Effect of combination pre-treatment on physicochemical, sensory and microbial characteristics of fresh aerobically stored minced goat (Black Bengal) meat organs

Minced goat meat organs (bicep fermoris muscle, heart, kidney and liver) of a particular variety of goat (Black Bengal) were stored aerobically in refrigerator at 4°C for 15 days after some combinationpretreatments: a) tea liquor and honey, b) acetic acid and glucose and c) spices and curing mixture; followed by subsequent refrigerated storage at 4°C. It was observed that pretreated samples exhibitedsignificantly (

Effect of fermentation and drying temperature on the characteristics of goat meat (Black Bengal variety) dry sausage

A new variety of fermented goat meat sausage was prepared from Black-Bengal goat. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Lactobacillus casei (NCIM 2586), Lactobacillus plantarum (NCIM 2083) and Pediococcus pentosaceus (NCIM 2245) were used as starter culture. Effect of temperature during fermentation and drying steps of sausage preparation was studied with respect to change in pH, lactic acid production, proximate composition, sensory characteristics and microbial characteristics in sausage (LAB count and viable aerobic cell count). Decrease in meat pH to 4.7–5.1 and corresponding increase in lactic acid production within 24 h of fermentation indicated potential use of combined starter culture in commercial production of fermented sausage. Among samples fermented at 25, 30 and 35°C, the one at 35°C was mostly acceptable industrially due to its lowest production cycle. The decrease in pH due to formation of lactic acid was directly proportional to the increase in drying temperature from 10 to 15°C. Sample fermented at 30°C, followed by drying at 10°C was the most acceptable sample with respect to sensory characteristics. Lactic bacterial cell count of sausage samples increased from 6.4 to 6.92 – 9.26 log cfu/ml within the fermentation period, then dropped to 6.19 –7.23 log cfu/ml at the end of dryin

Avascular necrosis of the hip: A unique presentation of pseudohypoparathyroidism

Pseudohypoparathyroidism is a rare, heterogeneous disorder characterized by parathyroid hormone resistance. Its association with avascular necrosis of the hip has been reported infrequently in the past. We report the case of a 27-year-old lady with pseudohypoparathyroidism Type 1 whose initial presentation was with avascular necrosis of bilateral hip. Apart from the common clinical features of pseudohypoparathyroidism, clinicians should also be aware of the rarer resentations such as avascular necrosis. A good clinical history and physical examination are warranted for early diagnosis in order to prevent serious morbidity in thesepatients

Bovine Herpesvirus Type 1 (BHV-1) UL49.5 Luminal Domain Residues 30 to 32 Are Critical for MHC-I Down-Regulation in Virus-Infected Cells

Bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) UL49.5 inhibits transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) and down-regulates cell-surface expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules to promote immune evasion. We have constructed a BHV-1 UL49.5 cytoplasmic tail (CT) null and several UL49.5 luminal domain mutants in the backbone of wild-type BHV-1 or BHV-1 UL49.5 CT- null viruses and determined their relative TAP mediated peptide transport inhibition and MHC-1 down-regulation properties compared with BHV-1 wt. Based on our results, the UL49.5 luminal domain residues 30–32 and UL49.5 CT residues, together, promote efficient TAP inhibition and MHC-I down-regulation functions. In vitro, BHV-1 UL49.5 Δ30–32 CT-null virus growth property was similar to that of BHV-1 wt and like the wt UL49.5, the mutant UL49.5 was incorporated in the virion envelope and it formed a complex with gM in the infected cells

Neprilysin inhibition for pulmonary arterial hypertension: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, proof-of-concept trial

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Hobbs AJ, Moyes AJ, Baliga RS, et al. Neprilysin inhibition for pulmonary arterial hypertension: a randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, proof‐of‐concept trial. Br J Pharmacol. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.14621, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.14621. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived VersionsThis work was supported by a British Heart Foundation Project Grant (PG/11/88/28992) and the National Institutes for Health Research, Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre award to UC

General practice performance in referral for suspected cancer: influence of number of cases and case-mix on publicly reported data

Background:Publicly available data show variation in GPs’ use of urgent suspected cancer (USC) referral pathways. We investigated whether this could be due to small numbers of cancer cases and random case-mix, rather than due to true variation in performance. Methods:We analysed individual GP practice USC referral detection rates (proportion of the practice's cancer cases that are detected via USC) and conversion rates (proportion of the practice's USC referrals that prove to be cancer) in routinely collected data from GP practices in all of England (over 4 years) and northeast Scotland (over 7 years). We explored the effect of pooling data. We then modelled the effects of adding random case-mix to practice variation. Results:Correlations between practice detection rate and conversion rate became less positive when data were aggregated over several years. Adding random case-mix to between-practice variation indicated that the median proportion of poorly performing practices correctly identified after 25 cancer cases were examined was 20% (IQR 17 to 24) and after 100 cases was 44% (IQR 40 to 47). Conclusions:Much apparent variation in GPs’ use of suspected cancer referral pathways can be attributed to random case-mix. The methods currently used to assess the quality of GP-suspected cancer referral performance, and to compare individual practices, are misleading. These should no longer be used, and more appropriate and robust methods should be develope

Exclusivity and exclusion on platform markets

We examine conditions under which an exclusive license granted by the upstream producer of a component that some consumers regard as essential to one of two potential suppliers of a downstream platform market can make the unlicensed supplier unprofitable, although both firms would be profitable if both were licensed. If downstream varieties are close substitutes, an exclusive license need not be exclusionary. If downstream varieties are highly differentiated, an exclusive license is exclusionary, but it is not in the interest of the upstream firm to grant an exclusive license. For intermediate levels of product differentiation, an exclusive license is exclusionary and maximizes the upstream firm’s payoff

Disentangling in vivo the effects of iron content and atrophy on the ageing human brain.

Evidence from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies shows that healthy aging is associated with profound changes in cortical and subcortical brain structures. The reliable delineation of cortex and basal ganglia using automated computational anatomy methods based on T1-weighted images remains challenging, which results in controversies in the literature. In this study we use quantitative MRI (qMRI) to gain an insight into the microstructural mechanisms underlying tissue ageing and look for potential interactions between ageing and brain tissue properties to assess their impact on automated tissue classification. To this end we acquired maps of longitudinal relaxation rate R1, effective transverse relaxation rate R2* and magnetization transfer - MT, from healthy subjects (n=96, aged 21-88years) using a well-established multi-parameter mapping qMRI protocol. Within the framework of voxel-based quantification we find higher grey matter volume in basal ganglia, cerebellar dentate and prefrontal cortex when tissue classification is based on MT maps compared with T1 maps. These discrepancies between grey matter volume estimates can be attributed to R2* - a surrogate marker of iron concentration, and further modulation by an interaction between R2* and age, both in cortical and subcortical areas. We interpret our findings as direct evidence for the impact of ageing-related brain tissue property changes on automated tissue classification of brain structures using SPM12. Computational anatomy studies of ageing and neurodegeneration should acknowledge these effects, particularly when inferring about underlying pathophysiology from regional cortex and basal ganglia volume changes