Dietary Quality of Women of Reproductive Age in Low-Income Settings: A Cross-Sectional Study in Kyrgyzstan.

Dietary diversity and adequate nutrient intake are essential for conducting a healthy life. However, women in low-income settings often face difficulties in ensuring dietary quality. This research assessed relationships between the dietary diversity, nutrient adequacy, and socio-economic factors among women of reproductive age (WRA) in Kyrgyzstan. A cross-sectional study was undertaken in four locations, including two rural and two urban areas in the north and south of Kyrgyzstan. A survey with pre-coded and open-ended questions was employed during the interviews of 423 WRAs aged 18-49. Data collection was conducted in March-May 2021. The average value body mass index (BMI) of WRA was 24.2 ± 4.6 kg/m2. The dietary diversity score (DDS) was higher among rural women (common language effect size) cles = 0.67, adjusted p < 0.001) in the northern region (cles = 0.61, p < 0.05) who have cropland (cles = 0.60, p < 0.001) and a farm animal (cles = 0.60, p < 0.05). Mean nutrient adequacy ratio (NAR) was below 1 in most micronutrients, whereas thiamine, riboflavin, vitamins B6 and C, folic acid, calcium, and magnesium were even lower than 0.5. Women with a kitchen garden or a cropland had better NAR energy (cles = 0.57), NAR carbohydrate (cles = 0.60), NAR fiber (cles = 0.60), NAR vitamin B1 (cles = 0.53), and NAR folic acid (cles = 0.54). Respondents who receive remittances and a farm animal have better NARs for energy, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamin B1, folic acid, iron, zinc, and mean adequacy ratio for 16 nutrients (MAR 16) than those who do not. Education and income have a negative correlation with dietary quality. This study contributes to the limited literature on the quality of diets in Kyrgyzstan. Hidden hunger and undernutrition are a severe problem among WRA in low-income settings. Recommendations are including study programs in nutrition, teaching households farming practices, and raising awareness on adequate nutrition.

Investigation of changes in rheological properties during processing of fermented cereal beverages.

Many indigenous fermented foods and beverages consumed throughout the world are produced at home or in crafts enterprises. The production of fermented beverages on a large commercial or industrial scale requires clearly established technical and technological requirements. This study shows a novel way to investigate the optimal process parameters of the Kyrgyz traditional fermented beverage Bozo using rotational rheological parameters. Five significant process parameters were investigated like cooking of millet porridge, the mashing temperature, the mashing time under conditions of mixing and viscosity changes of the end product during storage. According to the gelatinization temperature of millet porridge, cooking parameters were recommended at T = 79 °C and t = 30 min. The optimum mashing temperature of millet porridge was determined to be 65 °C and mashing time under stirring conditions of millet porridge was found to be 10 min. The viscosity of the beverage Bozo was investigated after 7, 14 and 21 days of storage at 5, 10, 20, and 30 °C. The effective viscosity of Bozo was calculated using the Casson model, which increased from 39.67 to 51.25 Pa·s after 21 days of storage. The effect of temperature on effective viscosity of Bozo and the activation energy was calculated using an Arrhenius-type equation. The parameters obtained make it possible to provide food manufacturers useful information for boiling, mashing and storage parameters after fermentation as well as quality control of Bozo.

Erratum: Kiselev, I., et al. On the Temporal Stability of Analyte Recognition with an E-Nose Based on a Metal Oxide Sensor Array in Practical Applications. Sensors 2018, 18, 550.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...].

On the Temporal Stability of Analyte Recognition with an E-Nose Based on a Metal Oxide Sensor Array in Practical Applications.

The paper deals with a functional instability of electronic nose (e-nose) units which significantly limits their real-life applications. Here we demonstrate how to approach this issue with example of an e-nose based on a metal oxide sensor array developed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany). We consider the instability of e-nose operation at different time scales ranging from minutes to many years. To test the e-nose we employ open-air and headspace sampling of analyte odors. The multivariate recognition algorithm to process the multisensor array signals is based on the linear discriminant analysis method. Accounting for the received results, we argue that the stability of device operation is mostly affected by accidental changes in the ambient air composition. To overcome instabilities, we introduce the add-training procedure which is found to successfully manage both the temporal changes of ambient and the drift of multisensor array properties, even long-term. The method can be easily implemented in practical applications of e-noses and improve prospects for device marketing.