Potential functional bakery products as delivery systems for prebiotics and probiotics health enhancers.

Several health benefits have been associated to probiotics and prebiotics, most of these are involved in the regulation of the host's gut microbiome. Their incorporation to diverse food products has been done to develop potential functional foods. In the case of bakery products, their incorporation has been seen to improve several technological parameters such as volume, specific volume, texture along with sensorial parameters such as flavor and aroma. Scientific literature in this topic has been divided in three main research branches: nutrition, physical quality and sensory analyzes, however, studies rarely cover all of them. Due to the harsh thermal stress during baking, sourdough technology along with microencapsulation of probiotics, has been studied as an alternative to enhance its nutritional values and increase cell viability, though in few occasions. The potential functional baked goods have maintained acceptable physical characteristics and sensorial acceptability, while in some cases an improvement is seen due to the effect of probiotics and prebiotics. The results obtained from several studies done, have shown the viability of developing functional bakery products by applying prebiotics or probiotics. This could be used as an encouragement for more research to be done in this topic.

Chronic hepatitis C treatment in a cystic fibrosis patient in the pulmonary pre-transplant stage.

The standard treatment of chronic hepatitis C, pegylated interferon and ribavirin (pegI/R), has many limitations in both effectiveness and secondary effects, which makes it unsuitable or even contraindicated for some patients. In hepatitis C virus-infected cystic fibrosis patients this treatment could increase respiratory infections with subsequent pulmonary function deterioration. On the contrary, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection may make lung transplant (LT) unfeasible. We present the case of a cystic fibrosis-young man diagnosed with HCV infection during LT assessment who was treated with pegI/R. In spite of the lung function worsening and respiratory infections, he managed to complete treatment and even sustained virological response (SVR). At present he is on LT waiting list.

Tratamiento de hepatitis crónica C en un paciente con fibrosis quística en situación de pretrasplante pulmonar / Chronic hepatitis C treatment in a cystic fibrosis patient in the pulmonary pre-transplant stage

El tratamiento estándar de la hepatitis crónica C, interferón pegilado (INF-peg) y ribavirina (RBV), puede ser inadecuado o incluso estar contraindicado en algunos pacientes debido a sus limitaciones en cuanto a eficacia y efectos adversos. En pacientes con fibrosis quística infectados por el virus de la hepatitis C (VHC) el tratamiento antiviral podría aumentar las infecciones respiratorias con el consiguiente empeoramiento de la función pulmonar. Por contra, la infección por VHC podría desestimar a estos pacientes para un necesario trasplante pulmonar. Presentamos el caso de un varón con fibrosis quística diagnosticado de infección VHC durante su evaluación previa al trasplante pulmonar. El paciente fue tratado con INF-peg y RBV. A pesar del empeoramiento en la función pulmonar y numerosas infecciones respiratorias intercurrentes, logró completar el tratamiento y obtener respuesta viral sostenida, encontrándose actualmente en lista de espera(AU)

The standard treatment of chronic hepatitis C, pegylated interferon and ribavirin (pegI/R), has many limitations in both effectiveness and secondary effects, which makes it unsuitable or even contraindicated for some patients. In hepatitis C virus-infected cystic fibrosis patients this treatment could increase respiratory infections with subsequent pulmonary function deterioration. On the contrary, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection may make lung transplant (LT) unfeasible. We present the case of a cystic fibrosisyoung man diagnosed with HCV infection during LT assessment who was treated with pegI/R. In spite of the lung function worsening and respiratory infections, he managed to complete treatment and even sustained virological response (SVR). At present he is on LT waiting list(AU)

Environmental risk of particulate and soluble platinum group elements released from gasoline and diesel engine catalytic converters.

A comparison of platinum-group element (PGE) emission between gasoline and diesel engine catalytic converters is reported within this work. Whole raw exhaust fumes from four catalysts of three different types were examined during their useful lifetime, from fresh to 80,000 km. Two were gasoline engine catalysts (Pt-Pd-Rh and Pd-Rh), while the other two were diesel engine catalysts (Pt). Samples were collected following the 91441 EUDC driving cycle for light-duty vehicle testing, and the sample collection device used allowed differentiation between the particulate and soluble fractions, the latter being the most relevant from an environmental point of view. Analyses were performed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) (quadrupole and high resolution), and special attention was paid to the control of spectral interference, especially in the case of Pd and Rh. The results obtained show that, for fresh catalysts, the release of particulate PGE through car exhaust fumes does not follow any particular trend, with a wide range (one-two orders of magnitude) for the content of noble metals emitted. The samples collected from 30,000-80,000 km present a more homogeneous PGE release for all catalysts studied. A decrease of approximately one order of magnitude is observed with respect to the release from fresh catalysts, except in the case of the diesel engine catalyst, for which PGE emission continued to be higher than in the case of gasoline engines. The fraction of soluble PGE was found to represent less than 10% of the total amount released from fresh catalysts. For aged catalysts, the figures are significantly higher, especially for Pd and Rh. Particulate PGE can be considered as virtually biologically inert, while soluble PGE forms can represent an environmental risk due to their bioavailability, which leads them to accumulate in the environment.

Platinum-group elements: quantification in collected exhaust fumes and studies of catalyst surfaces.

Automotive catalytic converters, in which Pt, Pd and Rh (platinum-group elements; PGEs) are the active components for eliminating several noxious components from exhaust fumes, have become the main source of environmental urban pollution by PGEs. This work reports on the catalyst morphology through changes in catalyst surface by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) and laser-induced breakdown spectrometry (LIBS) from fresh to aged catalytic converters. The distribution of these elements in the fresh catalysts analysed (Pt-Pd-Rh gasoline catalyst) is not uniform and occurs mainly in a longitudinal direction. This heterogeneity seems to be greater for Pt and Pd. PGEs released by the catalysts, fresh and aged 30,000 km, were studied in parallel. Whole raw exhaust fumes from four catalysts of three different types were also examined. Two of these were gasoline catalysts (Pt-Pd Rh and Pd-Rh) and the other two were diesel catalysts (Pt). Samples were collected following the 91,441 EUDC driving cycle for light-duty vehicle testing. The results show that at 0 km the samples collected first have the highest content of particulate PGEs and although the general tendency is for the release to decrease with increasing number of samples taken, exceptions are frequent. At 30,000 km the released PGEs in gasoline and diesel catalysts decreased significantly. For fresh gasoline catalysts the mean of the total amount released was approximately 100, 250 and 50 ng km(-1) for Pt, Pd and Rh, respectively. In diesel catalysts the Pt release varied in the range 400-800 ng km-1. After ageing the catalysts up to 30,000 km, the gasoline catalysts released amounts of Pt between 6 and 8 ng km(-1), Pd between 12 and 16 ng km(-1) and Rh between 3 and 12 ng km(-1). In diesel catalysts the Pt release varied in the range 108-150 ng km(-1). The soluble portion of PGEs in the HNO3 collector solution represented less than 5% of the total amount for fresh catalysts. For 30,000 km the total amount of soluble PGEs released was similar or slightly higher than for 0 km.

[Seasonal diet of Tayassu pecari (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica ]. / Dieta estacional del Tayassu pecari (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) en el Parque Nacional Corcovado, Costa Rica.

The diet of the white-lipped peccari Tayassu pecari was studied from July 1996 to April 1997 in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica, through fecal analysis and direct observations. The feces consisted of 61.6% fruits, 37.5% vegetative parts, 0.4% invertebrates and 0.5% unidentified material. These proportions are similar to those reported for white-lipped peccaries diet in South America, but the species consumed were different. In Corcovado, the white-lipped peccary fed on parts of 57 plant species (37 of them fruits). Moraceae was the most represented family. In contrast, the diet of the Peruvian Amazon peccary primarily consists of plant parts (Arecaceae). Costa Rican peccary diet consisted of vegetative parts from Araceae and Heliconaceae. Direct observation showed that peccaries spent 30% of feeding time rooting. Samples taken from rooting sites suggest that peccaries fed on earthworms. Diet differed between months, seasons and habitats. They ate more fruits in coastal and primary forests and more vegetative parts in secondary forest. In the months Octubrer and November the consumption of vegetative parts exceeded fruit consumption.