Competition between starter cultures and wild microbial population in sausage fermentation: A case study regarding a typical italian salami (ventricina)

The work reports a case study describing how the competition wild microflora vs. starter cultures affects the final product characteristics. This study regards an industrial lot of Ventricina, an Italian long-ripened traditional fermented sausages, produced using starter cultures. After ripening, some relevant organoleptic defects (off-odour, crust formation) were observed. Therefore, analyses were carried out in the inner and outer sausage section to explain this phenomenon. Microbiological analyses indicated a high meat batter contamination and metagenomic analyses evidenced the inability of LAB starter cultures to lead the fermentation process. The results of this not controlled fermentation were the accumulation of high levels of biogenic amines (including histamine) and the formation of a volatile profile different if compared with similar products. Indeed, the volatilome analysis revealed unusually high amounts of molecules such as isovaleric acid, propanoic acid, 1-propanol, which can be responsible for off-odours. This study demonstrated that starter culture use needs to be modulated in relation to production parameters to avoid safety and organoleptic concerns

Maximizing the antioxidant capacity of Padina pavonica by choosing the right drying and extraction methods

Marine algae are becoming an interesting source of biologically active compounds with a promising application as nutraceuticals, functional food ingredients, and therapeutic agents. The effect of drying (freeze-drying, oven-drying, and shade-drying) and extraction methods (shaking at room temperature, shaking in an incubator at 60 \ub0C, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE)) on the total phenolics content (TPC), total flavonoids content (TFC), and total tannins content (TTC), as well as antioxidant capacity of the water/ethanol extracts from Padina pavonica were investigated. The TPC, TFC, and TTC values of P. pavonica were in the range from 0.44 \ub1 0.03 to 4.32 \ub1 0.15 gallic acid equivalents in mg/g (mg GAE/g) dry algae, from 0.31 \ub1 0.01 to 2.87 \ub1 0.01 mg QE/g dry algae, and from 0.32 \ub1 0.02 to 10.41 \ub1 0.62 mg CE/g dry algae, respectively. The highest TPC was found in the freeze-dried sample in 50% ethanol, extracted by MAE (200 W, 60 \ub0C, and 5 min). In all cases, freeze-dried samples extracted with ethanol (both 50% and 70%) had the higher antioxidant activity, while MAE as a green option reduces the extraction time without the loss of antioxidant activity in P. pavonica

Sustainable isosorbide production by a neat one-pot MW-assisted catalytic glucose conversion

In the context of exploitation of new biomass-derived platform chemicals, isosorbide (1,4:3,6-dianhydro-D-sorbitol), obtained by the two-fold dehydration of sorbitol, is gaining increasing interest in several potential industrial applications. Seeking for more sustainable, efficient, and economically competitive green processes, the use of heterogeneous catalysts under microwave (MW) irradiation has been adopted for the development of a neat one-pot process from glucose. MW-assisted catalytic processes have shown the potential to reduce the reaction time and improve the selectivity, due to the interaction of MW with the reaction medium through the production of hot spots on the catalyst surface. Ru/C, Ru/Al2O3 and Ru/TiO2 were tested for glucose hydrogenation to sorbitol, while the dehydration step was favored by the addition of beta Zeolites (360:1 SiO2:Al2O3) allowing high isosorbide selectivity (>85 %). An extended structural and morphological characterization before and after the catalytic tests allowed to establish structure-activity relationships. Yields up to 47.1 % have been obtained directly from glucose in 1.5 h, achieving a considerable reduction of reaction time without the use of a solvent. thus paving the way for further investigations on biomass conversion into value-added products. With this aim, direct isosorbide production from milled cellulose was investigated. While the isosorbide yields still need to be improved, the dual role of formic acid both as acid catalyst for cellulose hydrolysis and H-donor for the reduction step was promisingly clarified

1-Butanol dehydration and oxidation over vanadium phosphate catalysts

The transformation of 1-butanol into either butenes or maleic anhydride was carried out both with and without oxygen, using V/P/O catalysts. With vanadyl pyrophosphate prepared by coprecipitation, at temperature lower than 240 ◦C and without oxygen, selectivity to butenes was higher than 90%, but a slow deactivation took place. At temperature higher than 300 ◦C and in the presence of air, maleic and phthalic anhydrides were the prevailing products, with selectivity of 60% and 14%, respectively. Catalytic performance was affected by crystallinity and acidity. αI-VOPO4 showed a poor performance in the absence of air, with a quick deactivation due to coke accumulation; but it displayed an excellent selectivity to butenes (close to 98%) at temperatures lower than 320 ◦C in the presence of air, with stable performance. At temperature higher than 360 ◦C, α I-VOPO4 was reduced to vanadyl pyrophosphate and catalyzed the direct oxidation of 1-butanol into maleic anhydride, but with 35% selectivit

Glycerol Carbonate as a Versatile Alkylating Agent for the Synthesis of β-Aryloxy Alcohols

The possibility to use glycerol carbonate (GlyC) as an innovative alkylating agent for phenolic compounds in solventless conditions and in the presence of a catalytic amount of both homogeneous and heterogeneous bases is herein described. In particular, the peculiar, polyfunctional structure of GlyC allows one to obtain the formation not only of the mono-phenoxy-1,2-propanediol (MPP) analogue but also of 1,3-diphenoxy-2-propanol (DPP), the latter being elusive using the more traditional, toxic, and carcinogenic reagents such as glycidol and/or 3-chloro-1,2-propandiol. The production of DPP is indeed possible due to the in situ formation of a reactive intermediate, 4-(phenoxy)methyl-1,3-dioxolane-2-one (PhOGlyC), which may undergo a consecutive nucleophilic attack of a phenolate, leading to the selective formation of the disubstituted product. This reaction is nonetheless in competition with PhOGlyC decarboxylation that finally limits DPP yield up to 20%, with an MPP yield up to roughly 60% in the optimized conditions (atmospheric pressure, 140 degrees C, 5 h using Cs2CO3 as the basic catalyst) starting directly from a GlyC/phenolic mixture. For this reason, a multistep synthetic strategy has also been developed, first by obtaining the quantitative formation and isolation of the PhOGlyC intermediate and then by promoting the consecutive reaction with phenol, in this way obtaining a DPP yield of 66% after only 1 h of reaction at 170 degrees C. The obtained phenyl glyceryl ethers are interesting drugs scaffolds (i.e., guaifenesin, mephenesin), intermediates in the preparation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (e.g., chlorphenesin carbamate, methocarbamol), and hydrotropic solvents; preliminary evaluations of MPP and DPP biodegradability and use as alternative surfactants have also been described in this paper

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm : State of the art and prospects

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is an extremely rare tumour, which usually a_ects elderly males and presents in the skin with frequent involvement of the bone-marrow, peripheral blood and lymph nodes. It has a dismal prognosis, with most patients dying within one year when treated by conventional chemotherapies. The diagnosis is challenging, since neoplastic cells can resemble lymphoblasts or small immunoblasts, and require the use of a large panel of antibodies, including those against CD4, CD56, CD123, CD303, TCL1, and TCF4. The morphologic and in part phenotypic ambiguity explains the uncertainties as to the histogenesis of the neoplasm that led to the use of various denominations. Recently, a series of molecular studies based on karyotyping, gene expression profiling, and next generation sequencing, have largely unveiled the pathobiology of the tumour and proposed the potentially beneficial use of new drugs. The latter include SL-401, anti-CD123 immunotherapies, venetoclax, BET-inhibitors, and demethylating agents. The epidemiologic, clinical, diagnostic, molecular, and therapeutic features of BPDCN are thoroughly revised in order to contribute to an up-to-date approach to this tumour that has remained an orphan disease for too long

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm: Genomics mark epigenetic dysregulation as a primary therapeutic target

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare and aggressive hematologic malignancy for which there is still no effective B therapy. In order to identify genetic alterations useful for a new treatment design, we used whole-exome sequencing to analyze 14 BPDCN patients and the patient-derived CAL-1 cell line. The functional enrichment analysis of mutational data reported the epigenetic regulatory program to be the most significantly undermined (P<0.0001). In particular, twenty-five epigenetic modifiers were found mutated (e.g. ASXL1, TET2, SUZ12, ARID1A, PHF2, CHD8); ASXL1 was the most frequently affected (28.6% of cases). To evaluate the impact of the identified epigenetic mutations at the gene-expression and Histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation/acetylation levels, we performed additional RNA and pathology tissue-chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing experiments. The patients displayed enrichment in gene signatures regulated by methylation and modifiable by decitabine administration, shared common H3K27-acetylated regions, and had a set of cell-cycle genes aberrantly up-regulated and marked by promoter acetylation. Collectively, the integration of sequencing data showed the potential of a therapy based on epigenetic agents. Through the adoption of a preclinical BPDCN mouse model, established by CAL-1 cell line xenografting, we demonstrated the efficacy of the combination of the epigenetic drugs 5’-azacytidine and decitabine in controlling disease progression in vivo

Predictive and Prognostic Molecular Factors in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphomas

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the commonest form of lymphoid malignancy, with a prevalence of about 40% worldwide. Its classification encompasses a common form, also termed as "not otherwise specified" (NOS), and a series of variants, which are rare and at least in part related to viral agents. Over the last two decades, DLBCL-NOS, which accounts for more than 80% of the neoplasms included in the DLBCL chapter, has been the object of an increasing number of molecular studies which have led to the identification of prognostic/predictive factors that are increasingly entering daily practice. In this review, the main achievements obtained by gene expression profiling (with respect to both neoplastic cells and the microenvironment) and next-generation sequencing will be discussed and compared. Only the amalgamation of molecular attributes will lead to the achievement of the long-term goal of using tailored therapies and possibly chemotherapy-free protocols capable of curing most (if not all) patients with minimal or no toxic effects

Antibacterial activity of some Lamiaceae species against Staphylococcus aureus in yoghurt-based drink (Doogh)

Doogh is a dairy drinkable fermented product, whose shelf-life and quality is mostly affected by bacteria such as Staphylococcus spp. This study investigated the antibacterial activity of essential oils (EOs) from Thymus vulgaris L., Mentha piperita L. and Ziziphora tenuior L., alone or in combination, against Staphylococcus aureus in industrial doogh. A three-level and three-variable face centered central composite design experiment was used. Results showed that EOs significantly inhibited S. aureus growth after 1 and 7 days of storage. According to the model, the maximum inhibition was obtained in the presence of 0.2% of EO, independently of the type, and no synergistic or additive effects were observed. Slightly lower S. aureus survivals were observed at the maximum concentration of Z. tenuior EO. In spite of the antimicrobial activity of these EOs, further research is needed to assess their performance in food matrix and, in particular, in dairy product

PO-272 Leukemia-associated NPM mutations promote quiescence of hematopoietic stem cells and prevent their functional exhaustion upon oncogene-induced hyper-proliferation

Introduction Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) is a heterogeneous and multi-step disease. The serial acquisition of mutations and the environmental pressure allow one or more clones to expand and contribute to the disease. In particular, 6% of AMLs are characterised by an initial mutation in the DNMT3a gene, followed by mutations in NPM (NPMc) and FLT3 loci (FLT3-ITD). We previously shown that NPMc can drive AML development in mouse model and highly cooperates with FLT3-ITD. Moreover, it has been reported that normal Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) of elderly people may bear some somatic early AML mutations and this correlate with an increased risk of hematologic diseases suggesting that mutations can shape pre-leukemic HSCs to be more prone to the acquisition of further mutations giving rise to Leukaemia Initiating Cells (LIC). While the ability of FLT3-ITD to drive HSC compartment exhaustion has been already shown, the impact of NPMc on HSCs remains unclear. Material and methods Taking advantage of the extended pre-leukemic phase of our inducible NPMc mouse model, we elucidate the role of NPMc in HSCs by functional and transcriptional analysis. Moreover, to investigate the basis of NPMc and FLT3-ITD cooperation we generate mice carrying both the conditional NPMc transgene and the FLT3-ITD constitutive mutation and, before AML onset, we analyse double mutant HSCs behaviour. Results and discussions We have found that NPMc expression lead to the expansion of the HSC compartment through the enforcement of a stem-cell transcriptional program that increases self-renewal by promoting quiescence. We then investigated how the NPMc dependent quiescence program is linked to its oncogenic function. The expression of NPMc +in the FLT3-ITD background prevents the HSCs exhaustion imposed by FLT3-ITD and restores their repopulating capacity. Accordingly, gene expression analysis revealed a strong dominance of NPMc +with the restoration of the same transcriptional program observed in the NPMc HSCs. These data strongly suggest that NPMc imposes a HSC-specific program that, in combination with the oncogenic signal provided by FLT3-ITD, allows the selection of the LIC and the occurrence of AML. Conclusion In conclusion, enforcement of quiescence might be a critical function for the maintenance of the transformed clone during both the pre-leukemic and the leukemic phase. As consequence, interfering with quiescence key determinants may eradicate the reservoir of quiescent cells responsible for disease recurrence