fresh tissue right after processing and decreased in all applications during storage. The shelf-life was determined as 14 days for minimally processed carrot discs for all applications

Impact of household socio-economic factors on food security: Case of Adana

Food insecurity is the situation where people do not have access to sufficient, stable and safe food that meets their dietary needs for an active and healthy life. The objective of this study was to determine the status of food security in the Adana metropolitan area by using, for the first time in Turkey, Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSS). Household's food security levels and socio-economic factors affecting the food security were analyzed using the ordered logistic regression technique. The household food security level surveys in the Adana metropolitan area indicated that hunger was not in a serious condition, however food insecurity was critical. While the rate of food insecurity in households with children was 69%, food insecurity rate of households without children was 39.6%. It was a highly worrisome situation that hunger and food insecurity rates were more frequent in households with children. In this study, it has been found that among the socio-economic variables, the income level was the most decisive variable for food security. The gender of household head, employment status, education level and household count were the other variables affecting food security. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2014

Adapalene vs. metronidazole gel for the treatment of rosacea

WOS: 000227499700019PubMed: 15807740Background Rosacea is a common, chronic dermatosis that requires long-term therapy. Oral isotretinoin and topical and/or oral antibiotics are effective, but their usage may be limited due to side-effects. Objective The goal of the study was to compare the efficacy of topical adapalene gel (0.1%) and topical metronidazole gel (0.75%) in the treatment of patients with papulopustular rosacea. Methods This study included 55 patients with papulopustular rosacea. Diagnostic efforts were focused on clinical and histological features. Patients were randomly assigned to the adapalene (n = 30) and metronidazole (n = 25) groups. Sunlight protection factor 20 cream was used to protect all patients from sunlight. The characteristics and numbers of inflammatory papules, pustules, erythema and telangiectasia were scored at baseline and after 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks. Side-effects were recorded at each visit. Results Fifty patients, 27 in the adapalene group and 25 in the metronidzaole group, completed the study. Significant reductions in the total number of inflammatory lesions were found in the adapalene group compared with the metronidazole group. There was no significant difference in the scores of erythema and telangiectasia in the adapalene group. However, a significant reduction in erythema was seen in the metronidazole group. Conclusions Adapalene gel is well tolerated and can be used as an alternative for topical treatment of papulopustular rosacea

Bone mineral density and bone turnover markers of patients with Behçet's disease

Background: Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic inflammatory disease of unknown aetiology. The pathogenesis of rheumatological findings and the status of bone metabolism in this disease are unknown. Inflammatory diseases may predispose to a decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) and there are many studies concerning osteoporosis in chronic inflammatory diseases. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate BMD and bone turnover markers in patients with BD. Methods: Thirty BD patients (17 male and 13 female patients, mean age 36.9 ± 12.6 years) and a total of 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (17 male and 13 female controls, mean age 34.9 ± 8.95 years) recruited from the general population were enrolled in the study. Bone mineral density was measured at the lumbar spine (L1-4) and the left hip (total hip) using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Serum samples were collected between 8 and 10 am after overnight fasting. Serum calcium (Ca), phosphate (P), parathormone (PTH), total alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured. Free deoxypyridinoline cross-links (DPD) in second-void urine and total daily urinary calcium excretion were analysed. Results: No statistically significant difference in lumbar spine or femoral BMD and bone turnover markers were found between BD patients and control groups (P >.0.05). Conclusion: Although it is difficult to draw definite conclusions because of the limited number of patients involved, our study indicates that bone mineral density and bone turnover markers in Behçet's disease were no different than in healthy subjects. © 2006 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology

Bone mineral density and bone turnover markers of patients with Behcet's disease

WOS: 000243297700004PubMed: 17207163Background Behcet's disease (BD) is a systemic inflammatory disease of unknown aetiology. The pathogenesis of rheumatological findings and the status of bone metabolism in this disease are unknown. Inflammatory diseases may predispose to a decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) and there are many studies concerning osteoporosis in chronic inflammatory diseases. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate BMD and bone turnover markers in patients with BD. Methods Thirty BD patients (17 male and 13 female patients, mean age 36.9 +/- 12.6 years) and a total of 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (17 male and 13 female controls, mean age 34.9 +/- 8.95 years) recruited from the general population were enrolled in the study. Bone mineral density was measured at the lumbar spine (L1-4) and the left hip (total hip) using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Serum samples were collected between 8 and 10 am after overnight fasting. Serum calcium (Ca), phosphate (P), parathormone (PTH), total alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured. Free deoxypyridinoline cross-links (DPD) in second-void urine and total daily urinary calcium excretion were analysed. Results No statistically significant difference in lumbar spine or femoral BMD and bone turnover markers were found between BD patients and control groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion Although it is difficult to draw definite conclusions because of the limited number of patients involved, our study indicates that bone mineral density and bone turnover markers in Behcet's disease were no different than in healthy subjects

Development of Films of Novel Polypropylene based Nanomaterials for Food Packaging Application

In order to design new antimicrobial nanocomposites with properties for food packaging application, films of polypropylene random copolymer (PPR), PPR/Poly--pinene (PP), PPR/clay and PPR/PP/clay were prepared by melt extrusion. Structural, morphological, mechanical, barrier, antimicrobial properties and thermal stability of the films were determined. PPR and PP always form a homogeneous system in the amorphous phase; in the binary PPR/clay system, PPR molecules intercalate the clay galleries; in the ternary PPR/PP/clay system, the miscibility between PPR and PP prevents the intercalation of the PPR macromolecules into the clay galleries. The addition of clay and PP increased the thermal stability and the tensile mechanical properties of PPR and reduced the oxygen transmission rate and the water vapor transmission rate compared with plain PPR. Films of nanomaterials containing PP provided a reduction of the test microorganisms (Escherichia coli 25922) of 24% comparing to the control (PPR/clay film). Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Lipid peroxidation and homocysteine levels in Behcet's disease

WOS: 000241193800014PubMed: 16958606Background: The aim of this study was to investigate serum paraoxonase (PON1) activity in relation to homocysteine, malondialdehyde (MDA) and lipid parameters in active and inactive Behcet's disease, (BD). Methods: A total of 46 consecutive BD patients and 25 healthy control subjects were included in the present study. Results: Serum PON1 activity in both active and inactive BD was significantly lower compared with healthy subjects (p < 0.05). When compared to the control group, serum MDA levels were significantly higher in both active and inactive BD (p < 0.05). Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and homocysteine concentrations were significantly higher in active BD than those in inactive BD and control subjects (p < 0.05). In addition, there was significant negative correlation between serum PON1 and MDA levels (r= -0.697, p < 0.05) and serum PON1 activity was also negatively correlated with homocysteine levels (r= -0.428, p < 0.05) in BD patients. Conclusions: Decreased PON1 could explain the increased lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress observed in BD. Also, according to our results, we suggest that homocysteine may contribute to decreased serum PON1 activity

Peripheral nervous system involvement in patients with Behçet disease

BACKGROUND: Central nervous system involvement in Behçet disease (BD) has been well documented, but studies evaluating peripheral nervous system involvement are relatively uncommon. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the frequency and characteristics of peripheral nervous system involvement in BD. METHODS: Sixty-nine BD patients (36 women, 33 men) followed by neurology and dermatology outpatient clinics between October 1999 and October 2004 were enrolled into study. A careful history was taken and physical and neurologic examinations were done. All other medical causes that may be related to peripheral nervous system involvement were studied. All patients underwent nerve conduction studies using standard electrophysiologic procedures. RESULTS: Peripheral nervous system involvement was detected in 13 patients. There was no sign and symptom related to peripheral nervous system involvement in these patients. Causes other than BD were found in 5 patients with polyneuropathy. Asymptomatic delay in conduction velocities of the median nerves was detected in 3 patients. In 5 patients with clinically evident peripheral nerve involvement due to BD, 3 had sensorimotor and 2 had sensory axonal neuropathies. CONCLUSION: Axonal type polyneuropathy may be seen in BD patients. Peripheral involvement may be detected by electrophysiological examinations in asymptomatic BD patients. © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc