Application of Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii in food processing: a review.

Probiotics are increasingly being added to food in order to develop products with health-promoting properties. Particularly, Saccharomyces cereviceae var. boulardii yeast is recently being investigated like a starting-culture for development of functional and probiotic foods. Although the literature is abundant on the beneficial effects of S. boulardii on health, slight information is available on the effects of supplementing this probiotic to food systems. The aim of this paper is to examine the applications of S. boulardii to different food matrices and its implication in food processing (stability, sensorial properties and other technological implications) and the concomitant effects on nutrition and health.

Plasmin and coagulant activities in a minicurd model system: Study of technological parameters.

The effect of scalding temperature of the curd, the inclusion of a washing step, and the pH at whey drainage on plasmin and coagulant activities were assessed in a minicurd model of young hard cooked cheese. The variables were tested as follows: draining pH was assayed at 3 levels (4.6, 5.6, and 6.4), curd scalding temperature was tested at 50 and 56°C, and washing of the curd was examined at 2 levels (no washing step, and the replacement of the whey by water). Increase in pH at whey drainage and washing of the curd had a positive effect on plasmin activity, which was also evidenced by compatible changes in soluble peptide profiles. No effect of increased cooking temperature was found on plasmin activity. Plasminogen activation was not verified in any treatment. As for coagulant, lower pH values at whey drainage and a decrease in curd cooking temperature increased its activity; washing of the curd showed no influence on coagulant residual activity. These results were consistent with proteolysis described by peptide profiles, electrophoresis, and soluble nitrogen fractions.

Short communication: A new minicurd model system for hard cooked cheeses.

The aim of this study was to propose and validate a new minicurd model of young hard cheese. Curd particles and whey obtained from conventional cheese making of Reggianito Argentino were separated and frozen. Then, both fractions were thawed and the mixture of whey and curds was reconstituted, from which minicurds were made on the laboratory scale. Repeatability and the effect of freezing on minicurd composition were investigated by assessing pH, protein and moisture contents, sodium chloride content, and total thermophilic lactic flora counts. Good repeatability was achieved, and no significant differences were found between minicurds made from fresh compared with frozen materials. Composition of the minicurd was appropriate for modeling Reggianito Argentino cheese.

Influence of milk pretreatment on production of free fatty acids and volatile compounds in hard cheeses: heat treatment and mechanical agitation.

This work aimed to identify technological steps that can increase fat hydrolysis and volatile compounds production in hard cheeses; these biochemical events have been related with improved piquant taste and development of genuine flavor during cheese ripening. For that purpose, 2 different pretreatments of cheese milk were tested: heat treatment and mechanical agitation. Both factors were assayed at 2 levels: milk was either batch pasteurized or nonthermally treated, and mechanical agitation was either applied or not applied. For all combinations, hard cheeses (Reggianito type) were produced in a pilot plant and ripened for 90 d. In all cheeses the degree of lipolysis, assessed by gas chromatography, increased similarly during ripening. However, the proportion of short-chain fatty acids was higher in the cheeses made with unpasteurized milk, suggesting a higher activity of lipases with positional specificity toward the sn-3 position of the triglyceride, among which milk lipoprotein lipase is found. Similar results were found for most of the volatile compounds, determined by solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography flame-ionization detector/mass spectrometry, which constitute the groups of ketones, alcohols, esters, and the group of acids. On the contrary, no effect of mechanical agitation was observed, although some interactions between factors were found. In the conditions of the study, results suggest that heat treatment had a higher effect on cheese lipolysis and volatile compounds production than partial destabilization of the fat emulsion produced by the agitation method applied.

Psychogenic non-epileptic and epileptic seizures: clues for a differential diagnosis. Findings from a Colombian study. / Crisis psicogenas no epilepticas y crisis epilepticas: pistas para un diagnostico diferencial. Hallazgos de un estudio colombiano.

INTRODUCTION: Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are paroxysmal changes in behavior that resemble epileptic seizures, although they have no electrophysiological correlation or clinical evidence of epilepsy. AIM: To compare clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of patients diagnosed with PNES-alone and PNES-and-epilepsy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study of consecutive patients diagnosed with PNES in a 20-month period was carried out. A video-EEG was performed in all patients. Socio-demographical, clinical and semiological characteristics were compared between those patients with and without concomitant epilepsy. RESULTS: Sixty-five patients were included, 35 (53.9%) had PNES-alone and 30 (46.1%) had PNES-and-epilepsy. The proportion of women in the study was 70.8%. The median age at seizure onset was 16 years. A late start was recorded in PNES-alone group (23 years) compared to PNES-and-epilepsy group (11 years), however, it was not significant. There was a lower frequency of antiepileptic drugs use in the PNES-alone group compared with the PNES-and-epilepsy group. The most frequent semiological features were the gradual onset of events (69.2%) and the duration longer than two minutes (63.1%). CONCLUSION: The waxing and waning pattern during paroxysmal events suggest a non-epileptic origin. However, it is not uncommon to find patients with concomitant epileptic seizures.

TITLE: Crisis psicogenas no epilepticas y crisis epilepticas: pistas para un diagnostico diferencial. Hallazgos de un estudio colombiano.Introduccion. Las crisis psicogenas no epilepticas (CPNE) son cambios paroxisticos en el comportamiento que se asemejan a las crisis epilepticas, aunque no tienen correlacion electrofisiologica ni evidencia clinica de epilepsia. Objetivo. Comparar las caracteristicas clinicas y sociodemograficas entre pacientes diagnosticados con CPNE, con y sin epilepsia concomitante. Pacientes y metodos. Estudio transversal de pacientes consecutivamente diagnosticados de CPNE durante un periodo de 20 meses. A todos los participantes se les realizo un videoelectroencefalograma (video-EEG). Se compararon las caracteristicas sociodemograficas, clinicas y semiologicas entre los que presentaban y los que no presentaban epilepsia concomitante. Resultados. Se incluyo a 65 pacientes, 35 con CPNE (53,9%), y 30 con CPNE y epilepsia (46,1%). La edad mediana en el inicio del video-EEG fue de 33 años, y un 70,8% eran mujeres. La edad mediana de inicio de las crisis fue de 16 años. En el grupo de CPNE hubo un inicio mas tardio (23 años) en comparacion con el grupo de CNPE y epilepsia (11 años), pero la diferencia no fue significativa. La proporcion de pacientes en terapia con farmacos antiepilepticos fue significativamente mayor en el grupo con CPNE y epilepsia comparado con el grupo con CPNE. Las caracteristicas semiologicas mas frecuentemente encontradas fueron el inicio gradual de las crisis (69,2%) y una duracion de mas de dos minutos (63,1%). Conclusion. La variabilidad en los sintomas sugiere un origen no epileptico de los eventos paroxisticos, los cuales se presentan frecuentemente en pacientes con epilepsia.

Adulteration of Argentinean milk fats with animal fats: Detection by fatty acids analysis and multivariate regression techniques.

The aims of the present study were to test the accuracy of the fatty acid ratios established by the Argentinean Legislation to detect adulterations of milk fat with animal fats and to propose a regression model suitable to evaluate these adulterations. For this purpose, 70 milk fat, 10 tallow and 7 lard fat samples were collected and analyzed by gas chromatography. Data was utilized to simulate arithmetically adulterated milk fat samples at 0%, 2%, 5%, 10% and 15%, for both animal fats. The fatty acids ratios failed to distinguish adulterated milk fats containing less than 15% of tallow or lard. For each adulterant, Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) was applied, and a model was chosen and validated. For that, calibration and validation matrices were constructed employing genuine and adulterated milk fat samples. The models were able to detect adulterations of milk fat at levels greater than 10% for tallow and 5% for lard.

Laparoscopic repair of a colonoscopic perforation.

We report a case of laparoscopic repair of a diagnostic colonoscopic perforation. No other such reports were noted in the literature. The management of colonoscopic perforations has become controversial. Operative vs nonoperative treatment is continually debated. The morbidity of operative management is significant. Colostomy is often performed. Laparoscopy should allow early evaluation of operative patients and primary repair of those with minimal contamination and no residual pathology. The benefits of minimally invasive surgery, such as shortened hospitalization and rapid return to full activities, including work, were realized in our patient. Laparoscopy should be considered in the selective management of colonoscopic perforations.

Yersinia pestis: correlation of ultrastructures and immunological status.

Ultrastructural identification and localization of the fraction 1 "envelope" antigen in the plague bacillus Yersinia pestis were the primary objectives of this brief study. The antigenicity of extra-cellular material between the bacilli in undisturbed cultured colonies and that of the pathogen per se were measured and correlated by means of the semi quantitative complement fixation method after incubation for 72 h at 37 C. When the amount of extracellular substance in wild-type T1 (virulent) bacteria was compared by electron microscopy with that in avirulent strains of Y. pestis, with and without passage through guinea pigs, we found that the material of interest was greatly attenuated or even absent in colonies that had not been passed through animals, whereas passage markedly augmented production of the material. We also explored the requirement for larger quantities of Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) in the culture media and discovered that without these ions production of the extracellular material was limited. These observations support the hypothesis that this extracellular substance between cultured Y. pestis bacilli of various strains represents the source of the fraction 1 envelope antigen.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy: evolution, early results, and impact on nonsurgical gallstone therapies.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a surgical technique first performed in France, has gained widespread acceptance among surgeons in the United States. The abdominal cavity is inflated by carbon dioxide, a video monitor is inserted via a laparoscope placed periumbilically, and the gallbladder is freed and removed from the liver bed by using small subcostal ports for access and dissection. Intraoperative cholangiography is routinely performed, but uncertainty exists about how best to manage choledocholithiasis. Compared with traditional cholecystectomy, initial reports describing laparoscopic cholecystectomy cite shorter recovery times because no large incisions are made, thus potentially reducing the cost and morbidity of cholecystectomy. A survey of 614 early cases supports these claims, with a reported complication rate of 1.5% and quick resumption of normal activities by patients. Because of its promise for reduced morbidity, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is challenging open cholecystectomy as the therapeutic gold standard for symptomatic cholelithiasis. Thus, the standard to which the nonsurgical gallstone therapies, such as lithotripsy and contact dissolution, will be compared may shift to laparoscopic cholecystectomy. As the laparoscopic complications are similar to those of traditional cholecystectomy, such as abscesses and bile leaks, their percutaneous treatment should not change.