Ohmic heating - a novel approach for gluten-free bread baking

Gluten-free (GF) batters usually present several technological challenges that limit the performance during conventional baking and the resulting product quality. Due to the volumetric heating principle and faster heating rates, ohmic heating (OH) may be advantageous compared with conventional baking. Therefore, the potential of using ohmic heating as a novel approach for gluten-free bread baking was explored. In detail, the effect of different OH process parameters (power input, holding time) on the chemical and functional properties (specific volume, crumb firmness and relative elasticity, pore properties, color, starch gelatinization) and digestibility of breads was investigated. Results showed that GF breads could benefit from the uniform rapid heating during processing, as these breads showed superior functional properties (specific volume, 2.86-3.44 cm3/g; relative elasticity, 45.05-56.83%; porosity, 35.17-40.92%) compared with conventional oven-baked GF bread (specific volume, 2.60 cm3/g; relative elasticity, 44.23%; porosity, 37.63%). In order to maximize bread expansion and the OH performance, it was found that the OH process could be improved by applying the electrical energy in three descending power steps: first step with high power input (in this study, 2–6 kW for 15 s), followed by 1 kW for 10 s, and 0.3 kW for 1–30 min. In total, ohmic baking only needed a few minutes to obtain a fully expanded GF bread. The determination of pasting properties and starch digestibility demonstrated that these breads were comparable or even superior to GF breads baked in a conventional baking oven

Regioselective functionalization of tetrabromophenanthroline-ruthenium complexes

Structural, photophysical and -chemical characterisation and reactivity of a novel polypyridyl ruthenium complex based on 3,5,6,8-tetra-bromophenanthroline are discussed. Signal storage at a molecular level is great challenge for chemistry.1 The possibility of connecting different functionalities selectively to one ligand of a metal complex may open the route towards higher integrated molecular units capable of processing various external stimuli in a predesignated order. The implementation of this concept demands ligands with a multitude of potential connecting groups which can selectively be transformed.2 3-bromo- and 3,8-dibromophenanthrolines have proved useful for the preparation of mononuclear3 and multiheteronuclear complexes.4 These systems have found applications ranging from DNA photoprobes5 to metalloligands in catalysis.6 A very useful feature of this bromophenanthroline ruthenium complexes is their susceptibility towards nucleophilic aromatic substitution which is very well established

Sublethal Injury and Viable but Non-culturable (VBNC) State in Microorganisms During Preservation of Food and Biological Materials by Non-thermal Processes

The viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state, as well as sublethal injury of microorganisms pose a distinct threat to food safety, as the use of traditional, culture-based microbiological analyses might lead to an underestimation or a misinterpretation of the product’s microbial status and recovery phenomena of microorganisms may occur. For thermal treatments, a large amount of data and experience is available and processes are designed accordingly. In case of innovative inactivation treatments, however, there are still several open points with relevance for the investigation of inactivation mechanisms as well as for the application and validation of the preservation processes. Thus, this paper presents a comprehensive compilation of non-thermal preservation technologies, i.e., high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), pulsed electric fields (PEFs), pulsed light (PL), and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, as well as cold plasma (CP) treatments. The basic technological principles and the cellular and molecular mechanisms of action are described. Based on this, appropriate analytical methods are outlined, i.e., direct viable count, staining, and molecular biological methods, in order to enable the differentiation between viable and dead cells, as well as the possible occurrence of an intermediate state. Finally, further research needs are outlined

Unnatural imidazopyridopyrimidine:naphthyridine base pairs: selective incorporation and extension reaction by Deep Vent (exo− ) DNA polymerase

In our previous communication we reported the enzymatic recognition of unnatural imidazopyridopyrimidine:naphthyridine (Im:Na) base pairs, i.e. ImON:NaNO and ImNO:NaON, using the Klenow fragment exo− [KF (exo−)]. We describe herein the successful results of (i) improved enzymatic recognition for ImNO:NaON base pairs and (ii) further primer extension reactions after the Im:Na base pairs by Deep Vent DNA polymerase exo− [Deep Vent (exo−)]. Since KF (exo−) did not catalyze primer extension reactions after the Im:Na base pair, we carried out a screening of DNA polymerases to promote the primer extension reaction as well as to improve the selectivity of base pair recognition. As a result, a family B DNA polymerase, especially Deep Vent (exo−), seemed most promising for this purpose. In the ImON:NaNO base pair, incorporation of NaNOTP against ImON in the template was preferable to that of the natural dNTPs, while incorporation of dATP as well as dGTP competed with that of ImONTP when NaNO was placed in the template. Thus, the selectivity of base pair recognition by Deep Vent (exo−) was less than that by KF (exo−) in the case of the ImON:NaNO base pair. On the other hand, incorporation of NaONTP against ImNO in the template and that of ImNOTP against NaON were both quite selective. Thus, the selectivity of base pair recognition was improved by Deep Vent (exo−) in the ImNO:NaON base pair. Moreover, this enzyme catalyzed further primer extension reactions after the ImNO:NaON base pair to afford a faithful replicate, which was confirmed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry as well as the kinetics data for extension fidelity next to the ImNO:NaON base pair. The results presented in this paper revealed that the ImNO:NaON base pair might be a third base pair beyond the Watson–Crick base pairs

Aspects of high hydrostatic pressure food processing: Perspectives on technology and food safety

The last two decades saw a steady increase of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) used for treatment of foods. Although the science of biomaterials exposed to high pressure started more than a century ago, there still seem to be a number of unanswered questions regarding safety of foods processed using HHP. This review gives an overview on historical development and fundamental aspects of HHP, as well as on potential risks associated with HHP food applications based on available literature. Beside the combination of pressure and temperature, as major factors impacting inactivation of vegetative bacterial cells, bacterial endospores, viruses, and parasites, factors, such as food matrix, water content, presence of dissolved substances, and pH value, also have significant influence on their inactivation by pressure. As a result, pressure treatment of foods should be considered for specific food groups and in accordance with their specific chemical and physical properties. The pressure necessary for inactivation of viruses is in many instances slightly lower than that for vegetative bacterial cells; however, data for food relevant human virus types are missing due to the lack of methods for determining their infectivity. Parasites can be inactivated by comparatively lower pressure than vegetative bacterial cells. The degrees to which chemical reactions progress under pressure treatments are different to those of conventional thermal processes, for example, HHP leads to lower amounts of acrylamide and furan. Additionally, the formation of new unknown or unexpected substances has not yet been observed. To date, no safety-relevant chemical changes have been described for foods treated by HHP. Based on existing sensitization to non-HHP-treated food, the allergenic potential of HHP-treated food is more likely to be equivalent to untreated food. Initial findings on changes in packaging materials under HHP have not yet been adequately supported by scientific data

Small vessel disease burden and intracerebral haemorrhage in patients taking oral anticoagulants

OBJECTIVE We investigated the contribution of small vessel disease (SVD) to anticoagulant-associated intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH). METHODS Clinical Relevance of Microbleeds in Stroke-2 comprised two independent multicentre observation studies: first, a cross-sectional study of patients with ICH; and second, a prospective study of patients taking anticoagulants for atrial fibrillation (AF) after cerebral ischaemia. In patients with ICH, we compared SVD markers on CT and MRI according to prior anticoagulant therapy. In patients with AF and cerebral ischaemia treated with anticoagulants, we compared the rates of ICH and ischaemic stroke according to SVD burden score during 2 years follow-up. RESULTS We included 1030 patients with ICH (421 on anticoagulants), and 1447 patients with AF and cerebral ischaemia. Medium-to-high severity SVD was more prevalent in patients with anticoagulant-associated ICH (CT 56.1%, MRI 78.7%) than in those without prior anticoagulant therapy (CT 43.5%, p<0.001; MRI 64.5%, p=0.072). Leukoaraiosis and atrophy were more frequent and severe in ICH associated with prior anticoagulation. In the cerebral ischaemia cohort (779 with SVD), during 3366 patient-years of follow-up the rate of ICH was 0.56%/year (IQR 0.27-1.03) in patients with SVD, and 0.06%/year (IQR 0.00-0.35) in those without (p=0.001); ICH was independently associated with severity of SVD (HR 5.0, 95% CI 1.9 to 12.2,p=0.001), and was predicted by models including SVD (c-index 0.75, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.85). CONCLUSIONS Medium-to-high severity SVD is associated with ICH occurring on anticoagulants, and independently predicts ICH in patients with AF taking anticoagulants; its absence identifies patients at low risk of ICH. Findings from these two complementary studies suggest that SVD is a contributory factor in ICH in patients taking anticoagulants and suggest that anticoagulation alone should no longer be regarded as a sufficient 'cause' of ICH. TRIAL REGISTRATION NCT02513316

Magnetic resonance imaging-based scores of small vessel diseases: Associations with intracerebral haemorrhage location

Introduction: Total small vessel disease (SVD) score and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) score are magnetic resonance imaging-based composite scores built to preferentially capture deep perforator arteriopathy-related and CAA-related SVD burden, respectively. Non-lobar intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is related to deep perforator arteriopathy, while lobar ICH can be associated with deep perforator arteriopathy or CAA; however, the associations between ICH location and these scores are not established. Methods: In this post-hoc analysis from a prospective cohort study, we included 153 spontaneous non-cerebellar ICH patients. Wald test, univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed to investigate the association between each score (and individual score components) and ICH location. Results: Total SVD score was associated with non-lobar ICH location (Wald test: unadjusted, p = 0.017; adjusted, p = 0.003); however, no individual component of total SVD score was significantly associated with non-lobar ICH. CAA score was not significantly associated with lobar location (Wald test: unadjusted, p = 0.056; adjusted, p = 0.126); cortical superficial siderosis (OR 8.85 [95%CI 1.23–63.65], p = 0.030) and ≥ 2 strictly lobar microbleeds (OR 1.63 [95%CI 1.04–2.55], p = 0.035) were related with lobar ICH location, while white matter hyperintensities showed an inverse relation (OR 0.53 [95%CI 0.26–1.08; p = 0.081]). Conclusions: Total SVD score was associated with non-lobar ICH location. The lack of significant association between CAA score and lobar ICH may in part be due to the mixed aetiology of lobar ICH, and to the inclusion of white matter hyperintensities, a non-specific marker of SVD type, in the CAA score

Can Urban Air Mobility become reality? Opportunities, challenges and selected research results

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is a new air transportation system for passengers and cargo in urban environments, enabled by new technologies and integrated into multimodal transportation systems. The vision of UAM comprises the mass use in urban and suburban environments, complementing existing transportation systems and contributing to the decarbonization of the transport sector. Initial attempts to create a market for urban air transportation in the last century failed due to lack of profitability and community acceptance. Technological advances in numerous fields over the past few decades have led to a renewed interest in urban air transportation. UAM is expected to benefit users and to also have a positive impact on the economy by creating new markets and employment opportunities for manufacturing and operation of UAM vehicles and the construction of related ground infrastructure. However, there are also concerns about noise, safety and security, privacy and environmental impacts. Therefore, the UAM system needs to be designed carefully to become safe, affordable, accessible, environmentally friendly, economically viable and thus sustainable. This paper provides an overview of selected key research topics related to UAM and how the German Aerospace Center (DLR) contributed to this research in the project "HorizonUAM - Urban Air Mobility Research at the German Aerospace Center (DLR)". Selected research results that support the realization of the UAM vision are briefly presented.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, project HorizonUA

Magnetic resonance imaging-based scores of small vessel diseases: Associations with intracerebral haemorrhage location

Introduction: Total small vessel disease (SVD) score and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) score are magnetic resonance imaging-based composite scores built to preferentially capture deep perforator arteriopathy-related and CAA-related SVD burden, respectively. Non-lobar intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is related to deep perforator arteriopathy, while lobar ICH can be associated with deep perforator arteriopathy or CAA; however, the associations between ICH location and these scores are not established. Methods: In this post-hoc analysis from a prospective cohort study, we included 153 spontaneous non-cerebellar ICH patients. Wald test, univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed to investigate the association between each score (and individual score components) and ICH location. Results: Total SVD score was associated with non-lobar ICH location (Wald test: unadjusted, p = 0.017; adjusted, p = 0.003); however, no individual component of total SVD score was significantly associated with non-lobar ICH. CAA score was not significantly associated with lobar location (Wald test: unadjusted, p = 0.056; adjusted, p = 0.126); cortical superficial siderosis (OR 8.85 [95%CI 1.23–63.65], p = 0.030) and ≥ 2 strictly lobar microbleeds (OR 1.63 [95%CI 1.04–2.55], p = 0.035) were related with lobar ICH location, while white matter hyperintensities showed an inverse relation (OR 0.53 [95%CI 0.26–1.08; p = 0.081]). Conclusions: Total SVD score was associated with non-lobar ICH location. The lack of significant association between CAA score and lobar ICH may in part be due to the mixed aetiology of lobar ICH, and to the inclusion of white matter hyperintensities, a non-specific marker of SVD type, in the CAA score