Design and testing of small scale fish meat bone separator useful for fish processing.

The present study relates to the food processing machinery and, more specifically machine for producing boneless comminuted meat from raw fish fillet. This machine is of belt and drum type meat bone separator designed for small scale fish processing in a continuous mode. The basic principal involved in this machine is compression force. The electric geared motor consists of 1HP and the conveyor belt has a linear velocity of 19 to 22 m min(-1), which was sufficient to debone the fish effectively. During the meat bone separation trials an efficiency up to 75 % on dressed fish weight basis was observed and with a capacity to separate 70 kg h(-1) of meat from fish at the machine speed of 25 rpm. During the trials, it was demonstrated that there was no significant change in the proximate composition of comminuted fish meat when compared to unprocessed fish meat. This design has a greater emphasis on hygiene, provision for cleaning-in-place (CIP) and gives cost effective need and reliability for small scale industries to produce fish meat in turn used for their value added products.

Optimization of pneumatic sheet extrusion of whole wheat flour poory dough using response surface methodology.

Pneumatic extrusion of whole wheat flour dough is a challenge in the preparation of Poory. In the present study, the pneumatic extrusion process variables (pneumatic pressure, rate of extrusion) and quality of deep fried product (oil uptake, frying time, puffed height) was evaluated to get Poory of maximum overall sensory quality, minimum shear and minimum oil uptake. These parameters depend on the moisture content of wheat dough. Response surface methodology was demonstrated to be an efficient tool for the optimization of process parameters of pneumatic extrusion. The results indicated that extrusion pressure ranging from 3 ~ 6 × 10(5) Pa for the whole wheat flour dough with added moisture of 56 ~ 60 % was found to give a uniform rate of extruded sheet. It was observed that submerged frying time for the extruded dough sheet was in the range of 35 ~ 40 s, with the temperature of the vegetable oil to be in the range of 180 ~ 185 °C. Oil uptake during frying was about 12 ± 1 % and the textural shear force was found to be 9.9 N with an overall sensory score of 7.2 ± 0.5 on nine point scale. The experimental errors for all attributes were non-significant (p > 0.05) and thus optimum variables predicted by the model are found suitable.

MR imaging of benign vulvar lesions: a pictorial essay.

Benign vulvar lesions can be difficult to differentiate with few publications on their imaging appearances. While many vulvar lesions may be clinically diagnosed and treated, more are being detected incidentally with the increasing prevalence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the pelvis. In addition, clinicians may find imaging of benign vulvar lesions helpful for greater anatomical correlation. After reviewing the important MRI sequences for vulvar imaging and the anatomy of the vulva on MRI, this pictorial essay illustrates variety of cystic and solid benign vulvar lesions to familiarize radiologists with their common MRI appearances. Other miscellaneous pelvic lesions that can affect the vulva are also described.

Implementation, delivery, and utilization of iron fortified rice supplied through public distribution system across different states in India: An exploratory mixed-method study.

Food fortification with micronutrients is one of the cost-effective and sustainable methods to prevent micronutrient deficiencies at community level. The rice fortified with iron, folic acid, and vitamin B12 is being supplied through various social welfare schemes in India in a phased manner and planned to cover the entire country by March 2024. We have conducted a situational analysis to assess the rollout of fortified rice supplied through the Public Distribution System (PDS) and to evaluate the accessibility, availability, acceptability, and utilization of fortified rice by the beneficiaries of the PDS. This was a mixed-method, sequential exploratory study conducted in six districts from six different states of India that had begun distribution of fortified rice through PDS in pilot mode during 2020-2021. In each district, the district supply officer of the PDS, Food Corporation of India (FCI) or State Food Corporation (SFC) warehouse supervisor, and four Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealers were interviewed. Under each FPS, a minimum of seven beneficiary households were randomly selected and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The in-depth interviews were conducted with different stakeholders using theme guides. All the interviewed stakeholders were aware about their roles and responsibilities and purpose to distribute fortified rice. There was a continuous supply of fortified rice (across all visited districts) to beneficiaries through a well-established system. Acceptability and compliance to intake of fortified rice was good with no reported gastrointestinal adverse outcomes following fortified rice intake. There was an efficient roll-out of fortified rice though PDS with a good compliance to intake of fortified rice. It is feasible to design and conduct a study to assess the impact of fortified rice on anemia and iron storage at the community level.

Integration of Dual Stress Transcriptomes and Major QTLs from a Pair of Genotypes Contrasting for Drought and Chronic Nitrogen Starvation Identifies Key Stress Responsive Genes in Rice.

We report here the genome-wide changes resulting from low N (N-W+), low water (N+W-)) and dual stresses (N-W-) in root and shoot tissues of two rice genotypes, namely, IR 64 (IR64) and Nagina 22 (N22), and their association with the QTLs for nitrogen use efficiency. For all the root parameters, except for root length under N-W+, N22 performed better than IR64. Chlorophyll a, b and carotenoid content were higher in IR64 under N+W+ treatment and N-W+ and N+W- stresses; however, under dual stress, N22 had higher chlorophyll b content. While nitrite reductase, glutamate synthase (GS) and citrate synthase assays showed better specific activity in IR64, glutamate dehydrogenase showed better specific activity in N22 under dual stress (N-W-); the other N and C assimilating enzymes showed similar but low specific activities in both the genotypes. A total of 8926 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified compared to optimal (N+W+) condition from across all treatments. While 1174, 698 and 903 DEGs in IR64 roots and 1197, 187 and 781 in N22 roots were identified, nearly double the number of DEGs were found in the shoot tissues; 3357, 1006 and 4005 in IR64 and 4004, 990 and 2143 in N22, under N-W+, N+W- and N-W- treatments, respectively. IR64 and N22 showed differential expression in 15 and 11 N-transporter genes respectively, under one or more stress treatments, out of which four showed differential expression also in N+W- condition. The negative regulators of N- stress, e.g., NIGT1, OsACTPK1 and OsBT were downregulated in IR64 while in N22, OsBT was not downregulated. Overall, N22 performed better under dual stress conditions owing to its better root architecture, chlorophyll and porphyrin synthesis and oxidative stress management. We identified 12 QTLs for seed and straw N content using 253 recombinant inbred lines derived from IR64 and N22 and a 5K SNP array. The QTL hotspot region on chromosome 6 comprised of 61 genes, of which, five were DEGs encoding for UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, serine threonine kinase, anthocyanidin 3-O-glucosyltransferase, and nitrate induced proteins. The DEGs, QTLs and candidate genes reported in this study can serve as a major resource for both rice improvement and functional biology.

Techniques and outcomes of combined inferior vena cava and visceral resection for benign and malignant disease.

BACKGROUND: Involvement of the inferior vena cava (IVC) by neoplasm has traditionally been considered a contra-indication to curative surgery because of high surgical risks and poor long-term prognosis. Advances in surgical and anaesthetic techniques however have made this feasible. The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcome of combined IVC and visceral resection in a single institution. METHODS: A retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database was performed. Pre-operative clinicopathological data, operative details and post-operative outcomes including overall and disease-free survival were analysed. Clinicopathological data of patients over a seven-year period undergoing combined IVC and visceral resection was reviewed, including overall and disease-free survival. RESULTS: Between 2006 and 2012, 14 patients underwent IVC resection was accompanied by major hepatectomy (8), nephrectomy (6) and multivisceral resection (3). Post resection, the IVC was reconstructed primarily (3); with PTFE tube graft (9) or using a Gore-tex patch graft (2). All patients underwent a R0 resection. There were two postoperative deaths within 30 days. 6 patients had postoperative complications. There was 1 early and one late (after 6 months) IVC thrombosis. With a median follow up of 20 months (range 5-84 months), two patients died of tumour recurrence and ten are alive with (n = 5) or without (n = 5) disease. CONCLUSION: Combined IVC and visceral resection can be safely performed in selected patients. Surgery provides the possibility of negative margins, acceptable perioperative morbidity/mortality and prolonged survival. These factors combined with lack of alternative treatments justify this approach. However, specialist teams should perform the surgery preferably in centres with expertise in liver transplantation.

Severity of primary sclerosing cholangitis and its impact on the clinical outcome of Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Crohn's disease (CD) is associated with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). The aim of the study was to study the association between the severity of PSC and clinical outcome of CD, comparing the course of CD in patients with PSC not needing orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) and those requiring OLT. METHODS: A total of 41 patients with PSC and CD seen at the Cleveland Clinic between 1985 and 2011 were included in this study. Clinical and demographic variables were obtained regarding the outcome of CD in patients with and without OLT. RESULTS: Patients with PSC-CD were divided into two groups: 20 without OLT (non-OLT) and 21 with OLT. 18 (85.7%) of patients in the OLT group had pancolitis in contrast to 14 (70%) in the non-OLT group. (p=0.22). There were no significant differences regarding duration of CD, but the duration of PSC was longer in the OLT group [16.0±7.8 vs. 10.3±6.4, p=0.01]. The OLT and non-OLT groups did not differ in the number of CD flares [0 (0, 0) vs. 0 (0, 5), p=0.28) and need for surgery for CD [(6 (28.6%) vs. 9 (45%), p=0.27]. Colon carcinoma and dysplasia were similar in the non-OLT and OLT groups [(4 (20%) vs. 3 (13.2%), p=0.52]. On Cox regression analysis, OLT for PSC [Hazards ratio (HR) 1.2 (95% confidence interval (C.I.): 0.38-3.7, p=0.79] did not impact the risk of colectomy. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to UC, severe PSC requiring OLT does not appear to impact the clinical outcome of CD.