Monitoring Thermal and Non-Thermal Treatments during Processing of Muscle Foods : A Comprehensive Review of Recent Technological Advances

Muscle food products play a vital role in human nutrition due to their sensory quality and high nutritional value. One well-known challenge of such products is the high perishability and limited shelf life unless suitable preservation or processing techniques are applied. Thermal processing is one of the well-established treatments that has been most commonly used in order to prepare food and ensure its safety. However, the application of inappropriate or severe thermal treatments may lead to undesirable changes in the sensory and nutritional quality of heat-processed products, and especially so for foods that are sensitive to thermal treatments, such as fish and meat and their products. In recent years, novel thermal treatments (e.g., ohmic heating, microwave) and non-thermal processing (e.g., high pressure, cold plasma) have emerged and proved to cause less damage to the quality of treated products than do conventional techniques. Several traditional assessment approaches have been extensively applied in order to evaluate and monitor changes in quality resulting from the use of thermal and non-thermal processing methods. Recent advances, nonetheless, have shown tremendous potential of various emerging analytical methods. Among these, spectroscopic techniques have received considerable attention due to many favorable features compared to conventional analysis methods. This review paper will provide an updated overview of both processing (thermal and non-thermal) and analytical techniques (traditional methods and spectroscopic ones). The opportunities and limitations will be discussed and possible directions for future research studies and applications will be suggested

The Ghost of Sagittarius and Lumps in the Halo of the Milky Way

We identify new structures in the halo of the Milky Way Galaxy from positions, colors and magnitudes of five million stars detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Most of these stars are within 1.26 degrees of the celestial equator. We present color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) for stars in two previously discovered, tidally disrupted structures. The CMDs and turnoff colors are consistent with those of the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy, as had been predicted. In one direction, we are even able to detect a clump of red stars, similar to that of the Sagittarius dwarf, from stars spread across 110 square degrees of sky. Focusing on stars with the colors of F turnoff objects, we identify at least five additional overdensities of stars. Four of these may be pieces of the same halo structure, which would cover a region of the sky at least 40 degrees in diameter, at a distance of 11 kpc from the Sun (18 kpc from the center of the Galaxy). The turnoff is significantly bluer than that of thick disk stars, and closer to the Galactic plane than a power-law spheroid. We suggest two models to explain this new structure. One possibility is that this new structure could be a new dwarf satellite of the Milky Way, hidden in the Galactic plane, and in the process of being tidally disrupted. The other possibility is that it could be part of a disk-like distribution of stars which is metal-poor, with a scale height of approximately 2 kpc and a scale length of approximately 10 kpc. The fifth overdensity, which is 20 kpc away, is some distance from the Sagittarius dwarf streamer orbit and is not associated with any known structure in the Galactic plane. It is likely that there are many smaller streams of stars in the Galactic halo.Comment: ApJ, in press; 26 figures including several in colo

The Milky Way Tomography with SDSS: II. Stellar Metallicity

Using effective temperature and metallicity derived from SDSS spectra for ~60,000 F and G type main sequence stars (0.2<g-r<0.6), we develop polynomial models for estimating these parameters from the SDSS u-g and g-r colors. We apply this method to SDSS photometric data for about 2 million F/G stars and measure the unbiased metallicity distribution for a complete volume-limited sample of stars at distances between 500 pc and 8 kpc. The metallicity distribution can be exquisitely modeled using two components with a spatially varying number ratio, that correspond to disk and halo. The two components also possess the kinematics expected for disk and halo stars. The metallicity of the halo component is spatially invariant, while the median disk metallicity smoothly decreases with distance from the Galactic plane from -0.6 at 500 pc to -0.8 beyond several kpc. The absence of a correlation between metallicity and kinematics for disk stars is in a conflict with the traditional decomposition in terms of thin and thick disks. We detect coherent substructures in the kinematics--metallicity space, such as the Monoceros stream, which rotates faster than the LSR, and has a median metallicity of [Fe/H]=-0.96, with an rms scatter of only ~0.15 dex. We extrapolate our results to the performance expected from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) and estimate that the LSST will obtain metallicity measurements accurate to 0.2 dex or better, with proper motion measurements accurate to ~0.2 mas/yr, for about 200 million F/G dwarf stars within a distance limit of ~100 kpc (g<23.5). [abridged]Comment: 40 pages, 21 figures, emulateApJ style, accepted to ApJ, high resolution figures are available from http://www.astro.washington.edu/ivezic/sdss/mw/astroph0804.385

Thoracic spine manual therapy for aging and older individuals

With the advancement of medicine and technology, along with improvements in preventative medicine, the average age of the US population continues to rise. Research estimates that by the year 2050, there will be more than 65 million older adults living, with 19 million being older than 85 years. As the population ages, more individuals will seek out physical therapy services for spine-related pathologies. Little evidence is currently available on the safety and effectiveness of manual therapy interventions in older adults. The purpose of this review was to discuss the safety and effectiveness of manual therapy interventions targeted at the thoracic spine in older individuals

VALIDITY OF FUNCTIONAL SCREENING TESTS TO PREDICT LOST-TIME LOWER QUARTER INJURY IN A COHORT OF FEMALE COLLEGIATE ATHLETES

Background: Lower quarter injuries account for more than 50% of all injuries in collegiate athletics. Neuromuscular screening tests could potentially identify athletes who are at risk for sustaining an injury. While previous research has studied individual tests, the authors of this paper are unaware of any study that has compared diagnostic accuracy of multiple neuromuscular screening tests within one study cohort. Hypothesis/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of three common neuromuscular screening tests to predict the occurrence of a lower quarter injury in female collegiate volleyball and basketball players. Study Design: Prospective Cohort Methods: Thirty-five subjects underwent a pre-season screening by performing the Y-balance test, the Functional Movement ScreenTM, and Single Leg Hop test. Data were collected on lower quarter injury incidence, lost practice time, and lost competition time among subjects throughout the course of one season. Receiver operating characteristics curves were plotted and area under the curve was calculated to assess the relationship between lower extremity injury incidence and the scores of the functional tests. Results: Lost-time injuries occurred in 11 athletes (31.4%), of whom, six athletes (17.1%) lost 50 hours or greater. There were no significant relationships between occurrence of a lost-time lower extremity injury and scores on any of the three tests. Positive and negative likelihood ratios all included the value of 1.0. Conclusions: Although reliable, the screening tests under study did not appear to retain adequate validity to predict lower quarter injury risk within these female collegiate athletes

VALIDITY OF FUNCTIONAL SCREENING TESTS TO PREDICT LOST-TIME LOWER QUARTER INJURY IN A COHORT OF FEMALE COLLEGIATE ATHLETES

Background: Lower quarter injuries account for more than 50% of all injuries in collegiate athletics. Neuromuscular screening tests could potentially identify athletes who are at risk for sustaining an injury. While previous research has studied individual tests, the authors of this paper are unaware of any study that has compared diagnostic accuracy of multiple neuromuscular screening tests within one study cohort. Hypothesis/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of three common neuromuscular screening tests to predict the occurrence of a lower quarter injury in female collegiate volleyball and basketball players. Study Design: Prospective Cohort Methods: Thirty-five subjects underwent a pre-season screening by performing the Y-balance test, the Functional Movement ScreenTM, and Single Leg Hop test. Data were collected on lower quarter injury incidence, lost practice time, and lost competition time among subjects throughout the course of one season. Receiver operating characteristics curves were plotted and area under the curve was calculated to assess the relationship between lower extremity injury incidence and the scores of the functional tests. Results: Lost-time injuries occurred in 11 athletes (31.4%), of whom, six athletes (17.1%) lost 50 hours or greater. There were no significant relationships between occurrence of a lost-time lower extremity injury and scores on any of the three tests. Positive and negative likelihood ratios all included the value of 1.0. Conclusions: Although reliable, the screening tests under study did not appear to retain adequate validity to predict lower quarter injury risk within these female collegiate athletes

Timing of physical therapy initiation for nonsurgical management of musculoskeletal disorders and effects on patient outcomes: a systematic review

Study Design: Systematic review. Background: Current US practice guidelines suggest an initial wait-and-see approach following onset of musculoskeletal pain, particularly for spinal pain. Several studies suggest that early, compared with delayed, initiation of physical therapy for musculoskeletal conditions may decrease health costs and improve outcomes. Objective: To compare early and delayed initiation of physical therapy for individuals with musculoskeletal conditions and to assess effects on patient-important outcomes and cost. Methods: MEDLINE (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO), Web of Science, and PEDro were the data sources. We included studies that compared early and delayed initiation of physical therapy for patients with musculoskeletal disorders. Studies in which early and delayed interventions differed were excluded. Two independent reviewers extracted study characteristics and outcomes, and determined eligibility and quality through consensus with a third reviewer. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used in summary conclusions. Standardized effect sizes (d) and odds ratios were calculated to assess the effect strength of early versus delayed physical therapy for each included study. Results: Of the 3855 articles initially screened, 14 studies were included. The majority of articles studied low back pain (only 2 articles studied cervical pain). For spinal pain, there was low-quality evidence that early versus delayed physical therapy was associated with decreased cost and decreased frequency of opioid prescriptions, advanced imaging, and surgeries without compromising patient-important outcomes. One subgroup analyzed showed improved function/disability with early physical therapy in an occupational health setting. Conclusion: Although there were consistent results across studies favoring early physical therapy for decreased cost and medical utilization, quality was limited. Preliminary evidence suggests that early physical therapy may decrease cost without compromising outcomes. The primary limitation of the current research on this topic is in study design. Additional high-quality research involving prospective randomized designs and economic impact analyses is required to further investigate the outcomes associated with early initiation of physical therapy. Level Of Evidence: Therapy, level 1a

Minimal physical therapy utilization compared with higher physical therapy utilization for patients with low back pain: a systematic review

Aim: Currently there is a large and perhaps unwarranted variation regarding physical therapy utilization for individuals with low back pain (LBP). The purpose of this systematic review was to compare the effects of minimal physical therapy utilization/education (two visits or less) versus typical physical therapy utilization (three visits or more) on patient-important outcomes for patients with LBP. Methods: Two independent reviewers searched Cochrane, Medline, CINAHL, Web of Science, and PEDro from database inception until March 2017. Eligible studies used a randomized design, included subjects with LBP, and compared minimal versus higher utilization. The GRADE approach was used to provide an overall level of evidence regarding utilization. Eight articles (1153 individual subjects) met the inclusion criteria. Effect sizes for each outcome measure were calculated using Hedge’s g and were adjusted for baseline values at each time period. Findings: When compared with minimal utilization, higher utilization demonstrated no significant differences on pain, disability, or quality of life at the 1-year follow-up. However, two of the three studies that analyzed cost-effectiveness found higher utilization to be more cost-effective at 1-year follow-up. Moreover, there was insufficient evidence available to investigate patient subgroups (acuity, risk for chronicity), multiple levels of utilization dosage (low, typical, and high), or intervention type. Conclusions: This review identifies the need for further research on the dosage of physical therapy among various subgroups of patients with LBP. While higher utilization may not result in significant improvements in patient-important outcomes, it may be more cost-effective for patients with chronic or complex LBP conditions when compared to minimal utilization

Monitoring\ua0thermal and non-thermal treatments during processing of muscle foods: a comprehensive review of recent technological advances

Muscle food products play a vital role in human nutrition due to their sensory quality and high nutritional value. One well-known challenge of such products is the high perishability and limited shelf life unless suitable preservation or processing techniques are applied. Thermal processing is one of the well-established treatments that has been most commonly used in order to prepare food and ensure its safety. However, the application of inappropriate or severe thermal treatments may lead to undesirable changes in the sensory and nutritional quality of heat-processed products, and especially so for foods that are sensitive to thermal treatments, such as fish and meat and their products. In recent years, novel thermal treatments (e.g., ohmic heating, microwave) and non-thermal processing (e.g., high pressure, cold plasma) have emerged and proved to cause less damage to the quality of treated products than do conventional techniques. Several traditional assessment approaches have been extensively applied in order to evaluate and monitor changes in quality resulting from the use of thermal and non-thermal processing methods. Recent advances, nonetheless, have shown tremendous potential of various emerging analytical methods. Among these, spectroscopic techniques have received considerable attention due to many favorable features compared to conventional analysis methods. This review paper will provide an updated overview of both processing (thermal and non-thermal) and analytical techniques (traditional methods and spectroscopic ones). The opportunities and limitations will be discussed and possible directions for future research studies and applications will be suggested

Comparison of Physical Therapy and Physician Pathways for Employees with Recent Onset Musculoskeletal Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Life expectancy of the U.S. population will continue to rise, increasing the workforce demands in the treatment of musculoskeletal pathologies. With a declining primary care physician workforce, physical therapists (PT) may be in a unique situation to help absorb this demand. OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to compare physical function between two primary care groups, a physical therapy-led pathway versus physician-led pathway in the management of recent-onset musculoskeletal pain at 1-month follow-up. Our secondary objectives were to compare other patient-important outcomes between the groups at 1 month and health utilization at 1 month and 1 year. METHODS: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial with a 1-year follow-up was conducted, enrolling 150 university employees with recent onset musculoskeletal pain. Participants were randomized at first contact to either a PT-led pathway or physician-led pathway. The primary outcome was change in Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) ShortForm v1-Physical Function 10a at 1 month; groups were compared with repeated measurement of analysis of variance and chi-square for both primary and secondary outcomes, except for satisfaction score at 1 month, which was cross-sectionally compared by independent two-sample t-test. At 1 year, healthcare utilization was assessed through medical record extraction, and healthcare utilization was converted to total episodic standard cost. Utilization was compared between groups using chi-square and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. RESULTS: Both groups demonstrated improvement at 1-month follow-up but showed no significant between-group difference in mean PROMIS scores at 1 month (PT-led pathway vs physician-led pathway, 2.04, [95% CI -0.28 to 4.36]; P = .082). At 1 year, there was no difference in healthcare utilization or cost between groups. No harm or misdiagnosis was found, filed, or reported by participants at 1 year. CONCLUSION: This study shows equivalence in outcomes for two low-cost musculoskeletal care pathways with no risk of harm. These results reinforce other findings in the literature that support PTs as safe and effective initial providers for individuals with musculoskeletal disorders