Microbial biopreservatives for controlling the spoilage of beef and lamb meat: their application and effects on meat quality.

Biopreservation is a recognized natural method for controlling the growth of undesirable bacteria on fresh meat. It offers the potential to inhibit spoilage bacteria and extend meat shelf-life, but this aspect has been much less studied compared to using the approach to target pathogenic bacteria. This review provides comprehensive information on the application of biopreservatives of microbial origin, mainly bacteriocins and protective cultures, in relation to bacterial spoilage of beef and lamb meat. The sensory effect of these biopreservatives, an aspect that often receives less attention in microbiological studies, is also reviewed. Microbial biopreservatives were found to be able to retard the growth of the major meat spoilage bacteria, Brochothrix thermosphacta, Pseudomonas spp., and Enterobacteriaceae. Their addition did not have any discernible negative impact on the sensory properties of meat, whether assessed by human sensory panels or instrumental and chemical analyses. Although results are promising, the concept of biopreservation for controlling spoilage bacteria on fresh meat is still in its infancy. Studies in this area are still lacking, especially for lamb. Biopreservatives need more testing under conditions representative of commercial meat production, along with studies of any possible sensory effects, in order to validate their potential for large-scale industrial applications.

Fragrance inhalation and adverse health effects: The question of causation.

The toxicology of fragrance materials is largely well understood. Although most are benign, a minority have the potential to cause adverse health effects, notably allergic contact dermatitis resulting from skin sensitization. As a consequence, industry guidelines have banned certain materials and strictly limited the use of others. Recently, data have been published that have been interpreted to suggest that inhalation of fragrances is associated with the occurrence of a variety of health effects, ranging from headaches to asthma attacks. In this review, the evidence basis for these assertions is examined critically and the biological basis and mechanistic plausibility for causation by fragranced products of these health effects is explored. This review concludes that respiratory effects, including irritation and allergy appear highly unlikely to occur by this route. While some sensory/psychosomatic effects are possible, this does not explain the very high rates of adverse effects reported in the recently published questionnaire studies, which this review concludes are more likely to be attributed to methodological weaknesses. Ultimately, it is concluded that adverse health effects arising from fragrance inhalation are uncommon and remain to be identified and confirmed by methodologically rigorous epidemiological investigations supported by a convincing biological and mechanistic basis.

[EVALUATIONS OF SENSORY ATTRIBUTE OF INTRANASAL CORTICOSTEROID SPRAYS IN HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS].

BACKGROUND: Intranasal corticosteroid sprays (INCSs) have not been a mainstay of the treatment for nasal allergies. We evaluated the sensory effects of INCSs since they might affect compliance to treatment. METHODS: The study population included 45 healthy volunteers. The subjects were randomized 1 : 1 to receive fluticasone furoate (FF) followed by mometasone furoate (MF) or MF followed by FF. There was a 30-minutes waiting period between the administration of each drug. The subjects completed questionnaire to evaluate the nasal sprays immediately after and 2 or 3 minutes after the drug administration. RESULTS: The subject favored FF over MF. A logistic regression analysis showed that nasal irritation was a significant effect after the use of FF and MF. The sensory effects of FF and MF were not unfavorable to the extent that they affect daily use. CONCLUSION: The sensory effects of INCSs were not as unfavorable as we thought.

Toward a Better Understanding of Perceptive Interactions between Volatile and Nonvolatile Compounds: The Case of Proanthocyanidic Tannins and Red Wine Fruity Esters-Methodological, Sensory, and Physicochemical Approaches.

The impact of commercial proanthocyanidic tannins on fruity pool of esters, representing the fruitiness of Bordeaux red wines, was assessed in model solutions. It was shown that the presence of tannins in the matrix significantly attenuated perception of fruity notes (p = 0.013). Physicochemical analysis demonstrated that the presence of proanthocyanidic tannins in dilute alcohol solution resulted in a decrease in ester partition coefficients and thus in a decrease in ester contents in the headspace (p < 0.05). This fact highlighted the changes that may occur in wines at a pre-sensory level, prior to sensory evaluation. Finally, a new sensory tool was developed, consisting in an ISO glass containing two compartments separated by a glass wall, providing a way to compare perceived odors according to whether or not the components of the odor mixtures were actually mixed in solution (p < 0.001). This new tool was used to demonstrate the impact and the only implication of pre-sensory level in the consequences of physical mixture between proanthocyanidic tannins and esters on their odor perception.

Priming of complex action via movement contingent sensory effects.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to examine whether movement contingent sensory effects could be used to prime and facilitate motor performance on a ball-tossing task. DESIGN: The ball-tossing task was performed across two consecutive days, and consisted of an acquisition phase and a test phase. During the acquisition phase, participants (N = 30) practiced an underhanded ball tossing task to a near and far target (N = 360 total, n = 180 each distance). Tosses that landed near the target immediately produced an auditory feedback tone upon landing, with unique tones for both the near and far target. In the test phase, the auditory tones preceded the toss and served as imperative stimuli for the tossing task. METHOD: The test phase consisted of three tossing conditions (corresponding, non-corresponding, and control) in which the participants responded to the tones by tossing the ball to either the corresponding or non-corresponding target associated with the tones during learning. RESULTS: Findings indicated that both accuracy and consistency of ball tossing improved when the toss was preceded by the corresponding auditory feedback associated with the successful execution of the action during learning. CONCLUSIONS: The present study extends previous research by showing that complex actions consisting of multiple degrees of freedom can be primed via movement contingent sensory effects. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that movement-effect priming can impact distal measures of motor performance (e.g., accuracy of tossing), as opposed to the features of movement production (e.g., response selection, initiation, and execution).

A influência de mídias multissensoriais na aprendizagem de crianças com transtorno de leitura / The influence of multisensory media on learning children with reading disorder

A dislexia é um transtorno específico de aprendizagem que pode afetar a habilidade de leitura prejudicando, principalmente, o processo de alfabetização. Na leitura, alguns dos sintomas observados são os erros de reconhecimento de palavras e a dificuldade de decodificação de palavras, o que acaba ocasionando um prejuízo na compreensão de textos. Pesquisas publicadas na literatura indicam que o uso de conteúdos multimídia melhoram o desempenho de leitura de escolares com dislexia. No entanto, a maioria das aplicações multimídia usam apenas dois dos cinco sentidos humanos: a visão e a audição. O MBook, livro multissensorial desenvolvido para este trabalho, utiliza um rastreador ocular para sincronizar mídias multissensoriais de vento, cheiro, sons e luzes ao texto que está sendo lido. Baseado na hipótese de que o livro multissensorial poderia diminuir a sobrecarga na memória de trabalho durante a leitura, favorecendo a compreensão de textos, aumentando o número de palavras lidas por minuto e aumentando a motivação pela leitura, foi realizada uma comparação entre dois estudos de caso individuais, um com um escolar com dislexia e outro sem. Os resultados apontam para um ganho maior na compreensão do texto e aumento na velocidade da leitura pelo escolar com dislexia ao utilizar mídias multissensoriais. Além disso, em ambos os casos, o uso da ferramenta indicou um aumento na motivação pela leitura.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder that can affect reading ability, mainly impairing the literacy process. In reading, some of the symptoms observed are errors of word recognition and difficulty in decoding words, which causes a loss in the comprehension of texts. Studies published in the literature indicate that the use of multimedia content improves the reading performance of students with dyslexia. However, most multimedia applications use only two of the five human senses: vision and hearing. The MBook, a multisensory book developed for this work, uses an eye tracker to synchronize wind, smell, sounds, and light effects to the text being read. Based on the hypothesis that the multisensory book could reduce the overload in working memory during reading, favoring the comprehension of texts, increasing the number of words read per minute and increasing motivation for reading, a comparison of two individual case studies was conducted: one with a student with dyslexia and one without. The results pointed to a greater gain in the comprehension of the text and an increase in reading speed by the student with dyslexia when multisensory media were used. In addition, with both students, the use of the tool pointed to an increase in reading motivation.

Hearing loss: a possible consequence of malaria.

PIP: More than 200 million people worldwide contract malaria from mosquito bites. In sub-Saharan Africa, 100 million clinical cases of malaria are reported every year, resulting in almost one million deaths. Malaria has been implicated in the causation of deafness in several studies in the West Africa subregion. This paper examines the association between malaria and deafness, and considers which factors may be involved in the causation of deafness. Although age, immunity, the type of malaria parasite, fever, complications of malaria, and complications resulting from the drug treatment of malaria may contribute to the development of deafness in malaria, the actual mechanism of causation is not clearly understood. Deafness in malaria is associated with P. falciparum parasitic infection. The author is certain that the high fever in malaria, leading to febrile convulsions and cerebral involvement, can result in deafness. Further investigation is needed to determine whether the presence of untreated malaria parasites in the blood causes deafness.^ieng

Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions in heterosexuals, homosexuals, and bisexuals.

Click-evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs) were previously shown to be significantly less strong in homosexual and bisexual females than in heterosexual females. Here it is reported that the spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) of those same 60 homosexual and bisexual females were less numerous and weaker than those in 57 heterosexual females. That is, the SOAEs of the homosexual and bisexual females were intermediate to those of heterosexual females and heterosexual males. The SOAE and CEOAE data both suggest that the cochleas of homosexual and bisexual females have been partially masculinized, possibly as part of some prenatal processes that also masculinized whatever brain structures are responsible for sexual orientation. For males of all sexual orientation, the SOAEs were less numerous and weaker than for the females, and there were no significant differences among the 56 heterosexual, 51 homosexual, and 11 bisexual males. All subjects passed a hearing screening test. When all SOAEs above 3000 Hz were excluded (as a control against incipient, undetected hearing loss) the same results were obtained as with the full range of data (550-9000 Hz). The differential use of oral contraceptives by the heterosexual and nonheterosexual females also could not explain the differences in their OAEs.

PIP: Click-evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs) were previously shown to be significantly less strong in homosexual and bisexual females than in heterosexual females. This article reports that the spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) among 60 homosexual and bisexual females and 57 heterosexual females showed the same basic pattern as did the CEOAEs. That is, the SOAEs of the homosexual and bisexual females were intermediate to those of heterosexual females and heterosexual males. The SOAE and the CEOAE data both suggest that the cochleas of homosexual and bisexual females have been partly masculinized, possibly as part of prenatal processes and of whatever brain structures are responsible for sexual orientation. For male sexual orientation the SOAEs were less numerous and weaker than for the females, and there were no significant differences among the 56 heterosexual, 51 homosexual, and 11 bisexual males. All subjects passed a hearing screening test. When all SOAEs above 300 Hz were excluded (as a control against incipient, undetected hearing loss) the same results were obtained as with the full range of data (550-9000 Hz). The differential use of oral contraceptives by the heterosexual and nonheterosexual females also could not explain the differences in their otoacoustic emissions.

Randomised controlled trial of treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media in Kenyan schoolchildren.

BACKGROUND: The outcomes of treatment of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) are disappointing and uncertain, especially in developing countries. Because CSOM is the commonest cause of hearing impairment in children in these countries, an effective method of management that can be implemented on a wide scale is needed. We report a randomised, controlled trial of treatment of CSOM among children in Kenya; unaffected schoolchildren were taught to administer the interventions. METHODS: We enrolled 524 children with CSOM, aged 5-15 years, from 145 primary schools in Kiambu district of Kenya. The schools were randomly assigned treatments in clusters of five in a ratio of two to dry mopping alone (201 children), two to dry mopping with topical and systemic antibiotics and topical steroids (221 children), and one to no specific treatment (102 children). Schools were matched on factors thought to be related to their socioeconomic status. The primary outcome measures were resolution of otorrhoea and healing of tympanic membranes on otoscopy by 8, 12, and 16 weeks after induction. Absence of perforation was confirmed by tympanometry, and hearing levels were assessed by audiometry. 29 children were withdrawn from the trial because they took non-trial antibiotics. There was no evidence of differences in timing of withdrawals between the groups. FINDINGS: By the 16-week follow-up visit, otorrhoea had resolved in a weighted mean proportion of 51% (95% CI 42-59) of children who received dry mopping with antibiotics, compared with 22% (14-31) of those who received dry mopping alone and 22% (9-35) of controls. Similar differences were recorded by the 8-week and 12-week visits. The weighted mean proportions of children with healing of the tympanic membranes by 16 weeks were 15% (10-21) in the dry-mopping plus antibiotics group, 13% (5-20) in the dry-mopping alone group, and 13% (3-23) in the control group. The proportion with resolution in the dry-mopping alone group did not differ significantly from that in the control group at any time. Hearing thresholds were significantly better for children with no otorrhoea at 16 weeks than for those who had otorrhoea, and were also significantly better for those whose ears had healed than for those with otorrhoea at all times. INTERPRETATION: Our finding that dry mopping plus topical and systemic antibiotics is superior to dry mopping alone contrasts with that of the only previous community-based trial in a developing country, though it accords with findings of most other trials in developed countries. The potential role of antibiotics needs further investigation. Further, similar trials are needed to identify the most cost-effective and appropriate treatment regimen for CSOM in children in developing countries.

PIP: 524 children aged 5-15 years with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) were enrolled in a study to determine the effectiveness of different treatment regimens. The subjects were from 145 primary schools in Kenya's Kiambu district. 201 children received dry mopping treatment, 221 received dry mopping with topical and systemic antibiotics and topical steroids, and 102 received no treatment. Participating schools were matched on factors thought to be related to their socioeconomic status. 29 children were withdrawn from the trial for taking non-trial antibiotics, with no evidence observed of differences in the timing of withdrawals between the two groups. At 16 weeks of follow-up, otorrhoea had resolved in a weighted mean proportion of 51% of children who received dry mopping with antibiotics, 22% of children who received dry mopping alone, and 22% of untreated children. Similar differences were observed at 8 and 12 weeks of follow-up. The weighted mean proportions of children with healing of the tympanic membranes by 16 weeks were 15% in the dry-mopping plus antibiotics group, 13% in the dry-mopping alone group, and 13% in the control group. Hearing thresholds were significantly better for children with no otorrhoea at 16 weeks than for those who had otorrhoea, and were also significantly better for those whose ears had healed than for those with otorrhoea at all times.