Characterization of extra-hard cheese produced from donkeys’ and caprine milk mixture

International audienceAbstractCheese cannot be produced solely from equine or donkeys’ milk, because of the unique physico-chemical properties of these milks. The purpose of this study was to characterize a novel dairy product, cheese produced from donkeys’ and caprine milk mixture (60:40% v/v), regarding its chemical, microbiological, textural and sensory properties. Fully ripened cheese was classified as a high-fat, extra-hard cheese, with high sodium (29.97 g.kg−1), magnesium (3.07 g.kg−1) and potassium (4.70 g.kg−1) content. The characterization by lab-on-a-chip electrophoresis revealed lysozyme, α-lactalbumin, immunoglobulins and casein fractions. Palmitic (C16:0) and oleic fatty acids (C18:2 n9-cis) with 25.11 and 24.70%, respectively, were found at the highest concentrations. The medium-chain fatty acids account 18.21% of the total fatty acid content in analysed cheese samples. Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Enterobacteriaceae, coagulase-positive staphylococci, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens as well as moulds were under the limit of detection in all analysed samples. After 6 months of cheese ripening (0.94 aw, pH 4.71), total bacterial count, the counts of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts were 6.34 ± 0.03, 4.80 ± 0.10 and 5.81 ± 0.11 log CFU.g−1, respectively. The texture of mature cheese was moderately hard and crumbly. The cheese was described as very salty with strong pronounced creamy, fatty and acidic taste. The characterized donkey/caprine cheese could position this type of cheese as a high-quality functional product, thus having a potential impact on the market

Circadian variations in alertness, readiness for work and work efficiency

U organizmu čovjeka odvijaju se ritmički procesi različitih frekvencija odnosno perioda. Među njima za funkcionalno stanje čovjeka najvažniju ulogu imaju ritmovi čiji je period oko 24 sata (tzv. cirkadijurni ritmovi). Oni su utvrđeni na svim funkcionalnim razinama: od supcelularnog i staničnog nivoa preko organa i organskih sistema pa do organizma kao cjeline. U svakodnevnim prilikama ove su cikličke promjene u organizmu pod utjecajem ritmičkih promjena u okolini. Vanjski ritmički utjecaji potpomažu da se ritmičke promjene u organizmu bolje sinkroniziraju i da se organizam kao cjelina bolje prilagodi na svoju sredinu. Kod noćnog rada dolazi do inverzije ritma budnost/spavanje u toku dana; radnik mora raditi u ono vrijeme tijekom 24 sata kad je organizam u stanju deaktivacije, a spavati u ono vrijeme kad je obično budan i aktivan. Ove promjene u aktivnosti čovjeka predstavljaju dodatno opterećenje na koje se radnik mora prilagoditi da bi mogao dulje vrijeme raditi u smjenama. Tolerancija prema smjenskom (noćnom) radu povezana je s nekim karakteristikama radnika. Mjerenje tih karakteristika može poslužiti u utvrđivanju interindividualnih razlika u toleranciji prema smjenskom radu.Among various rhythmic processes with different frequencies (periods), which are present in the human organism, for normal functioning the most important are the rhythms with a cycle length of about 24 hours (termed circadian rhythms). Circadian rhythms have been confirmed at all levels of physiological functions: from subcellular and cellular mechanisms, to the organic systems and organism on the whole. In normal everyday circumstances the rhythmic processes in the human organism are synchronised with the rhythmic processes in the environment. The external rhythmic variations support internal synchronisation between various rhythms, and in that way make it possible for the organism to better adapt to the environment. The sleep-wake rhythm is inverted during night work: the worker has co work in the period of low activity level, and sleep during the day, when he is usually active and alert. In order to work in shifts the worker has to adapt to such disruptions of the sleep-wake pattern. Tolerance to shift work was found to be associated with some features of the worker. The measurement of such features could serve as determinate of interindividual differences in shift work tolerance level

Circadian variations in alertness, readiness for work and work efficiency

U organizmu čovjeka odvijaju se ritmički procesi različitih frekvencija odnosno perioda. Među njima za funkcionalno stanje čovjeka najvažniju ulogu imaju ritmovi čiji je period oko 24 sata (tzv. cirkadijurni ritmovi). Oni su utvrđeni na svim funkcionalnim razinama: od supcelularnog i staničnog nivoa preko organa i organskih sistema pa do organizma kao cjeline. U svakodnevnim prilikama ove su cikličke promjene u organizmu pod utjecajem ritmičkih promjena u okolini. Vanjski ritmički utjecaji potpomažu da se ritmičke promjene u organizmu bolje sinkroniziraju i da se organizam kao cjelina bolje prilagodi na svoju sredinu. Kod noćnog rada dolazi do inverzije ritma budnost/spavanje u toku dana; radnik mora raditi u ono vrijeme tijekom 24 sata kad je organizam u stanju deaktivacije, a spavati u ono vrijeme kad je obično budan i aktivan. Ove promjene u aktivnosti čovjeka predstavljaju dodatno opterećenje na koje se radnik mora prilagoditi da bi mogao dulje vrijeme raditi u smjenama. Tolerancija prema smjenskom (noćnom) radu povezana je s nekim karakteristikama radnika. Mjerenje tih karakteristika može poslužiti u utvrđivanju interindividualnih razlika u toleranciji prema smjenskom radu.Among various rhythmic processes with different frequencies (periods), which are present in the human organism, for normal functioning the most important are the rhythms with a cycle length of about 24 hours (termed circadian rhythms). Circadian rhythms have been confirmed at all levels of physiological functions: from subcellular and cellular mechanisms, to the organic systems and organism on the whole. In normal everyday circumstances the rhythmic processes in the human organism are synchronised with the rhythmic processes in the environment. The external rhythmic variations support internal synchronisation between various rhythms, and in that way make it possible for the organism to better adapt to the environment. The sleep-wake rhythm is inverted during night work: the worker has co work in the period of low activity level, and sleep during the day, when he is usually active and alert. In order to work in shifts the worker has to adapt to such disruptions of the sleep-wake pattern. Tolerance to shift work was found to be associated with some features of the worker. The measurement of such features could serve as determinate of interindividual differences in shift work tolerance level

From functional food to medicinal product: Systematic approach in analysis of polyphenolics from propolis and wine

In the last decade we have been working on standardization of propolis extract and determination of active constituents of wine those are rich in polyphenolics and have nutritional as well as therapeutic value. Here we are summarizing our results and providing overview on systematic approach how to analyse natural products rich in flavonoids and phenolic acids

Određivanje izloženosti olovu i kadmiju putem zraka i hrane u stanovnika Zagreba

Exposure to lead and cadmium was monitored in a group of 17 non-smoking women in Zagreb. The monitoring included measurement of the intake of the two metals via air and the diet during a period of seven days. Duplicate daily diets and air filter samples were collected for analysis of lead and cadmium. To check the intake of lead and cadmium with the daily diet, faeces were collected and analysed. The mean gastrointestinal absorption was estimated to be 4.9 µg/day for lead and 0.75 µg/day for cadmium. These values were derived from faecal data which were assumed to be more reliable. The daily absorption through inhalation estimated on the basis of air analysis was 2.7 µg for lead and 0.03 µg for cadmium.Izloženost olovu i kadmiju mjerena je na skupini od 17 žena nepušačica u Zagrebu. Praćenje je uključivalo određivanje unosa ovih elemenata putem zraka i dnevne prehrane. Primijenjena je metoda „dvostrukih obroka“ i osobni sakupljači čestica zraka, uzastopce tijekom sedam dana. Kao kontrola unosa ovih elemenata putem hrane poslužilo je sakupljanje i analiza fekalija. Dobiveni rezultati upućuju na to da su vrijednosti dobivene iz fekalija pouzdanije te su one uzete za procjenu apsorpcije. Gastrointestinalna apsorpcija olova procijenjena je na vrijednost od 4,9 µg/dan, a kadmija na 0,75 µg/dan. Dnevno apsorbirana doze određena iz koncentracije elemenata u zraku daje vrijednost od 2,7 µg/dan za olovo, a 0,03 µg/dan za kadmij

Optimizing trade-offs among stakeholders in real-time bidding by incorporating multimedia metrics

Displaying banner advertisements (in short, ads) on webpages has usually been discussed as an Internet economics topic where a publisher uses auction models to sell an online user's page view to advertisers and the one with the highest bid can have her ad displayed to the user. This is also called \emph{real-time bidding} (RTB) and the ad displaying process ensures that the publisher's benefit is maximized or there is an equilibrium in ad auctions. However, the benefits of the other two stakeholders -- the advertiser and the user -- have been rarely discussed. In this paper, we propose a two-stage computational framework that selects a banner ad based on the optimized trade-offs among all stakeholders. The first stage is still auction based and the second stage re-ranks ads by considering the benefits of all stakeholders. Our metric variables are: the publisher's revenue, the advertiser's utility, the ad memorability, the ad click-through rate (CTR), the contextual relevance, and the visual saliency. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that optimizes trade-offs among all stakeholders in RTB by incorporating multimedia metrics. An algorithm is also proposed to determine the optimal weights of the metric variables. We use both ad auction datasets and multimedia datasets to validate the proposed framework. Our experimental results show that the publisher can significantly improve the other stakeholders' benefits by slightly reducing her revenue in the short-term. In the long run, advertisers and users will be more engaged, the increased demand of advertising and the increased supply of page views can then boost the publisher's revenue

Dynamics of oligomer populations formed during the aggregation of Alzheimer's Aβ42 peptide

Oligomeric species populated during the aggregation of the Aβ42 peptide have been identified as potent cytotoxins linked to Alzheimer’s disease, but the fundamental molecular pathways that control their dynamics have yet to be elucidated. By developing a general approach that combines theory, experiment and simulation, we reveal, in molecular detail, the mechanisms of Aβ42 oligomer dynamics during amyloid fibril formation. Even though all mature amyloid fibrils must originate as oligomers, we found that most Aβ42 oligomers dissociate into their monomeric precursors without forming new fibrils. Only a minority of oligomers converts into fibrillar structures. Moreover, the heterogeneous ensemble of oligomeric species interconverts on timescales comparable to those of aggregation. Our results identify fundamentally new steps that could be targeted by therapeutic interventions designed to combat protein misfolding diseases

Neuroretinitis associated with cat-scratch disease: a case report

U studenom 2003. godine u Centralnoj prijamnoj ambulanti Klinike za infektivne bolesti »Dr. Fran Mihaljević«, Zagreb liječena je bolesnica s vitritisom i stražnjim uveitisom oba oka te neuroretinitisom lijevog oka, nastalim tijekom bolesti mačjeg ogreba (BMO). Slabljenje vida nastalo je istovremeno s otokom limfnog čvora u aksili, tri tjedna nakon ogreba mačke. Nakon pregleda u jednoj zagrebačkoj klinici za očne bolesti, bolesnica je upućena u našu Kliniku radi etiološke dijagnostike i preporuke za antimikrobno liječenje. Idućeg dana hospitalizirana je na Klinici za očne bolesti. Za vrijeme hospitalizacije liječena je azitromicinom peroralno tijekom pet dana prema preporuci infektologa, uz lokalnu i parenteralnu terapiju kortikosteroidima. Bolest je imala povoljan ishod. Ovo je prvi slučaj neuroretinitisa nastalog tijekom BMO koji je dijagnosticiran u ovoj Klinici, u suradnji s oftalmolozima. Dijagnoza se temeljila na epidemiološkoj anamnezi, regionalnom limfadenitisu s odgovarajućim citološkim nalazom punktata i serološkoj potvrdi protutijela na Bartonellu henselae.In November 2003, a 32-year-old female patient with vitritis and uveitis (pars planitis) of both eyes and neuroretinitis of the left eye, associated with cat-scratch disease (CSD) was treated at the Central Admissions Department of the University Hospital for Infectious Diseases »Dr. Fran Mihaljevic«, Zagreb. Impaired vision occurred simultaneously with axillar lymph node swelling, three weeks after cat scratch. After the patient was examined at the Ophthalmology Clinic in Zagreb, she was referred to our Hospital for etiological diagnostics and recommendation for antimicrobial treatment. The following day the patient was hospitalized at the Ophthalmology Clinic. During hospitalization she was treated with azithromycin p.o. for five days according to recommendation by the infectious disease specialist, with local and parenteral corticosteroid therapy. The disease had favorable outcome. This is the first case of neuroretinitis associated with CSD that was diagnosed in our Hospital in collaboration with colleagues ophthalmologists. The diagnosis was based on epidemiological data, regional lymphadenitis with corresponding cytological finding and serological confirmation of antibodies to Bartonella henselae