Vitamin C and asthma in children: modification of the effect by age, exposure to dampness and the severity of asthma

Retraction: Clinical and Translational Allergy 2012, 2:6BACKGROUND: We previously found a significant benefit of vitamin C supplementation in asthmatic children. PURPOSE: To test whether the effect of vitamin C on asthma is heterogeneous over the participant population. METHODS: Egyptian asthmatic children between 7 and 10 years of age (n = 60) were included in the cross-over trial. They were administered 0.2 grams per day of vitamin C and placebo for separate 6-week periods. The variation in the vitamin C effect on two clinically relevant outcomes was analyzed: the childhood asthma control test (C-ACT), which measures the severity of asthma symptoms (the scale ranges from 0 to 27 points, < 20 points indicating unsatisfactory asthma control), and FEV1. We used linear modeling to examine the variation of the vitamin C effect in the subgroups. RESULTS: The effect of vitamin C on the C-ACT was significantly modified by age and baseline C-ACT levels. In the children aged 7.0-8.2 years with a baseline C-ACT of 18 to 19 points, vitamin C increased the C-ACT score by 4.2 points (95% CI: 3.3-5.3); whereas in the children aged 8.3-10 years who had a baseline C-ACT of 14 to 15 points, vitamin C increased the C-ACT score by only 1.3 points (95% CI: 0.1-2.5). The effect of vitamin C on the FEV1 levels was significantly modified by age and exposure to dampness. In the children aged 7.0-8.2 years with no exposure to dampness, vitamin C increased the FEV1 level by 37% (95% CI: 34-40%), whereas in the children aged 8.3-10 years with exposure to dampness or mold in their bedroom more than one year prior to the study, vitamin C increased the FEV1 level by only 21% (95% CI: 18-25%). CONCLUSIONS: We found strong evidence that the effect of vitamin C on asthmatic children is heterogeneous. Further research is needed to confirm our findings and identify the groups of children who would receive the greatest benefit from vitamin C supplementation.Peer reviewe

Mass Transfer and Volume Changes in French Fries During Air Frying

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11947-012-0904-8 (The graph located in the left upper corner of Fig. 2 is incorrect)The production of healthier fried foods requires the adaptation of industrial processes. In this context, air frying is an alternative to deep oil frying to obtain French fries with lower fat content. Kinetic analysis of compositional changes and main fluxes involved in air frying were carried out, and the results were compared to those obtained for deep oil frying. The influence of the type of sample (unpretreated, frozen, or blanched potatoes) was also analyzed. The results showed that oil uptake is much lower in air frying although a much longer processing time is required. Also, water loss and thus the loss of volume were much higher in air frying compared to the conventional process.The authors would like to thank the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (PAID-06-09-2876) for the financial support given to this investigation.Andrés Grau, AM.; Argüelles Foix, AL.; Castelló Gómez, ML.; Heredia Gutiérrez, AB. (2013). Mass Transfer and Volume Changes in French Fries During Air Frying. Food and Bioprocess Technology. 6(8):1917-1924. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-012-0861-2S1917192468Aguilar, C. N., Anzaldúa-Morales, R., Talamás, R., & Gastélum, G. (1997). Low-temperature blanch improves textural quality of French-fries. Journal of Food Science, 62, 568–571.AOAC. (1980). Official methods of analysis (12th ed.). Washington, D.C., USA: Association of Official Analytical Chemists.Califano, A. N., & Calvelo, A. (1987). Adjustment of surface concentration of reducing sugars before frying of potato strips. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, 12, 1–9.Clark, J. P. (2003). Happy birthday, potato chip! And other snack developments. Food Technology, 57(5), 89–92.Debnath, S., Bhat, K. K., & Rastogi, N. K. (2003). Effect of pre-drying on kinetics of moisture loss and oil uptake during deep fat frying of chickpea flour-based snack food. LWT—Food Science and Technology, 36, 91–98.Du Pont, M. S., Kirby, A. B., & Smith, A. C. (1992). Instrumental and sensory tests of cooked frozen French fries. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 27, 285–295.Dueik, V., Robert, P., & Bouchon, P. (2010). Vacuum frying reduces oil uptake and improves the quality parameters of carrot crisps. Food Chemistry, 119(3), 1143–1149.Hubbard, L. J., & Farkas, B. E. (2000). Influence of oil temperature on convective heat transfer during immersion frying. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation, 24(2), 143–162.Krokida, M. K., Oreopoulou, V., & Maroulis, Z. B. (2000). Water loss and oil uptake as a function of frying time. Journal of Food Engineering, 44, 39–46.Mestdagh, F., De Wilde, T., Fraselle, S., Govaert, Y., Ooghe, W., Degroodt, J. M., Verhé, R., Van Peteghem, C., & De Meulenaer, B. (2008). Optimization of the blanching process to reduce acrylamide in fried potatoes. LWT- Food Science and Technology, 41(9), 1648–1654.Mohsenin, N. M. (1986). Physical properties of plant and animal materials. Nueva York: Gordon and Breach.Moyano, P. C., & Pedreschi, F. (2006). Kinetics of oil uptake during frying of potato slices: effect of pre-treatments. LWT- Food Science and Technology, 39, 285–291.Ngadi, M. O., Wang, Y., Adedeji, A. A., & Raghavan, G. S. V. (2009). Effect of microwave pretreatment on mass transfer during deep-fat frying of chicken nugget. LWT- Food Science and Technology, 42(1), 438–440.Pedreschi, F., & Moyano, P. (2005). Oil uptake and texture development in fried potato slices. Journal of Food Engineering, 70(4), 557–563.Saguy, S., & Dana, D. (2003). Integrated approach to deep fat frying: engineering, nutrition, health and consumer aspects. Journal of Food Engineering, 56, 143–152.Troncoso, E., & Pedreschi, F. (2009). Modeling water loss and oil uptake during vacuum frying of pre-treated potato slices. LWT- Food Science and Technology, 42(6), 1164–1173