Influence of apple peel powder addition on the physico-chemical characteristics and nutritional quality of bread wheat cookies

Apple peel, a food industry by-product, is rich in fibre, polyphenols and minerals, and is a potentially attractive ingredient for bakery products. To evaluate the effect of wheat cookies enrichment with apple peel powder six types of cookies with increasing apple peel powder percentage (0%, 4%, 8%, 16%, 24% and 32%) were produced. The traits analysed were: pasting parameters; chemical properties (moisture, ash, lipid, protein, fibre and total polyphenols content); antioxidant capacity (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and ferric reducing antioxidant power methods); physical attributes (width, thickness, volume and CIE lab colour); and sensory characteristics (external appearance, internal structure, texture, odour, taste and aroma). Statistical analysis included analysis of variance followed by Fisher\u2019s least significant difference test (p<0.05). The apple peel powder-enriched cookies had significantly higher moisture, ash, lipid, fibre, total polyphenols and antioxidant capacity than the control bread wheat cookies. The addition of apple peel powder did not modify the physical characteristics and improved the sensorial quality of the products. The addition of 24% apple peel powder gave the cookies with the best overall quality

Effect of Enterococcus Faecalis Bacteria and Calcium Lactate on Concrete Properties and Self-Healing Capability

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of concrete properties and self-healing capability of bacteria and calcium lactate in concrete. The bacteria used in this study is locally isolated from fresh urine. The novelty of this study is the enrichment and method the bacteria and calcium lactate is added into concrete. Bacterium is isolated, enriched and identified using PCR and DNA sequencing. Mechanical properties tests such as compressive, flexural and tensile strength test were conducted. Self-healing capabilities of the concrete were tested using UPV and stereomicroscope. SEM and EDX was conducted to verify and confirm the bacteria precipitation of calcium carbonate. It was found that 2.18 g/L of calcium lactate with 3% Enterococcus faecalis increase the compressive strength from 36 MPa (Control) to 39.6 MPa. The flexural strength test achieved 6.72 MPa from 4.78 MPa. This increase in mechanical properties was possibly due to calcium carbonate formed due to the bacteria ability to precipitate calcium carbonate through urease enzyme. This was confirmed through SEM and EDX. This calcium carbonate formation is directly responsible for self-healing capabilities analyzed through UPV and stereomicroscope

Serological diagnostics in the detection of IgG autoantibodies against human collagen VII in epidermolysis bullosa acquisita: A multicentre analysis

Background: Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) is a rare, potentially devastating autoimmune disease of the skin. IgG autoantibodies directed against type VII collagen (Col7), the major component of anchoring fibrils, induce skin fragility leading to cutaneous and mucocutaneous blister formation, which is mostly of a scarring phenotype. Thus, powerful and reproducible diagnostic assays are critical to establish the diagnosis of EBA early to avoid irreversible sequelae. Objectives: The present international, retrospective multicentre study included a large cohort of patients with EBA and evaluated the diagnostic power of four different diagnostic assays for the detection of anti-Col7 IgG autoantibodies. Methods: Overall, 95 EBA sera and 200 control sera consisting of 100 bullous pemphigoid sera, 50 pemphigus vulgaris sera and 50 sera of healthy controls were tested for anti-Col7 IgG autoantibodies using indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), two commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) systems and Western blot (WB) analysis. EBA sera were taken from patients with positive direct immunofluorescence and IgG reactivity in at least one of the immunoserological assays (IIF, ELISA, WB). Results: A Col7-NC1/NC2 ELISA (MBL, Nagoya, Japan) showed the highest sensitivity (97\uc2\ub79%), followed by a Col7-NC1 ELISA (Euroimmun, L\uc3\ubcbeck, Germany) (89\uc2\ub75%), WB with Col7-NC1 (85\uc2\ub73%), and IIF on saline-split human skin (74\uc2\ub77%). The specificities of both ELISA systems were comparable (NC1 98\uc2\ub77%, NC1/NC2 99\uc2\ub73%). Furthermore, WB was more sensitive than IIF, which was more specific. Conclusions: The two commercially available ELISA systems allow for a highly sensitive and specific diagnosis of EBA. The sensitivity of the Col7-NC1/NC2 ELISA is significantly higher compared with the ELISA based on the Col7-NC1 domain only

Inventory management.

A critical aspect of blood transfusion is the timely provision of high quality blood products. This task remains a significant challenge for many blood services and blood systems reflecting the difficulty of balancing the recruitment of sufficient donors, the optimal utilization of the donor's gift, the increasing safety related restrictions on blood donation, a growing menu of specialized blood products and an ever-growing imperative to increase the efficiency of blood product provision from a cost perspective. As our industry now faces questions about our standard practices including whether or not the age of blood has a negative impact on recipients, it is timely to take a look at our collective inventory management practices. This International Forum represents an effort to get a snap shot of inventory management practices around the world, and to understand the range of different products provided for patients. In addition to sharing current inventory management practices, this Forum is intended to foster an exchange of ideas around where we see our field moving with respect to various issues including specialty products, new technologies, and reducing recipient risk from blood transfusion products