Skim coconut milk processing by thermal- and ultrasonic-thermal pasteurization

The coconut industry in Indonesia is significant for national income, with the potential for value-added products that could enhance the industry’s expansion. Skim coconut milk, a by-product of virgin coconut oil production, is a healthy substitute for dairy milk that can be consumed by people with lactose intolerance. The low-fat and high-protein content of skim coconut milk makes it a healthier alternative to regular coconut milk and cow milk. This study compares ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization of skim coconut milk to conventional pasteurization technique in terms of contamination reduction efficacy and energy efficiency with minimum product characteristic change. The process consisted of thawing frozen skim coconut milk, homogenization of liquid skim coconut milk and pasteurization in a shaking water bath or ultrasonic bath. Total cell counting was conducted, D-value and z-value were estimated to measure the effectiveness of pasteurization in reducing the number of harmful microorganisms in skim coconut milk. The study found that ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization reduced the number of microorganisms more effectively than conventional pasteurization with a lower energy consumption. The study showed the removal efficiency of ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization and conventional pasteurization at 70°C and 15 minutes were 28.74% and 12.33%, respectively. At that condition, energy consumption for every microbial cell being removed was approximately 3 times lower in ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization than the conventional one (0.13 kWh vs. 0.36 kWh). Skim coconut milk processed by ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization at 75°C for 15 minutes featured homogeneous white liquid with shelf time of 11.2 h, which was 2.65 times longer than the unprocessed coconut skim milk. The research suggests that ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization can be a feasible and sustainable processing technology for skim coconut milk, with potential commercial value for small companies and farmers in Indonesia

Skim coconut milk processing by thermal- and ultrasonic-thermal pasteurization

OBJECTIVES The coconut industry in Indonesia is significant for national income, with the potential for value-added products that could enhance the industry’s expansion. Skim coconut milk, a by-product of virgin coconut oil production, is a healthy substitute for dairy milk that can be consumed by people with lactose intolerance. The low-fat and highprotein content of skim coconut milk makes it a healthier alternative to regular coconut milk and cow milk. This study compares ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization of skim coconut milk to conventional pasteurization technique in terms of contamination reduction efficacy and energy efficiency with minimum characteristic change. METHODS The process consisted of thawing frozen skim coconut milk, homogenization of liquid skim coconut milk and pasteurization in a shaking water bath or ultrasonic bath. Total cell counting was conducted, D-value and z-value were estimated to measure the effectiveness of pasteurization in reducing the number of harmful microorganisms in skim coconut milk. RESULTS The study found that ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization reduced the number of microorganisms more effectively than conventional pasteurization with a lower energy consumption. The study showed the removal efficiency of ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization and conventional pasteurization at 70 °C and 15 minutes were 28.74% and 12.33%, respectively. At that condition, energy consumption for every microbial cell being removed was approximately 3 times lower in ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization than the conventional one (0.13 kWh vs. 0.36 kWh). Skim coconut milk processed by ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization at 75 °C for 15 minutes featured homogeneous white liquid with shelf time of 11.2 h, which was 2.65 times longer than the unprocessed coconut skim milk. CONCLUSIONS The research suggests that ultrasonic-assisted pasteurization can be a feasible and sustainable processing technology for skim coconut milk, with potential commercial value for small companies and farmers in Indonesia

Application of solar photovoltaic for the cultivation of Arthospira platensis (Spirulina)

Spirulina farming can be a solution to provide nutritious food for the increasing global population. Mixotrophic cultivation technique using wastewater nutrient to supply the energy for biomass growth beside the light energy is a promising technology to grow more Spirulina biomass. Electricity from solar energy can be utilized as a clean energy to power the aeration and illumination in Spirulina cultivation. A rooftop monocrystalline silicon (m-Si) solar panel with an area of 27 m 2 was used to power Spirulina starter incubation (7 days) and mixotrophic or photoautotrophic cultivation at room temperature, various light intensity (1500–6000 lux), and fix aeration rate at 4 L/min for 5 days. MSI (Maris Sustainable Indonesia TM, PT Maris Indonesia) medium supplemented with tempeh industry wastewater (1% v/v to MSI media) was used as organic carbon and growth nutrient source in mixotrophic cultivation. Mixotrophic culture grew faster than photoautotrophic culture (0.2615/day vs. 0.2107/day) due to its capability to harness catabolism activity for growing and multiplying. Growth inhibition by high photon density was implicitly observed in the slower or no increase of specific growth rate with the increasing light intensity in photoautotrophic culture. Application of solar panel lowered about 5.9% of carbon footprint in contrast to the fossil fuel sourced electricity. Net negative carbon footprint could be achieved through carbon fixation into Spirulina biomass

Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10-14 and 50-54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings The global TFR decreased from 2.72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2.66-2.79) in 2000 to 2.31 (2.17-2.46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134.5 million (131.5-137.8) in 2000 to a peak of 139.6 million (133.0-146.9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135.3 million (127.2-144.1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2.1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27.1% (95% UI 26.4-27.8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67.2 years (95% UI 66.8-67.6) in 2000 to 73.5 years (72.8-74.3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50.7 million (49.5-51.9) in 2000 to 56.5 million (53.7-59.2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9.6 million (9.1-10.3) in 2000 to 5.0 million (4.3-6.0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25.7%, from 6.2 billion (6.0-6.3) in 2000 to 7.7 billion (7.5-8.0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58.6 years (56.1-60.8) in 2000 to 63.5 years (60.8-66.1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019. Interpretation Over the past 20 years, fertility rates have been dropping steadily and life expectancy has been increasing, with few exceptions. Much of this change follows historical patterns linking social and economic determinants, such as those captured by the GBD Socio-demographic Index, with demographic outcomes. More recently, several countries have experienced a combination of low fertility and stagnating improvement in mortality rates, pushing more populations into the late stages of the demographic transition. Tracking demographic change and the emergence of new patterns will be essential for global health monitoring. Copyright (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Five insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 provides a rules-based synthesis of the available evidence on levels and trends in health outcomes, a diverse set of risk factors, and health system responses. GBD 2019 covered 204 countries and territories, as well as first administrative level disaggregations for 22 countries, from 1990 to 2019. Because GBD is highly standardised and comprehensive, spanning both fatal and non-fatal outcomes, and uses a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of hierarchical disease and injury causes, the study provides a powerful basis for detailed and broad insights on global health trends and emerging challenges. GBD 2019 incorporates data from 281 586 sources and provides more than 3.5 billion estimates of health outcome and health system measures of interest for global, national, and subnational policy dialogue. All GBD estimates are publicly available and adhere to the Guidelines on Accurate and Transparent Health Estimate Reporting. From this vast amount of information, five key insights that are important for health, social, and economic development strategies have been distilled. These insights are subject to the many limitations outlined in each of the component GBD capstone papers.Peer reviewe