•Functional biscuits containing probiotic bacteria and prebiotics were prepared.•We obtained hard and crispy biscuits that were appropriate for adult dogs.•A starch-based coating was used to ...efficiently protect the probiotic bacteria.
Functional biscuits for adult domestic dogs containing probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum) and prebiotics (inulin) were developed and characterized. In order to assure a higher bacterial survival, the application of a protective coating was necessary. Two biscuit formulations were prepared, one with wheat flour and the other with soy and whole wheat flour. After baking them at 140°C for 45min, hard and crispy biscuits appropriate for adult dogs were obtained. Biscuits were treated either with calcium alginate or starch–glycerol coating. The preferred coating formulation was the starch–glycerol because of a higher survival rate of L. plantarum observed after passing through a simulated gastrointestinal system (HCl pH 1–2). In the case of wheat flour biscuits with coating, the bacteria survival rate after passing through the in vitro system, showed higher survival rate, regardless the presence of inulin while in soy and whole wheat flour biscuits, the presence of coating did not improve bacteria survival. The latter formulation showed a protective effect thus obtaining higher bacteria survival without coating. It is worth mentioning that after one month storage, biscuit formulations with coating maintained viable counts of L. Plantarum higher than 108CFU/mL. The presence of inulin at 20g/L did not show a significant effect on the survival rate of bacteria after one month storage period.
In this study we investigated whether the metabolomic analysis could identify a specific fingerprint of coronary blood collected during primary PCI in STEMI patients. Fifteen samples was subjected to ...metabolomic analysis. Subsequently, the study population was divided into two groups according to the peripheral blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a marker of the systemic inflammatory response. Regression analysis was then applied separately to the two NLR groups. A partial least square (PLS) regression identified the most significant involved metabolites and the PLS-class analysis revealed a significant correlation between the metabolic profile and the total ischemic time only in patients with an NLR > 5.77.
•The presence of capsulated ions increased the temperature of the system under microwave heating.•Behavior of free in solution and trapped ions within alginate matrix was compared.•The beads were ...characterized before and after heating by TPA, DSC and FTIR.
Encapsulation is defined as a technique to protect solid, liquid or gaseous active compounds from interacting with the environment. Encapsulated minerals may be incorporated into food products submitted to microwave heating, thus it is interesting to study their interaction with microwaves due to the relevant dielectric properties of the ions during heating. In the present work, zinc sulphate heptahydrate, ferrous sulphate heptahydrate, calcium chloride and sodium alginate were used to test metal ion-alginate beads under microwave heating. The objective was to compare the behavior of free ions in solution with those trapped within the alginate matrix while being submitted to electromagnetic radiation. The beads were characterized before and after heating by texture profiles, differential scanning calorimetry and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). During microwave heating, the presence of zinc and iron increased the inner temperature of the system; however calcium did not show the same behavior. These differences were attributed to the microstructure of the beads.
Lipomas are rare primary heart tumors and may involve the endocardium, myocardium, or pericardium. Signs and symptoms depend on the tumor location and size. The intrapericardial lipoma we report has ...massive dimensions and mimics a pericardial effusion. A 38-year-old male complained of dyspnea and precordial pain. On physical examination, heart sounds were diminished. The patient had received extensive medication for a clinically suspected pericardial effusion due to heart failure. A voluminous mass resembling fat within the pericardial sac was revealed by transesophageal echocardiography and a computed tomography scan. The tumor was removed successfully by a subxiphoid surgical approach. The diagnosis of a 635 gram intrapericardial lipoma was confirmed by pathological examination. After surgery, the patient recovered well and was completely asymptomatic at a follow-up at 90 days. No medications were being taken since. The diagnosis of a pericardial effusion should be secured by imaging exams to avoid unnecessary medications. Cardiac lipomas can be readily recognized by their typical features on radiologic imaging. The surgical pathology examination confirms the diagnosis and rules out malignancy criteria.
The differentiation therapy is focused on the identification of new agents able to impair the proliferative and metastatic potential of cancer cells through the induction of differentiation. Although ...several markers of cell differentiation on tumor cells have been identified, their causal relationship with neoplastic competence has not been characterized in sufficient detail to propose their use as new pharmacological targets useful for the design of new differentiation agents. Polyamine level in cancer cells and in body fluids was proposed as potential marker of cell proliferation and differentiation. The main advantage of this marker is the possibility to evaluate the antineoplastic activity of new drugs able to induce cell differentiation and consequently to inhibit tumor growth and metastasis. The presented report shows a simply and highly reproducible reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of
ortho
-phthalaldehyde (OPA) derivatives of polyamines: putrescine (PUT), cadaverine (CAD), spermidine (SPD) and spermine (SPM). The novelty of this method is the fluorescence response for OPA-derivate of SPM, generally low in other procedures, that has been significantly improved by the use of a fully endcapped packing material with minimal silanol interactions. The limits of detection for PUT, CAD, SPD and SPM were 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, and 0.4 pmol/mL, respectively. The analysis time was ≤ 20 min, and the relative recovery rate was of about 97%. To verify the usefulness of this method, it has been validated in a murine melanoma cell line (B16-F10) treated with two theophylline derivatives (namely 8-chlorotheophylline and 8-bromotheophylline). These two compounds increased the activity of tissue transglutaminase (TG2) and the synthesis of melanin, two recognized markers of melanoma cell differentiation, and significantly reduced the levels of intracellular polyamines.
Endoscopes are medical instruments that are used routinely in health structures. Due to their invasive nature and contact with many patients, they may cause hospital-acquired infections if not ...disinfected correctly. To ensure a high-level disinfection procedure or reprocessing, since the methods currently adopted in our institute are adequate, we evaluated retrospectively the presence of microorganisms in our endoscopes after reprocessing. Microbiological surveillance was performed from January 2016 to December 2019 in the instruments in use in our endoscopic room after reprocessing. In total, 35 endoscopes (3 duodenoscopes, 3 echoendoscopes, 12 bronchoscopes, 5 colonoscopes, and 12 gastroscopes) were evaluated for the presence of microorganisms, including multidrug-resistant pathogens and indicator microorganisms (IMOs). Our procedures were in agreement with an internal protocol based on Italian, international, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations. Of a total of 811 samples, 799 (98.5%) complied with the regulatory guidelines, while 9 (1.1%) were positive for IMOs, and 3 (0.4%) displayed more than 10 colony-forming units (CFU) of environmental and commensal pathogens. Our results show that the internal reprocessing protocol is very efficient, leading to a very low number of observed contaminations, and it could be easily implemented by other health facilities that face a huge number of hospital-acquired infections due to incorrectly disinfected endoscopes.
Mitochondrial diseases (MDs) are a large group of genetically determined multisystem disorders, characterized by extreme phenotypic heterogeneity, attributable in part to the dual genomic control ...(nuclear and mitochondrial DNA) of the mitochondrial proteome. Advances in next-generation sequencing technologies over the past two decades have presented clinicians with a challenge: to select the candidate disease-causing variants among the huge number of data provided. Unfortunately, the clinical tools available to support genetic interpretations still lack specificity and sensitivity. For this reason, the diagnosis of MDs continues to be difficult, with the new “genotype first” approach still failing to diagnose a large group of patients. With the aim of investigating possible relationships between clinical and/or biochemical phenotypes and definitive molecular diagnoses, we performed a retrospective multicenter study of 111 pediatric patients with clinical suspicion of MD. In this cohort, the strongest predictor of a molecular (in particular an mtDNA-related) diagnosis of MD was neuroimaging evidence of basal ganglia (BG) involvement. Regression analysis confirmed that normal BG imaging predicted negative genetic studies for MD. Psychomotor regression was confirmed as an independent predictor of a definitive diagnosis of MD. The findings of this study corroborate previous data supporting a role for neuroimaging in the diagnostic approach to MDs and reinforce the idea that mtDNA sequencing should be considered for first-line testing, at least in specific groups of children.
An easy and fast fabrication strategy to obtain Photochromic Films (PFs) for naked-eye detection of oxygen is presented. These PFs are based on the photoreductive activity of TiO2 nanoparticles ...combined with the redox-driven color switching property of methylene blue, embedded in a photocurable and tunable air-permeable polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) matrix. The PF is fabricated by a single-step process: the UVA light exposure initiates the polymerization and simultaneously reduces the blue-color dye in its colorless form. The resulting PF exhibits fast discoloration and modulable recoloration time in the air. The tunability of PFs color-switching can be used for engineering colorimetric sensors with preset oxygen responsive ranges to fulfill specific application requirements.
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