Study of the drying kinetics for apples in a convective drier

In the present work a convective drier was used to dehydrate apple slices up to a moisture content of less than 2 % (wet basis), so as to obtain a crunchy apple snack. Two commercial varieties were tested, namely Golden and Smith. The drier was operated at different temperatures, 30, 40 50 and 60 ºC, and the moisture content of the product was calculated based on the mass, which was registered by means of a data logger, throughout the whole trial. The kinetic data was then treated and fitted to different thin layer models frequently cited in literature, which were: Page, Henderson and Pabis, Logarithmic and Vega-Lemus. Others were also tested, but convergence was not achieved. For the fitting software SigmaPlot V8.0 (SPSS, Inc.) was used, and to evaluate the quality of the estimations the correlation coefficient (R) and the standard error of the estimate (SEE) were determined From the models tested it was possible to see that the Vega-Lemus was the worst to describe the drying kinetic in the present case, on the other hand, the best model was the Page. Also the Fick’s equation for diffusion was used to estimate the diffusivities at different temperatures, and from those to estimate the activation energy for moisture diffusion, which was found to be 35 kJ/mol for the drying of apples from Golden variety and 33 kJ/mol for the Smith variety

Study of chemical and physical properties of apples dried in a convective drier.

The present study evaluates the effects of drying on apple slices from two varieties, Golden Delicious and Granny Smith, which were analyzed in terms of physical and chemical properties. The tests involved the determination of moisture, acidity, soluble solids, colour and texture. Trials were performed in a convective hot air dryer for different temperatures of 30, 40, 50 and 60 ° C. The results showed that the final moisture of the two varieties of apples was around 3 % (wet basis). With regards to acidity, the variety Granny Smith was found to be more acid than the Golden Delicious. The soluble solids are present, in general, in greater amounts in the variety Granny Smith. As to the colour, this varied very considerably from the fresh apples to the dried ones. Apples of the variety Golden Delicious presented a higher intensity of yellow (b* > 0) and red (a* > 0). However, in comparison to the variety Granny Smith the Golden Delicious presents, in general, smaller total colour differences. The textural attributes evaluated were hardness, adhesiveness, elasticity, cohesiveness and chewiness. However, the results for adhesiveness were very close to zero showing that these products do not have adhesiveness, as it happens with other fruits. It was also found that the fresh apples have a much higher hardness, when compared to the dried samples. Elasticity, on the other hand, was kept approximately constant regardless of the variety or state. Cohesiveness was higher in the fresh apples, and for the dried ones was higher for variety Golden. Finally, chewiness was higher for the fresh apples in comparison to the dried ones, and was higher for Golden Delicious when compared with Granny Smith

O balão intragástrico nas formas graves de obesidade

Introduction: In patients with morbid obesity the intragastric balloon (IGB) can be a “bridge” to surgery or a temporary treatment in patients who are not candidates for surgery. Objective: Evaluate IGB efficacy in morbidly obese patients. Patients and Methods: In 2003/2004 seventeen IGB Bioenterics ® filled with normal saline and methylene blue were placed in 17 patients [11 women, median age was 49.2 (27-69 years); median body mass index was 55.6 (40.2-74.2 Kg/m2)], followed by nutritionists and/or endocrinologists. They had previously tried dietetic and/or pharmacological measures with limited results. Co-morbidities were present in 13 (76.5%). Results: Eight (47%) patients presented nausea/vomiting in the first 24-72h that persisted in 4 (23.5%) leading to dehydration and pre-renal insufficiency and forcing premature removal of the balloon (0.5 to 4 months). In the other patients, the device was removed at 6 months treatment (in 1 patient at 10 months). All patients suffered weight loss (5-70 Kg); median loss-19.6 Kg (p<0.001). No cases of spontaneous deflation/displacement occurred. Six (35.3%) underwent bariatric surgery. Conclusions: The IGB is a useful method for weight loss in morbidly obese patients. Nausea and vomiting are the most common complications. Although desirable, subsequent surgery is not always performed

Comparing the cost-effectiveness of two screening strategies for latent tuberculosis infection in Portugal

Introduction and objectives: Screening for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in close contacts of infectious TB cases might include Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) and Interferon-Gamma Release Assays (IGRA), in combination or as single-tests. In Portugal, the screening strategy changed from TST followed by IGRA to IGRA-only testing in 2016. Our objective was to compare the cost-effectiveness of two-step TST/IGRA with the current IGRA-only screening strategy in immunocompetent individuals exposed to individuals with respiratory TB. Materials and methods: We reviewed clinical records of individuals exposed to infectious TB cases diagnosed in 2015 and 2016, in two TB outpatient centers in the district of Porto. We estimated medical, non-medical and indirect costs for each screening strategy, taking into account costs of tests and health care personnel, travel distance from place of residence to screening site and employment status. We calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) as the cost difference between the two screening strategies with the difference number of LTBI diagnosis as a measure of cost-effectiveness, assuming that treating LTBI is a cost-effective intervention. We also calculated adjusted odds-ratios to test the association between diagnosis of LTBI and screening strategy and estimated the total cost for averting a potential TB case. Results: We compared 499 contacts TST/IGRA screened with 547 IGRA-only. IGRA-only strategy yielded a higher screening effectiveness for diagnosing latent tuberculosis infection (aOR 2.12, 95%CI: 1.53 - 2.94). ICER was €106 per LTBI diagnosis, representing increased effectiveness with a slightly increased cost of IGRA-only screening strategy. Conclusions: Our data suggests that in Portugal LTBI screening with IGRA-only is more cost-effective than the two-step TST/IGRA testing strategy, preventing a higher number of cases of TB cases

A revision of the status of Lepadogaster lepadogaster (Teleostei : Gobiesocidae): sympatric subspecies or a long misunderstood blend of species?

Molecular (partial mitochondrial 12S ribosomal DNA sequences), morphological and meristic analysis of Lepadogaster lepadogaster lepadogaster, L. l. purpurea and L. zebrina were performed to investigate the relationships between these taxa. On the western shore of mainland Portugal, where the two subspecies of L. lepadogaster occur sympatrically, they differ in microhabitat preferences and their breeding seasons are largely out of phase. This information, combined with data on distribution patterns, led to the following conclusions: Lepadogaster l. purpurea is considered to be a valid species, L. purpurea (Bonnaterre, 1788), different from L. l. lepadogaster, now designated L. lepadogaster (Bonnaterre, 1788). L. zebrina was found to be a synonym of L. lepadogaster. The two newly defined species were found to be in sympatry at Madeira and the Canary islands, the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, and the Mediterranean at least as far as Genoa (Italy). Diagnostic characters and a list of synonyms are provided. (C) 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2002, 76, 327-338

Valorization, comparison and characterization of coconuts waste and cactus in a biorefinery context using NaClO2-C2H4O2 and sequential NaClO2-C2H4O2/autohydrolysis pretreatment

The search for new sources of lignocellulosic raw materials for the generation of energy and new compounds encourages the search for locations not well known and with a high potential for biomass availability as is the case of the Northeast Region of Brazil. Thus, the cactus (CAC), green coconut shell (GCS), mature coconut fibre and mature coconut shell were pretreated by NaClO2C2H4O2 and sequential NaClO2C2H4O2/autohydrolysis aiming at the obtention of high added-value compounds in the liquid fraction and solid phase. The yield of the solid phase was between 61.42 and 90.97% and the reduction up to 91.63% of lignin in the materials pretreated by NaClO2C2H4O2. After NaClO2C2H4O2/autohydrolysis pretreatment the obtained solids yield was between 43.57 and 52.08%, with a solubilization of the hemicellulose content up to 81.42%. For both pretreatments the cellulosic content remained almost unchanged. The pretreated solids were characterized by SEM, X-ray and crystallinity indexes showing significant modifications when submitted to pretreatments. These results were further confirmed by the enzymatic conversion yields of 81.6890.03 and 86.9790.36% of the LCMs pretreated by NaClO2C2H4O2 and pretreated by NaClO2C2H4O2/autohydrolysis, respectively. The resulting liquors had a total phenolic compounds content between 0.20 and 3.05 g/L, lignin recovered up to 7.40 g/L (absence of sulphur) and xylooligosaccharides between 16.13 and 20.37 g/L. Thus, these pretreatments showed an efficient fractionation of LCMs, especially in the GCS, being an important requirement for the generation of products and byproducts in the context of the biorefinery.The authors gratefully acknowledge the Brazilian research funding agencies CNPq and CAPES for financial support. Financial support from the Energy Sustainability Fund 2014-05 (CONACYT-SENER), Mexican Centre for Innovation in Bioenergy (CemieBio), Cluster of Bioalcohols (Ref. 249564) is gratefully acknowledged. We also gratefully acknowledge support for this research by the Mexican Science and Technology Council (CONACYT, Mexico) for the infrastructure project - INFR201601 (Ref. 269461) and CB-2015-01 (Ref. 254808).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impaired perceptual learning in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome is mediated by parvalbumin neuron dysfunction and is reversible.

To uncover the circuit-level alterations that underlie atypical sensory processing associated with autism, we adopted a symptom-to-circuit approach in the Fmr1-knockout (Fmr1-/-) mouse model of Fragile X syndrome. Using a go/no-go task and in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, we find that impaired visual discrimination in Fmr1-/- mice correlates with marked deficits in orientation tuning of principal neurons and with a decrease in the activity of parvalbumin interneurons in primary visual cortex. Restoring visually evoked activity in parvalbumin cells in Fmr1-/- mice with a chemogenetic strategy using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs was sufficient to rescue their behavioral performance. Strikingly, human subjects with Fragile X syndrome exhibit impairments in visual discrimination similar to those in Fmr1-/- mice. These results suggest that manipulating inhibition may help sensory processing in Fragile X syndrome