Review: freeze concentration technology applied to dairy products.

Freeze concentration is a process of concentrating liquid products by freezing the water content and subsequently removing the so-formed ice crystals from the food system. In dairy processing, this technology offers the advantage of minimizing the heat abuse of sensitive milk components, such as proteins and flavors. It thus provides an opportunity for producing dairy ingredients with enhanced functional and organoleptic qualities. By freeze concentration, skim milk has been concentrated up to 40 wt% total solids (TS) and whole milk up to 44 wt% TS. Lactose and lipids are more concentrated in the ice fraction than in the concentrated fraction. Proteins (casein and whey protein) decrease the ice growth rate and the high viscosity is a limiting factor for the freeze concentration of both skim milk and whole milk. In this study, the most important studies relating to the suspension, block and layer freeze concentration of milk are summarized, analyzing results and indicating how freeze concentration process efficiency of dairy products can be improved.

A Monte Carlo approach for scattering correction towards quantitative neutron imaging of polycrystals.

The development of neutron imaging from a qualitative inspection tool towards a quantitative technique in materials science has increased the requirements for accuracy significantly. Quantifying the thickness or the density of polycrystalline samples with high accuracy using neutron imaging has two main problems: (i) the scattering from the sample creates artefacts on the image and (ii) there is a lack of specific reference attenuation coefficients. This work presents experimental and simulation results to explain and approach these problems. Firstly, a series of neutron radiography and tomography experiments of iron, copper and vanadium are performed and serve as a reference. These materials were selected because they attenuate neutrons mainly through coherent (Fe and Cu) and incoherent (V) scattering. Secondly, an ad hoc Monte Carlo model was developed, based on beamline, sample and detector parameters, in order to simulate experiments, understand the physics involved and interpret the experimental data. The model, developed in the McStas framework, uses a priori information about the sample geometry and crystalline structure, as well as beamline settings, such as spectrum, geometry and detector type. The validity of the simulations is then verified with experimental results for the two problems that motivated this work: (i) the scattering distribution in transmission imaging and (ii) the calculated attenuation coefficients.

Review of studies on health related quality of life in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease in Spain.

BACKGROUND: Advanced chronic kidney disease (ACKD) has a great impact on health-related quality of life (HRQL). The use of this variable in studies in our field is becoming more frequent, although there has been no comprehensive review of how Spaniards with ACKD are assessed. AIMS: To offer a contrasted vision of the HRQL assessment tools that are most often used on Spanish ACKD population, also analysing how this population perceive their quality of life. METHOD: A review was carried out on literature published on studies undertaken in Spain that had used some kind of instrument, either generic or specific, in order to measure HRQL in patients with different stages of ACKD. Studies in kidney transplant patients were excluded when they were independently reviewed. The research was carried out in CINAHL, CUIDEN, DOCUMED, EMBASE, ERIC (USDE), IME, LILACS, MEDLINE, Nursin@ovid, PubMed, Scielo, Web of Science and TESEO. RESULTS: 53 articles published between 1995 and May 2014 have been included in this review. Renal replacement therapy is the variable that is most often associated with the study of HRQL, with haemodialysis being the most studied. Most of the studies found are cross-sectional and the Short Form-36 Health Survey is the most used instrument. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of the studies show how HRQL is significantly affected in patients who receive renal replacement therapy. These results are independent from the instrument used to measure health-related quality of life and other associated variables throughout the various studies. HRQL has been particularly analysed in patients on haemodialysis, using mainly observational methods and the Short Form-36 Health Survey. There is a need for more studies that address aspects such as HRQL in the pre-dialysis phase, as well as studies with larger samples and longitudinal, analytical and experimental designs.

Estudos da estabilidade da secreçäo mucóide / Stability studies of mucus secretion

O objetivo do trabalho, é a determinaçäo de parâmetros definitórios do modelo de comportamento reológico da secreçäo mucóide das expectoraçöes, analisando as variaçöes produzidas em doentes tratadas ou näo como fármacos mucolíticos. Finalmente, é estudada a estabilidade da secreçäo mucóide frente a uma açäo de fricçäo repetitiva, definido o parâmetro de caracterizaçäo (coeficiente de perda logarítmica de viscosidade por ciclo), verificando, desta forma, sua estabilidade

Estudos reológicos realizados no líquido pleural com elevada concentraçäo de hémacias / Rheological studies of pleural secretion with high red cell concentration

O líquido pleural procedente de pacientes portadores de determinadas patologias apresenta uma concentraçäo elevada de hemácias, com valortes superiores a 5.000-6.000 hemácias/ml, valores mínimos necessários para obter uma coloraçäo sanguinolenta da soluçäo extraída. Esta causa obrigará posteriores realizaçöes, neste caso de tipo viscosimétrico, sobre amostras adicionadas de anticoagulante. Por causa disto, é necessário a análise cuidadosa das modificaçöes que o anticoagulante (heparina) exerce sobre os valores obtidos dos parâmetros definitórios do modelo de comportamento reológico do líquido pleural. Procedeu-se, pois, a caracterizaçäo reológica das amostras com elevada concentraçäo hemática, passando, a partir dos valores experimentais obtidos, a realizaçäo do teste estimativo de Darmois, comparativo de populaçöes de médias normais conhecidas