NOS3 rs1799983 and rs2070744 polymorphisms and their association with advanced chronic kidney disease and coronary heart disease in Canarian population with type 2 diabetes.

Context: Different polymorphisms of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene (NOS3) have been related to diabetic kidney disease. Objective: To evaluate the association between advanced diabetic chronic kidney disease (ACKD) and the rs1799983 and rs2070744 poymorphisms of NOS3 in a population from the Gran Canaria island. Design: Cross-sectional case-control study. Subjects and methods: Polymorphisms were genotyped in 152 subjects with ACKD secondary to type 2 diabetes [estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <30 mL/min/1.73 m2], 110 subjects with type 2 diabetes for 20 or more years since diagnosis without ACKD (eGFR ≥45 mL/min/1.73m2 and albumin/creatinine ratio <300 mg/g and/or 24-h urinary albumin excretion <300 mg) and 292 healthy controls. Association between both polymorphisms and established coronary heart disease (CHD) was also analyzed in both groups with diabetes. Results: A greater proportion of homozygous individuals for the risk allele C of rs2070744 was found among subjects with ACKD. Association between ACKD and rs2070744 was observed in a recessive genetic model, both for comparison to subjects with diabetes but no ACKD [OR 2.17 (95% CI: 1.17-4.00), p=0.014] and for comparison to healthy controls [OR 1.61 (1.03-2.52), p=0.036]. The frequency of the C allele was significantly higher among subjects with CHD, but only in the group with ACKD. No associations were found for rs1799983. Conclusions: NOS3 rs2070744 is associated with ACKD in population with type 2 diabetes from Gran Canaria. A link between this genetic variant and CHD in Canarian subjects with type 2 diabetes could be restricted to cases with ACKD.

Qualitative evaluation of a physical activity health promotion programme for people with intellectual disabilities in a group home setting.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of health promotion programming designed to change the physical activity environment of the group home setting. The Menu-Choice programme assists staff in creating physical activity goals alongside residents with intellectual disabilities and provides strategies to incorporate activity into the group home schedule. The purpose of this study was to complete a process evaluation of Menu-Choice utilizing qualitative methods. METHODS: Twelve participants, who completed a 10-week pilot intervention (n = 7 staff, mean age 42; n = 5 residents, mean age 52), participated in face-to-face interviews. Participants represented five group home sites involved in the intervention. RESULTS: Meta-themes included: (i) Programme training, (ii) Programme implementation, (iii) Programme physical activity, (iv) Programme barriers, (v) Programme facilitators and (vi) Programme feedback. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in programme training and simplified programme materials are needed to accommodate identified barriers for implementation. The importance of obtaining increased agency support and policy change is highlighted.

Schistosomus Reflexus Syndrome in Olive Ridley Sea Turtles ( Lepidochelys olivacea).

The olive ridley sea turtle ( Lepidochelys olivacea), considered the most abundant sea turtle species, is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. The most important nesting areas are located in the Eastern Pacific, and congenital malformations have been previously reported in this species. The present study was conducted in a single population at El Verde beach, one of the most important nesting beaches for the species in the northwestern Mexican Pacific. The study was based on embryos that had been incubated in a controlled environment. Schistosomus reflexus syndrome (SRS) was observed in 124 of 20 257 olive ridley embryos (0.6%), comprising 124 of 400 (31%) cases of congenital malformations over a 7-month period. Affected embryos had malformations of the carapace, bridge, or plastron, resulting in exposure of the abdominal or thoracic viscera, as well as spinal malformation and abnormal positioning of limbs adjacent to the head with subsequent ankylosis. SRS phenotypes (although lethal) varied from mild to severe, although most cases were severe. SRS was mostly associated with congenital malformations in the neck (short neck, 80%), tail (anury, 38%), and flippers (different types of dysmelias, 53%). In most cases of severe SRS, ankyloses were present. Documenting these findings could be important to identify the cause of the developmental defects, and identification of the cause of the defects may be of significance to the population and to our efforts to manage this and other populations at risk.

First Report of Bacterial Blight of Crucifers Caused by Pseudomonas cannabina pv. alisalensis in Minnesota on Arugula (Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa).

In 2011, bacterial blight of arugula (Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa; cv. Roquette) was observed in organically grown plants under overhead irrigation in a field near Delano, MN. Approximately 80 to 100% of each planting was affected, with greater rates of infection occurring after periods of high humidity. Small, water-soaked, angular spots apparent on both sides of the leaves comprised the initial symptoms, which sometimes expanded and coalesced. Lesions maintained a dark water-soaked appearance or dried and turned a brown/tan color. Additionally, some lesions were outlined by a purple margin. Blue-green fluorescent pseudomonads were isolated consistently on King's Medium B agar (KMB) from symptomatic leaf tissue surface-disinfested with sodium hypochlorite (0.525%). The isolates nucleated ice and produced levan. Isolates were oxidase and arginine dihydrolase negative. They did not rot potato slices but did induce a hypersensitive reaction in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun). These data indicated that the bacteria belonged to Lelliott's LOPAT group 1 (2). DNA fragment banding patterns generated by amplifying DNA of the arugula isolates using repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence-polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) and the BOX A1R primer were identical and nearly identical to the banding patterns of the Pseudomonas cannabina pv. alisalensis (formerly P. syringae pv. alisalensis) (1) strain (CFBP1637) and the pathotype strain (CFBP 6866PT), respectively. Pathogenicity was confirmed on the arugula cv. My Way in two independent experiments, each with three replicate plants per treatment. Four isolates were grown on KMB for 48 h at 27°C, suspended in 0.01M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.0), and adjusted to 0.6 optical density at 600 nm (approximately 1 × 108 CFU/ml). Five- to six-week old plants were spray-inoculated until run-off, incubated in a humidity chamber for 48 h, and then placed in a greenhouse at 20 to 25°C for symptom development. For negative and positive control treatments, a similar number of plants each were sprayed with sterile buffer or P. cannabina pv. alisalensis strains CFBP1637 and CFBP 6866PT, respectively. Water-soaked and brown/tan lesions similar to the original symptoms appeared on plants inoculated with the arugula isolates and P. cannabina pv. alisalensis strains 7 to 14 days postinoculation. No symptoms developed on plants treated with sterile buffer. The bacterial strains re-isolated from surface-disinfested symptomatic tissue were identical by rep-PCR to the isolates used to inoculate the plants, thus, confirming Koch's postulates. Identical replicated experiments conducted on broccoli raab indicated that the arugula isolates were also pathogens of broccoli raab (Brassica rapa subsp. rapa, the original host from which P. cannabina pv. alisalensis was isolated). To our knowledge, this is the first report of bacterial blight of crucifers caused by P. cannabina pv. alisalensis in Minnesota. Arugula germplasm is being evaluated for resistance to this pathogen as an acceptable management method for organic cropping systems. References: (1) C. T. Bull et al. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 33:105, 2010. (2) R. A. Lelliott. J. Appl. Bacteriol. 29:470, 1966.

Double asymptotic expansion of three-center electronic repulsion integrals.

A double asymptotic expansion for the evaluation of three-center electron repulsion integrals (ERIs) in the long-range limit is presented. For the definition of this limit, a natural division of space based on the atomic coordinates and basis function exponents in utilized. The resulting analytical expression for the calculation of three-center ERIs in the long-range limit are implemented in the density functional theory program deMon2k. Validation and benchmark calculations of n-alkanes, hydrogen saturated graphene sheets and hydrogen saturated diamond blocks are discussed. It is shown that for a sufficient large number of long-range ERIs, the linear scaling regime is reached.

A brief review on coal reserves, production and possible non-power uses: The case of Mexico.

Coal has been a valuable natural resource for Mexico not just for its relative abundance but for its critical role in the development of the steel and energy industries. It has been also important in the socioeconomic context of the northeast of the country. However, since years ago, coal mining is facing a transition due to the emergence of new energy sources and the public concern about global warming. A brief review on coal reserves, production and possible non-power uses was carried out to provide insight on the reserves in a global context, extraction patterns and alternatives that the Mexican coal industry has to evolve. For this purpose, Mexican coal reserves were overviewed and contextualized at a global level and total coal production figures from 1970 to 2021 were analyzed to identify fluctuations and differences in the amounts produced between coking and non-coking coal. Further, rare earth elements, carbon fiber and humic acid from coal were briefly reviewed with the aim of initiating a debate on the high value-added products that can be obtained and the technologies that can be adopted to develop the coal industry of Mexico. Coal proven reserves in Mexico are of 1211 million tonnes and, from 1970 to 2021, 428.11 million tonnes have been produced. Of the total cumulative production, 68.8% corresponds to non-coking coal and 31.2% to coking coal.

Autoreactivity against myelin basic protein in patients with chronic paraplegia.

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies have shown the existence of either cellular or humoral MBP-reactive elements up to 5 years after spinal cord injury (SCI), but not the presence of both after 10 years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve SCI patients, with more than 10 years of evolution, and 18 healthy blood donors were studied. Lymphocyte proliferation (colorimetric-BrdU ELISA assay) and antibody titers against MBP (ELISA Human IgG MBP-specific assay) were assessed. RESULTS: SCI patients presented a significant T-cell proliferation against MBP (lymphocyte proliferation index: 3.7 ± 1.5, mean ± SD) compared to control individuals (0.7 ± 0.3; P < 0.001). Humoral response analysis yielded a significant difference (P < 0.0001) between the antibody titers of controls and SCI patients. A significant correlation between cellular and humoral responses was observed. Finally, patients with an ASIA B presented the highest immune responses. CONCLUSION: This work demonstrates, for the first time, the existence of both cellular and humoral responses against MBP in the chronic stages (>10 years) of injury.

Optimization and shelf life of a low-lactose yogurt with Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001.

Lactose intolerance results in gastrointestinal discomfort and the malabsorption of certain nutrients, such as calcium. The replacement of milk with low-lactose and probiotic-enriched dairy products is an effective strategy of mitigating the symptoms of lactose intolerance. Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001 (HN001) is a safe, immunity-stimulating probiotic. We have developed a process to increase the hydrolysis of lactose and HN001 growth in yogurt versus ß-galactosidase (ßG) concentration and enzymatic hydrolysis time (EHT) before bacterial fermentation. The objective of this study was to optimize the conditions by which yogurt is processed as a function of ßG and EHT using a multifactorial design, with lactose content, HN001 growth, process time, and sensory quality as dependent variables. Further, the shelf life of the optimized yogurt was evaluated. In the optimization study, polynomials explained the dependent variables. Based on Pearson correlation coefficients, HN001 growth correlated positively with the hydrolysis of lactose. However, low lactose content and high HN001 count increased the fermentation time and lowered the sensory quality. The optimized conditions-using polynomials to obtain yogurt with >1 × 10(7) cfu of HN001/mL, <10 g of lactose/L, and a minimum overall sensory quality of 7 on the Karlsruhe scale-yielded a theoretical value of 910 neutral lactose units/kg for ßG and 2.3h for EHT, which were validated in an industrial-scale assay. Based on a shelf-life study at 3 temperatures, the hydrolysis of lactose and the growth of HN001 continue during storage. Arrhenius equations were developed for the variables in the shelf-life study. Our results demonstrate that it is feasible to develop a low-lactose yogurt to which HN001 has been added for lactose-intolerant persons who wish to strengthen their immune system.

Active compounds and distinctive sensory features provided by American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) extract in a new functional milk beverage.

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) has recognized neurocognitive effects, and a ginsenoside-rich extract of the root of the plant has been shown to improve cognitive functions in young adults. This study aimed at assessing the chemical and sensory profiles of a UHT-treated, low-lactose functional milk containing American ginseng. Individual ginsenosides in the milk were analyzed by HPLC. Descriptive sensory analysis was performed by a trained panel to quantitatively document sensory changes resulting from the addition of ginseng and the UHT process on flavored and unflavored milks. Consumer acceptance of the product was also investigated. Total ginsenoside content in the UHT-treated milk enriched with the ginseng extract after UHT process treatment was 7.52 mg/100 g of milk, corresponding to a recovery of 67.6% compared with the content in the unprocessed extract. The intake of 150 to 300 mL of this ginseng-enriched milk provides the amount of total ginsenosides (11.5 to 23 mg) necessary to improve cognitive function after its consumption. Both the presence of ginsenosides and their thermal treatment affected some sensory properties of the milk, most notably an increase in bitterness and metallic taste, the appearance of a brownish color, and a decrease in milky flavor. Levels of brown color, bitterness, and metallic taste were highest in the industrially processed ginseng-enriched milk. The bitterness attributable to ginseng extract was reduced by addition of vanilla flavor and sucralose. A consumer exploratory study revealed that a niche of consumers exists who are willing to consume this type of product.

Dataset for the thermodynamic simulation of the dissolution behaviour of elemental tellurium and tellurium dioxide in alkaline cyanide solutions.

It is necessary to simulate the thermodynamics of the Te/TeO2-CN-H2O systems to interpret the dissolution behaviour of elemental tellurium and tellurium dioxide in alkaline cyanide solutions. Below are the data employed to simulate the equilibrium diagrams presented in the article entitled "Dissolution behaviour of elemental tellurium and tellurium dioxide in alkaline cyanide solutions". Most of the reactions are available in the Hydra database of MEDUSA© software along with their logarithms to the base 10 of the equilibrium constants (i.e., log K). However, it was complemented with the log K of some important reactions (e.g., which describes the formation of H2TeO3). Log K values were calculated form the ΔG°f reported in the scientific literature. The databases reported can be used to compare the equilibrium constant values, replicate the diagrams presented in the cited article, and simulate other aqueous systems (e.g., those employing alternative lixiviant agents as thiosulfate, thiourea, etc.).

Adult intussusception: still a challenging diagnosis for the surgeon.

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Intussusception is rare in adults and can occur in the small bowel and colon. Its atypical presentation makes the diagnosis difficult. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the causes, clinical characteristics, and treatment outcomes of adult intussusception and to determine whether there was an association between etiology and clinical presentation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was carried out on patients above 18 years of age that were treated for intussusception at a tertiary care hospital, between 2000 and 2020. The findings were summarized utilizing descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: Twenty-eight cases were identified. Median patient age was 46 years (18-80) and median symptom duration was 18 days. Abdominal pain was the most frequent symptom (96.42%). The intussusceptions registered were enteroenteric (14), ileocecal (4), ileocolonic (4), colocolonic (5), and colorrectal (1). Intussusception etiology was benign in 15 cases, 9 were associated with malignancy, and 4 were idiopathic. Surgery was performed on 11 patients with enteroenteric intussusception and on all the cases of ileocecal, ileocolonic, colocolonic, and colorectal intussusception. There were 2 events of perioperative mortality (8%) and 8 of postoperative morbidity (32%). No significant differences were found regarding symptom duration or length of hospital stay, when the etiologic groups were compared. CONCLUSIONS: Intussusception is rare in adults. Diagnosis is a challenge because of the nonspecific signs and symptoms. Surgical resection should be considered in the definitive treatment and management should be individualized according to the patient's comorbidities, clinical presentation, and risk of malignancy.

Spinal cord injury sequelae alter drug pharmacokinetics: an overview.

STUDY DESIGN: Literature review. OBJECTIVES: Critical review of the literature published on the physiological alterations caused by spinal cord injury (SCI) and their effect on the pharmacokinetic parameters of commonly employed drugs. The review introduces the most recent treatment protocols of a variety of drugs, enabling the modern clinician to apply efficacious and cost-effective solutions to the pharmacological treatment of SCI patients. METHODS: Studies published in international indexed journals up to January 2011 were selected from the PubMed database. RESULTS: The review evaluated the sequelae of SCI and their effect on pharmacological processes. The results demonstrated that these alterations affected the pharmacokinetics of drugs commonly administered to SCI patients, such as antibiotics, muscle relaxants, immunosuppressants and analgesics. CONCLUSION: There are multiple etiologies to SCI and patients present with varying degrees of impairment. Factors such as level of injury and completeness of the injury create a very heterogeneous population within the SCI community. The heterogeneity of this population creates a problem when trying to standardize pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters. It is because of this that specific physiological alterations must be linked to changes in PK and be identified within the clinical setting. This relationship between physiology and PK enables the clinician to be alert for possible pharmacological complications in individual patients based on their clinical manifestations. Future research should aim to develop rigorous therapeutic guidelines tailored to the diverse manifestations of SCI so as to provide effective, affordable and safe pharmacotherapy.

Multisystemic alterations in humans induced by bisphenol A and phthalates: Experimental, epidemiological and clinical studies reveal the need to change health policies.

A vast amount of evidence indicates that bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates are widely distributed in the environment since these compounds are mass-produced for the manufacture of plastics and plasticizers. These compounds belong to a large group of substances termed endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC). It is well known that humans and living organisms are unavoidably and unintentionally exposed to BPA and phthalates from food packaging materials and many other everyday products. BPA and phthalates exert their effect by interfering with hormone synthesis, bioavailability, and action, thereby altering cellular proliferation and differentiation, tissue development, and the regulation of several physiological processes. In fact, these EDC can alter fetal programming at an epigenetic level, which can be transgenerational transmitted and may be involved in the development of various chronic pathologies later in the adulthood, including metabolic, reproductive and degenerative diseases, and certain types of cancer. In this review, we describe the most recent proposed mechanisms of action of these EDC and offer a compelling selection of experimental, epidemiological and clinical studies, which show evidence of how exposure to these pollutants affects our health during development, and their association with a wide range of reproductive, metabolic and neurological diseases, as well as hormone-related cancers. We stress the importance of concern in the general population and the urgent need for the medical health care system to closely monitor EDC levels in the population due to unavoidable and involuntary exposure to these pollutants and their impact on human health.

First Report of Apricot latent virus and Plum bark necrosis stem pitting-associated virus in Apricot from Spain.

Representing 2% of world production, 20,000 ha of apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.), are cultivated in Spain, primarily in the southeast. A survey was conducted during the spring of 2008 in orchards in the region of Murcia to assess the incidence of several stone fruit viruses. Leaf and fruit samples from 160 trees from 40 orchards were collected randomly for reverse transcription (RT)-PCR analysis. Total RNA extracted (3) from leaves and fruits was tested by a multiplex one-step RT-PCR protocol with a mix of primers that detect eight distinct viruses (4). Amplicons of 250 bp expected for Plum bark necrosis stem pitting-associated virus (PBNSPaV), corresponding to part of the heat shock 70 protein gene, were obtained from four trees and amplicons of 700 bp expected for Apricot latent virus (ApLV), corresponding to part of the coat protein (CP) gene, were obtained from two trees. In all cases, amplicons were obtained using RNA extracted from leaf and fruit tissues. RT-PCR results were confirmed by uniplex RT-PCR with primers specific for each virus and dot-blot hybridization with virus-specific digoxygenin-labeled RNA probes (2). To further characterize the new viruses, we designed primers to amplify specifically the CP gene of ApLV (5'-CCCGACCATGGCTACAAGC-3' and 5'-TTGCCGTCCCGATTAGGTTG-3') and the minor CP gene of PBNSPaV (5'-GAACAAACTACAGCAGCACC-3' and 5'-CAAGGGTAGGACGGGTAACGC-3'). Amplicons of 1,500 and 950 bp corresponding to the ApLV and PBNSPaV CP genes, respectively, were purified from agarose gels and cloned in the pTZ57R plasmid (Fermentas, Burlington, Ontario, Canada). Blastp analysis of the full-length ApLV CP sequence from one infected tree (GenBank Accession No. GQ919051) revealed 86% amino acid (aa) similarity to the single full-length ApLV CP sequence available (No. AAC16234) and 79 and 66.9% similarity to Peach sooty ringspot virus (No. AAG48314) and Apple stem pitting virus (No. NP604468), respectively. Identity/similarity analysis of the full-length PBNSPaV minor CP genes using the Matrix Global Alignment Tool software, version 2.02 (1), revealed 98.8 to 99.6% aa similarity between the Spanish PBNSPaV isolates (Nos. GQ919047, GQ919048, GQ919049, and GQ919050) and 97.1 to 97.4% with the PBNSPaV isolate from the United States (No. EF546442). None of the six infected trees were associated with any particular field symptoms. Five infected trees were cv. Búlida and one was native cv. Murciana, which was infected with ApLV. All infected trees were located in geographically separated orchards. The incidence of ApLV and PBNSPaV was 1.25 and 2.5%, respectively. The low incidence of both viruses together with the scattered geographic distribution could be due to the recent introduction of virus-contaminated plants, although we cannot exclude that it is a consequence of a low dissemination rate. Even though no symptoms were observed, we cannot discard that the infection could affect fruit production or flowering or even cause a synergistic effect in mixed infection with other stone fruit viruses, a risk especially relevant considering the total area of cultivated apricot. To our knowledge, this is the first report of ApLV and PBNSPaV in Spain. References: (1) J. J. Campanella et al. BMC Bioinformatics 4:29, 2003. (2) M. C. Herranz et al. J. Virol. Methods 124:49, 2005. (3) D. J. Mackenzie et al. Plant Dis. 81:222, 1997. (4) J. A. Sánchez-Navarro et al. Eur. J. Plant Pathol. 111:77, 2005.

PIMA: A population informative multiplex for the Americas.

We describe an ancestry-informative autosomal SNP multiplex designed to be a small-scale, flexible panel that can complement uniparental markers in assessing the American variability (i.e. pre-Colombian) found in contemporary indigenous American populations. This study centered on choosing SNPs with the specific characteristics of: 1) extreme allele frequency differences between indigenous Americans and the African, European and East Asian population groups that contribute to present-day population variation in the Americas; 2) high informativeness-for-assignment In values; and 3) well-spaced genomic distribution and chromosomal separation from existing small-scale forensic ancestry marker sets. The resulting capillary electrophoresis SNaPshot single base extension test was named: PIMA (Population Informative Multiplex for the Americas), comprising 26 autosomal SNPs, a single X-chromosome SNP plus the amelogenin sex marker adapted for SNaPshot. PIMA complements the established 34plex forensic ancestry panel to provide a powerful and simple tool for the analysis of American populations, including those with admixed histories, commonly encountered in America. Comparing the results obtained with the combined marker panels of PIMA and 34plex to SNP data from a much larger ancestry panel allowed us to gauge their relative efficiency. PIMA+34plex gives equivalent power to the 314-SNP 'LACE' genomic ancestry control panel, while requiring a much smaller genotyping effort. The ancestry profiles and genetic structure of 22 populations spread across the American continent were estimated using PIMA+34plex data, and those estimates were contrasted with information provided by uniparental markers (mtDNA and Y-chromosome loci) for a small set of admixed individuals from Venezuela. Our results indicate that an American genetic component is efficiently detected in contemporary American populations using a small set of ancestry informative SNPs, and these co-ancestry estimates are consistent with the known history and demography of the Americas. The small scale and high population differentiation power of PIMA, particularly when combined with 34plex, provides a practical and powerful tool for genetic studies of American populations as well as forensic DNA analyses.

Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in the treatment of obesity: evidence based update through randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses.

Bariatric surgery was introduced in 1953, but during the last 20 years its popularity has increased after the development of significant Romaevidenced based breakthroughs in the field. Currently, approximately 150 long-term randomized clinical trials and 40 meta-analyses support and give credibility to the surgical approaches for the treatment of obesity and its related metabolic disturbances. Bariatric surgery has demonstrated improved outcomes compared to medical treatment, conduct therapy, and endoscopic procedures. Roux-en-Y gastrojejunostomy (RYGB) and Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) are the surgical procedures most frequently performed, due to their satisfactory results and security profile. There is sufficient evidence in medical literature to perform these procedures when indicated; however, there are still several controversies regarding technical aspects that need to be further explored.

Predicting tearing paths in thin sheets.

This study investigates the tearing of a thin notched sheet when two points on the sheet are pulled apart. The concepts that determine the crack trajectory are reviewed in the general anisotropic case, in which the energy of the fracture depends on the fracture direction. When observed as a flat sheet a purely geometric "tearing vector" is defined through the location of the crack tip and the pulling points. Both Griffiths's criterion and the maximum energy release rate criterion (MERR) predict a fracture path that is parallel to the tearing vector in the isotropic case. However, for the anisotropic case, the application of the MERR leads to a crack path that deviates from the tearing vector, following a propagation direction that tends to minimize the fracture energy. In the case of strong anisotropy, it is more difficult to obtain an analytical prediction of the tearing trajectory. Thus, simple geometrical arguments are provided to give a derivation of a differential equation accounting for crack trajectory, according to the natural coordinates of the pulling, and in the case that the anisotropy is sufficiently weak. The solution derived from this analysis is in good agreement with previous experimental observations.

Sanitization of Chicken Frames by a Combination of Hydrogen Peroxide and UV Light To Reduce Contamination of Derived Edible Products.

Chicken carcass frames are used to obtain mechanically separated chicken (MSC) for use in other further processed food products. Previous foodborne disease outbreaks involving Salmonella-contaminated MSC have demonstrated the potential for the human pathogen to be transmitted to consumers via MSC. The current study evaluated the efficacy of multiple treatments applied to the surfaces of chicken carcass frames to reduce microbial loads on noninoculated frames and frames inoculated with a cocktail of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Inoculated or noninoculated frames were left untreated (control) or were subjected to treatment using a prototype sanitization apparatus. Treatments consisted of (i) a sterile water rinse, (ii) a water rinse followed by 5 s of UV-C light application, or (iii) an advanced oxidation process (AOP) combining 5 or 7% (v/v) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) with UV-C light. Treatment with 7% H2O2 and UV-C light reduced numbers of aerobic bacteria by up to 1.5 log CFU per frame (P < 0.05); reductions in aerobic bacteria subjected to other treatments did not statistically differ from one another (initial mean load on nontreated frames: 3.6 ± 0.1 log CFU per frame). Salmonella numbers (mean load on inoculated, nontreated control was 5.6 ± 0.2 log CFU per frame) were maximally reduced by AOP application in comparison with other treatments. No difference in Salmonella reductions obtained by 5% H2O2 (1.1 log CFU per frame) was detected compared with that obtained following 7% H2O2 use (1.0 log CFU per frame). The AOP treatment for sanitization of chicken carcass frames reduces microbial contamination on chicken carcass frames that are subsequently used for manufacture of MSC.

Pharmacological neuroprotective therapy for acute spinal cord injury: state of the art.

After spinal cord injury, a number of destructive events developed immediately after the primary insult increase tissue damage. Several therapeutic approaches are directed to neutralize these phenomena. The present manuscript revises diverse pharmacological treatments used to promote neuroprotection, both in clinical and experimental acute spinal cord injuries.