Plasma Technology in Food Industry: mini-review

Plasma treatment is an interesting technology with many potential applications in industry. At present, more and more often we encounter papers that deal with utilization of plasma technology in food industry. This mini-review provides an overview of the latest developments in this area. At the beginning the principles of plasma interaction with solid surfaces are shortly discussed. The next chapters are focused on sterilization of food from bacteria and fungi. The infl uence of plasma treatment on the food quality and nutritional parameters is discussed in last section

The effect of treatment of barley grain and malt with low-temperature plasma discharge on the malt gushing potential

In 2015, the effect of treatment of spring barley grain and malt produced from it with low-temperature plasma discharge on the malt gushing potential was studied. Malting barley and malt produced from it were plasma-treated. In the malt samples, the gushing potential was determined. Simultaneously, selected quality parameters were assessed in the malt samples (Kolbach index, diastatic power, β-glucan content in wort, final attenuation, extract of malt in dry matter, relative extract at 45 °C, and friability). Gushing declined in the plasma-treated samples of malting barley or malt. The malt quality parameters remained unchanged

Technology of Microclimate Regulation in Organic and Energy-Sustainable Livestock Production

The control of climatic conditions where cattle are kept is one of the challenges in the livestock sector regarding the digital automation of the process. (1) Background: The main purpose of this study is to define the optimal foundations for automatic climatic systems in organic and energy-sustainable livestock production. In particular, the following components are suggested: (a) the determination of current deviations and interdependency between factors; (b) an algorithm for defining the possible sources of regulation; (c) the ranking approach of the optimal sequence of possible sources; and (d) ensuring transparency and coordination of the model with organic and energy certificates. (2) Methods: This investigation accumulates information on the characteristics of the main microclimatic parameters and simulates their possible combinations in a livestock building in Poland within 24 h of a spring day. A few indices are considered that signal the impact on the thermal comfort of cattle based on the example of recommended measures for the Angus steer genotype. (3) Results: The proposed transparent algorithm is designed for selecting and ranking potential sources of microclimate control according to three criteria. (4) Conclusions: This paper potentially contributes to determining the most optimal digital algorithm for managing microclimate conditions to ensure acceptable comfort for animals, meeting the requirements of organic certification with minimum costs of production, and switching to sustainable types of energy with consideration of technologies’ efficiency. The algorithm is scalable and adjustable to the individual conditions of any livestock premise with a digitally controlled environment

Central Pathology Review in SENTIX, a Prospective Observational International Study on Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Patients with Early-Stage Cervical Cancer (ENGOT-CX2)

The quality of pathological assessment is crucial for the safety of patients with cervical cancer if pelvic lymph node dissection is to be replaced by sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy. Central pathology review of SLN pathological ultrastaging was conducted in the prospective SENTIX/European Network of Gynaecological Oncological Trial (ENGOT)-CX2 study. All specimens from at least two patients per site were submitted for the central review. For cases with major or critical deviations, the sites were requested to submit all samples from all additional patients for second-round assessment. From the group of 300 patients, samples from 83 cases from 37 sites were reviewed in the first round. Minor, major, critical, and no deviations were identified in 28%, 19%, 14%, and 39% of cases, respectively. Samples from 26 patients were submitted for the second-round review, with only two major deviations found. In conclusion, a high rate of major or critical deviations was identified in the first round of the central pathology review (28% of samples). This reflects a substantial heterogeneity in current practice, despite trial protocol requirements. The importance of the central review conducted prospectively at the early phase of the trial is demonstrated by a substantial improvement of SLN ultrastaging quality in the second-round review

Sentinel lymph node mapping and intraoperative assessment in a prospective, international, multicentre, observational trial of patients with cervical cancer: The SENTIX trial

Background: SENTIX (ENGOT-CX2/CEEGOG-CX1) is an international, multi centre, prospective observational trial evaluating sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy without pelvic lymph node dissection in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. We report the final preplanned analysis of the secondary end-points: SLN mapping and outcomes of intraoperative SLN pathology. Methods: Forty-seven sites (18 countries) with experience of SLN biopsy participated in SENTIX. We preregistered patients with stage IA1/lymphovascular space invasion-positive to IB2 (4 cm or smaller or 2 cm or smaller for fertility-sparing treatment) cervical cancer without suspicious lymph nodes on imaging before surgery. SLN frozen section assessment and pathological ultrastaging were mandatory. Patients were registered postoperatively if SLN were bilaterally detected in the pelvis, and frozen sections were negative. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02494063). Results: We analysed data for 395 preregistered patients. Bilateral detection was achieved in 91% (355/395), and it was unaffected by tumour size, tumour stage or body mass index, but it was lower in older patients, in patients who underwent open surgery, and in sites with fewer cases. No SLN were found outside the seven anatomical pelvic regions. Most SLN and positive SLN were localised below the common iliac artery bifurcation. Single positive SLN above the iliac bifurcation were found in 2% of cases. Frozen sections failed to detect 54% of positive lymph nodes (pN1), including 28% of cases with macrometastases and 90% with micrometastases. Interpretation: SLN biopsy can achieve high bilateral SLN detection in patients with tumours of 4 cm or smaller. At experienced centres, all SLN were found in the pelvis, and most were located below the iliac vessel bifurcation. SLN frozen section assessment is an unreliable tool for intraoperative triage because it only detects about half of N1 cases. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd

The measurement and the evaluation of horizontal movements of blocks of the dam of reservoir kružberk

Import 28/02/2008Prezenční544 - Institut geodézie a důlního měřictvíNeuveden

Mezifazovy prenos hmoty v ejektorove bublane kolone

Hydrodynamics and interfacial mass transfer in the bubble column (0,3 m in diameter; 1.46 m height) equipped with various type of ejector gas distributors were studied. Configurations of the ejectors differed in a type of the nozzle (single-orifice with or without the swirl body, multiorifice and annular) and in the length of the mixing tube. Distilled water as the coalescent and 0.3 kmol m-3 solution of Na_2SO_4 as the noncoalescent bathces were used. Experimental results proved, that a properly designed ejector can be employed as an efficient gas distributors in bubble columns. A swirl body in the single-orifice ejector nozzle significantly increases suction rate and compression efficiency of the ejector in broad range of experimental conditions and it improves its operating flexibility. Suction ability of an ejector without the swirl body increases with length of the mixing tube. On the other hand in the presence of the swirl body in the nozzle lenth pf the mixing tube exhibits negative effect on ejector performance and the highest gas suction rate and dispersion efficiency were observed for the configuration without the mixing tube. It was showen, that the suction ability of an ejector can be characterized by modified swirl number related to the swirl body geometry, Swb. From the experimental results follows the optimum value of the swirl number lies in the interval 0.12-0.15. The new chemical dynamic method for the determination of volumetric liquid side mass transfer coefficient in gas-liquid dispersions is proposed and tested in the appendixAvailable from STL Prague, CZ / NTK - National Technical LibrarySIGLECZCzech Republi