Effects of Milling and UV Pretreatment on the Pyrolytic Behavior and Thermal Stability of Softwood and Hardwood

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Preoperative very short-term, high-dose erythropoietin administration diminishes blood transfusion rate in off-pump coronary artery bypass: A randomized blind controlled study

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Prevalence of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes contamination in foods of animal origin in Italy.

The present survey collected and analyzed the results of routine testing for Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes on foods of animal origin submitted for official controls in Italy during 2001 to 2002. Salmonella was detected in 2.2% of 71,643 food samples examined, and the isolation rates ranged from 9.9% for raw poultry meat to less than 0.1% for dairy products. Isolation rates were also high in raw pork (4.9%) and processed meats (5.3%), which often involved pork. Low rates were observed in seafood (0.5%) and in ready-to-eat foods, such as grocery products (0.7%) and ice creams (0.1%). Serotyping showed that approximately 50% of the isolates belonged to the serotypes most commonly isolated from humans in Italy, thus confirming that most cases of human salmonellosis have a foodborne origin. Levels of L. monocytogenes were higher than what is accepted by the current regulation in 2.4% of 42,300 food samples. The positivity rates ranged from 10.3% in raw pork to none in eggs and egg products. Contamination rates were higher in other meat products (between 2 and 5%) and fish (6.5%) than in cheeses (1.1%) and other dairy products (0.6%). Routine control activities on the microbial contamination of foods can generate data with statistical and epidemiological value. Such data can be used as a basis for estimating the exposure of consumers to foodborne pathogens, following the trends of contamination over time, and evaluating the effects of control measures on the contamination of food

Clinical features of infectious uveitis in children referred to a hospital-based eye clinic in Italy

Abstract: Background and Objectives: To investigate the etiology, clinical features, ocular complications, and visual outcomes in children with infectious uveitis referred to a tertiary uveitis hospital-based service. Materials and Methods: Children with infectious uveitis were included in a retrospective cohort study. The data set was obtained after reviewing the medical records of pediatric patients with uveitis of different causes referred to our center during the period from 2009 to 2019. Clinical evaluations were performed at the time of diagnosis and the end of follow-up. Results: Uveitis of infectious origin was present in 57 (72 eyes) of 314 (18.1%) patients examined. The median age at presentation was 10.9 years (6.1–15.8), 52.6% of patients were female, and 47.4% were male. The main cause of infectious uveitis was viral (56.1% of cases), followed by Toxoplasma gondii infection (24.5%). The anatomical location of uveitis was posterior in 40.3%, anterior in 36.8%, panuveitis in 15.7%, and intermediate in 7% of cases. Ocular involvement was unilateral in 42 children (73.7%) and bilateral in 15 (26.3%) cases. The main causes of reduced visual acuity were cataract and maculopathy in 57.1% and 28.5% of cases, respectively. During the follow-up period, 75% of patients showed significant improvements in visual acuity. Conclusions: Specialist management in a tertiary referral eye care center facilitates early diagnosis and effective treatment of this serious cause of morbidity and vision loss in children

Acute restraint stress impairs histamine type 2 receptor ability to increase the excitability of medium spiny neurons in the nucleus accumbens

Histamine, a monoamine implicated in stress-related arousal states, is synthesized in neurons exclusively located in the hypothalamic tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN) from where they diffusely innervate striatal and mesolimbic networks including the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a vital node in the limbic loop. Since histamine-containing TMN neuron output increases during stress, we hypothesized that exposure of mice to acute restrain stress (ARS) recruits endogenous histamine type 2 receptor (H2R) signaling in the NAc, whose activation increases medium spiny neurons (MSNs) intrinsic excitability via downregulation of A-type K+ currents. We employed an ARS paradigm in which mice were restrained for 120 min, followed by a 20-min recovery period, after which brain slices were prepared for ex vivo electrophysiology. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, we found that pharmacological activation of H2R failed to affect MSN excitability and A-type K+ currents in mice that underwent ARS. Interestingly, in mice treated with H2R-antagonist prior to ARS paradigm, H2R activation increased evoked firing and decreased A-type K+ currents similarly to what observed in control mice. Furthermore, H2R-antagonist treatment ameliorated anxiety-like behavior in ARS mice. Together, our findings indicate that ARS paradigm recruits endogenous H2R signaling in MSNs and suggest the involvement of H2R signaling in stress-related motivational states

Structuring alginate beads with different biopolymers for the development of functional ingredients loaded with olive leaves phenolic extract

Olive leaves are a main source of polyphenols, compounds exhibiting very interesting functional and healthy properties. Nevertheless, the bitter taste of phenolics, together with their physico-chemical instability, are still limiting their use as free compounds into food products. Microencapsulation could represent a promising technique to increase polyphenols stability and bioavailability, as well as to mask unpleasant flavours. In this work microspheres loaded with olive leaves phenolic extracts were produced through emulsification-internal gelation by using alginate alone (Alg) (reference) or mixed with pectin (Alg-Pec), whey proteins (Alg-WPI) or sodium caseinate (Alg-Cas). Encapsulation efficiency was evaluated along with particle size and microstructure, swelling, release kinetics, antioxidant capacity and molecular interaction by using FT-IR spectroscopy. Enriched particles with a mean diameter in the 45–70 μm range were produced. In respect to the Alg beads, whose encapsulation efficiency was 21%, the use of structurant polymers significantly increased the encapsulation efficiency which ranged from 52% up to 78% for the Alg-Pec systems. Significant changes in the FT-IR spectra due to the presence of the extract in Alg-Pec, Alg-WPI and Alg-Cas microparticles were observed, suggesting that molecular interactions were formed between the extract and the encapsulating matrix via hydrogen bonding. Higher swelling and release rates were found for all the tested systems at pH 6.0 compared to pH 4.5; at pH 4.5 Alg-Pec immediately released most of the trapped phenolics, contrarily to Alg-WPI which showed lower and delayed release. Release data were modelled with the Peppas-Sahlin equation which evidenced a main contribution of diffusional processes in the release mechanism

Long-term follow-up of Bentall procedure using the Perimount bioprosthesis and the Valsalva graft

Bentall procedure is the gold standard for aortic root pathologies when valve repair is not feasible. The development of durable bioprosthetic valves and improved vascular conduits allowed the implementation of bioprosthetic composite grafts; hereby, we performed a retrospective analysis of long-term follow-up of Bentall procedure using the Valsalva graft and the Perimount Magna Ease prosthesis