Cheese quality assessment by use of near-infrared spectroscopy

Dairy products are worldwide spread and have great commercial importance. Rapid and reliable analysis of cheese would be highly desirable both for the manufacturers and consumers. The results of experiments, related to the application of near-infrared spectroscopy for cheese quality estimation will be presented. Several kinds of Bulgarian white brine cheese - natural from cow milk, imitation products with vegetable oil, and cheese with different water content were investigated. Fatty acids composition of samples was determined by using gas chromatography and moisture content by the oven-dry method. Spectra of all tested samples were obtained with a scanning NIRQuest 512 (Ocean Optics, Inc.) instrument in the range of 900-1700 nm using a reflection fiber-optics probe. PLS models were developed for quantitative determination and SIMCA for classification. The misclassification rate of the SIMCA model for discrimination of natural cheese and imitation products with vegetable oil was 2.9%. Quantitative determination of water content based on NIR spectra showed high accuracy, Models for classification of cheese samples into 3 groups according to water content achieved 5.64% misclassification rate for the independent test set. Results showed the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy as a non-destructive and rapid screening tool for assessing cheese quality and detecting adulteration

Cognitive Correlates of Hippocampal Atrophy and Ventricular Enlargement in Adults with or without Mild Cognitive Impairment

We analyzed structural magnetic resonance imaging data from 58 cognitively normal and 101 mild cognitive impairment subjects. We used a general linear regression model to study the association between cognitive performance with hippocampal atrophy and ventricular enlargement using the radial distance method. Bilateral hippocampal atrophy was associated with baseline and longitudinal memory performance. Left hippocampal atrophy predicted longitudinal decline in visuospatial function. The multidomain ventricular analysis did not reveal any significant predictors

Association between Bone Density Values, Primary Stability and Histomorphometric Analysis of Dental Implant Osteotomy Sites on the Upper Jaw

Introduction: Sufficient bone volume, as well as the bone quality characteristics are necessary prerequisites to ensure optimal mechanical stability of the implants and subsequent osseointegration.Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the correlation between bone density values obtained by cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), the primary stability of dental implants and the histomorphometric analysis of bone quality.Materials and methods: Following tooth extraction, socket preservation with frieze-dried bone allograft or protein-rich fibrin (PRF) was performed on 30 patients with 30 maxillary teeth in the region from second premolar to second premolar. Four months after the procedure, CBCT was used to assess the bone density (Hounsfield units) in the area of extraction. Thirty bone samples were harvested from implant sites using a trephine drill. They were analyzed with Image J software. Immediately after placing the implant, the implant stability quotient was measured using the Osstell Idx device.Results: The results revealed significant correlations between bone density and primary stability along the vestibulo-oral (r=0.392, p=0.032) and mesiodistal axes (r=0.407, p=0.026). Bone density also correlated strongly with the percentage of newly formed bone (r=0.776, p<0.001).Conclusion: Bone quality, in terms of bone density measured in CBCT and new bone formation are correlated to the primary stability of the dental implants and vice versa

Cheese quality assessment by use of near-infrared spectroscopy

Dairy products are worldwide spread and have great commercial importance. Rapid and reliable analysis of cheese would be highly desirable both for the manufacturers and consumers. The results of experiments, related to the application of near-infrared spectroscopy for cheese quality estimation will be presented. Several kinds of Bulgarian white brine cheese - natural from cow milk, imitation products with vegetable oil, and cheese with different water content were investigated. Fatty acids composition of samples was determined by using gas chromatography and moisture content by the oven-dry method. Spectra of all tested samples were obtained with a scanning NIRQuest 512 (Ocean Optics, Inc.) instrument in the range of 900-1700 nm using a reflection fiber-optics probe. PLS models were developed for quantitative determination and SIMCA for classification. The misclassification rate of the SIMCA model for discrimination of natural cheese and imitation products with vegetable oil was 2.9%. Quantitative determination of water content based on NIR spectra showed high accuracy, Models for classification of cheese samples into 3 groups according to water content achieved 5.64% misclassification rate for the independent test set. Results showed the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy as a non-destructive and rapid screening tool for assessing cheese quality and detecting adulteration

Visualization 1: Multimodal 3D cancer-mimicking optical phantom

White light and blue light cystoscopy of bladder phantom performed under distention with saline. Originally published in Biomedical Optics Express on 01 February 2016 (boe-7-2-648