Salt Intake from Processed Meat Products: Benefits, Risks and Evolving Practices.

Currently, there is major consumer concern about dietary salt intake worldwide. However, even with the development of contemporary preservation practices, sodium chloride is still essential in processed meat products. Despite a long history of use, salt is now seriously controversial in food due to health concerns that are mostly related to high blood pressure and cardiovascular risks. Changes in meat processing methods have reduced those potential risks, but different perceptions continue to shape how consumers and society view dietary salt. The current consumer demand for additive-free food, such as the clean-label movement, has renewed consumer willingness for naturalness in food products.

From nose to brain: The effect of lemon inhalation observed by whole brain voxel to voxel functional connectivity.

Lemon fragrance is known for its stimulating properties, but its mechanisms of action are not well known yet. This study aimed to examine the effect of lemon essential oil inhalation on healthy participants' alertness level and their neural correlates using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Twenty-one healthy men underwent functional MRI scans in different conditions: a resting state condition, a condition where they were exposed to passive lemon smelling (alternating exposure to lemon and breathing fresh air), and a control condition without lemon fragrance diffusion -the order of the last two conditions being randomized. Alertness levels were assessed immediately after each condition using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale. Voxel-wise whole-brain global functional connectivity and graph theory analyses were computed to investigate brain functional connectivity and network topology alterations. After lemon fragrance inhalation, we observed a higher level of alertness as compared to resting state -but not compared to control condition. During lemon fragrance inhalation, we found increased global functional connectivity in the thalamus, paralleled by decreased global connectivity in several cortical regions such as precuneus, postcentral and precentral gyrus, lateral occipital cortex and paracingulate gyrus. Graph theory analysis revealed increased network integration in cortical regions typically involved in olfaction and emotion processing such as olfactory bulb, hypothalamus and thalamus, while decreased network segregation in several regions of the posterior part of the brain during olfaction as compared to resting state. The present findings suggest that lemon essential oil inhalation could increase the level of alertness.

Benralizumab in severe eosinophilic asthma in real life: confirmed effectiveness and contrasted effect on sputum eosinophilia versus exhaled nitric oxide fraction - PROMISE.

Background: Randomised controlled trials have shown that benralizumab, an anti-interleukin-5 receptor monoclonal antibody, reduces exacerbations and oral corticosteroid dose and improves asthma control and lung function in severe eosinophilic asthma. The aim of this study was to confirm results of randomised controlled trials in real life in a population of 73 patients with severe eosinophilic asthma treated with benralizumab for at least 12 months. Methods: Patients underwent careful monitoring of asthma exacerbations, exhaled nitric oxide fraction, lung function, asthma control and quality of life questionnaire responses and sputum induction, and gave a blood sample at baseline, after 6 months and then every year. Results: We found significant reductions in exacerbations (by 92%, p<0.0001) and oral corticosteroid dose (by 83%, p<0.001) after 6 months that were maintained over time, with 78% of patients able to stop oral corticosteroid therapy. Patients improved their Asthma Control Test (ACT) score (from 11.7±5.1 to 16.9±5.35, p<0.0001), Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) score (from 2.88±1.26 to 1.77±1.32, p<0.0001) and Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire score (+1.04, p<0.0001) at 6 months and this was maintained during follow-up. Only 35% and 43% of patients reached asthma control according to an ACT score ≥20 and ACQ score <1.5, respectively. We observed stable post-bronchodilation lung function over time and a significant reduction in sputum eosinophil count, with 85% of patients exhibiting sputum eosinophil counts <3% after 6 months (p<0.01) with no effect on exhaled nitric oxide fraction. Conclusion: In our real-life study, we confirm the results published in randomised controlled trials showing a sharp reduction in exacerbations and oral corticosteroid therapy, an improvement in asthma control and quality of life, and a dramatic reduction in sputum eosinophil count.

Effects of high-pressure treatment on the muscle structure of salmon (Salmo salar).

High pressure (HP) is a non-thermal treatment that is generally used to reduce the microbiological contamination of food products, such as Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). However, HP is known to alter the stability of proteins and can therefore affect the quality of salmon flesh. In this study, the effects of HP treatment for 5 min at 200, 400 and 600 MPa on the structure of Atlantic salmon were investigated. Transversal histological sections revealed a decrease in the fibre size from 200 MPa associated with an expansion of the extracellular spaces. Connective tissue was found to be modified from 400 MPa, resulting in an increase in its surface area. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy revealed a reduction in the α-helix content and an increase in the aggregated ß-sheet structure content with increasing pressure, reflecting a change in the secondary structure of proteins from 200 MPa.

Use of Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotation Test to Predict Practical Performance of Sinus Endoscopy.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the predictive value of the Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotation Test (MRT) on performance of novice medical students for manipulation of a nasal endoscope on a cadaveric model. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We randomly selected 39 medical students who had never handled a nasal endoscope and subjected them to the MRT. General information including experience in manual, technical, or surgical activities and testing of anatomical knowledge were collected to exclude possible confounding factors. They were then asked to perform series of cadaveric model exercises using a nasal endoscope. Their cadaver performance was evaluated by 2 blinded observers, using a standardized scale. RESULTS: We found that medical students with higher mental rotation skills had significantly increased endoscopic sinus performance (P = .0002 using multivariate regression adjusted for specialty choice, previous surgical exposure, and anatomy knowledge). Higher anatomy knowledge was also associated with better endoscopic sinus performance (P = .0141). Other parameters had no impact on endoscopic sinus performance measured by the endoscopic scale (P > .05). CONCLUSION: The score obtained on the MRT was correlated with the practical performance of manipulating the nasal endoscope in cadaver. It could therefore be a useful spatial ability tool for directing targeted training in rhinology.

Increased xerotolerance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae during an osmotic pressure ramp over several generations.

Although mechanisms involved in response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to osmotic challenge are well described for low and sudden stresses, little is known about how cells respond to a gradual increase of the osmotic pressure (reduced water activity; aw ) over several generations as it could encounter during drying in nature or in food processes. Using glycerol as a stressor, we propagated S. cerevisiae through a ramp of the osmotic pressure (up to high molar concentrations to achieve testing-to-destruction) at the rate of 1.5 MPa day-1 from 1.38 to 58.5 MPa (0.990-0.635 aw ). Cultivability (measured at 1.38 MPa and at the harvest osmotic pressure) and glucose consumption compared with the corresponding sudden stress showed that yeasts were able to grow until about 10.5 MPa (0.926 aw ) and to survive until about 58.5 MPa, whereas glucose consumption occurred until 13.5 MPa (about 0.915 aw ). Nevertheless, the ramp conferred an advantage since yeasts harvested at 10.5 and 34.5 MPa (0.778 aw ) showed a greater cultivability than glycerol-shocked cells after a subsequent shock at 200 MPa (0.234 aw ) for 2 days. FTIR analysis revealed structural changes in wall and proteins in the range 1.38-10.5 MPa, which would be likely to be involved in the resistance at extreme osmotic pressure.

Physiological responses of Escherichia coli exposed to different heat-stress kinetics.

The effects of heat-stress kinetics on the viability of Escherichia coli were investigated. Cells were exposed to heat-stress treatments extending from 30 to 50 degrees C, with either a slope (40 min) or a shock (10 s), both followed by a 1-h plateau at 50 degrees C in nutritive medium. A higher survival rate was observed after the slope than after the shock, when both were followed by a plateau, so the heat slope induced a certain degree of thermotolerance. This tolerance was partly (i) linked to de novo protein synthesis during the subsequent plateau phase, and (ii) abolished after rapid cooling from 50 to 30 degrees C, which means that cellular components with rapidly reversible thermal properties are involved in this type of thermotolerance. The heat-slope-induced thermotolerance was chiefly linked to the maintenance of the plasma membrane integrity (preservation of structure, fluidity, and permeability), and not to GroEL or DnaK overexpression. Moreover, the high level of cell mortality induced by the heat shock could be related to changes in the membrane integrity.

Monitoring oxidation during the storage of pressure-treated cooked ham and impact on technological attributes.

High-pressure processing is a post-processing preservation method commonly used on meat products. However, it can affect the structural properties and the physico-chemical properties of the meat. The aim of this study was to compare the physical properties, lipid and protein oxidation of control and treated (500 MPa, 20 °C, 5 min) cooked ham during subsequent storage (21 days at 4 °C). High pressure processing induced increase of hardness and syneresis after 7 days of storage. The redness (a*) was slightly affected by the high pressure treatment but not the lightness (L*) and the yellowness (b*). However, the fluctuation of color was not clearly visible. Evaluation of primary (conjugated dienes) and secondary (malondialdehyde MDA and thiobarbituric reactive substances TBA-RS) lipid oxidation products showed that pressure increases oxidation of lipids. Whereas, high pressure processing had no immediate effect on MDA and TBA-RS content, higher amount compared to control were observed during the refrigerated storage. This lipid oxidation could be due to the release of prooxidant iron from hemoproteins after the high pressure treatment. Finally, the determination of free and accessible thiols showed that the high pressure treatment leads to a protein oxidation.

Extremely rapid acclimation of Escherichia coli to high temperature over a few generations of a fed-batch culture during slow warming.

This study aimed to demonstrate that adequate slow heating rate allows two strains of Escherichia coli rapid acclimation to higher temperature than upper growth and survival limits known to be strain-dependent. A laboratory (K12-TG1) and an environmental (DPD3084) strain of E. coli were subjected to rapid (few seconds) or slow warming (1°C 12 h(-1)) in order to (re)evaluate upper survival and growth limits. The slow warming was applied from the ancestral temperature 37°C to total cell death 46-54°C: about 30 generations were propagated. Upper survival and growth limits for rapid warming (46°C) were lower than for slow warming (46-54°C). The thermal limit of survival for slow warming was higher for DPD3084 (50-54°C). Further experiments conducted on DPD3084, showed that mechanisms involved in this type of thermotolerance were abolished by a following cooling step to 37°C, which allowed to imply reversible mechanisms as acclimation ones. Acquisition of acclimation mechanisms was related to physical properties of the plasma membrane but was not inhibited by unavoidable appearance of aggregated proteins. In conclusion, E.coli could be rapidly acclimated within few generations over thermal limits described in the literature. Such a study led us to propose that rapid acclimation may give supplementary time to the species to acquire a stable adaptation through a random mutation.