Meat color in retail displays with fluorescent illumination

The color of beef longissimus dorsi muscle of a homogeneous group of fifteen males of Pirenaica breed in terms of the CIELAB color space was studied using the actual illuminating conditions existing in a representative fraction of retail displays operating in 51 local butcher's shops and supermarkets. All retail displays mounted fluorescent lamps and up to nine fluorescent models with different chromatic characteristics were found. Meat color was analyzed at four different times: immediately after cutting and after 1 day, 5 days, and 7 days of exposure to air. At each measurement day computed a*, b*, C* and h_ab color coordinates gave significantly higher values than the corresponding D65 values. All fluorescent models enhanced the red color of meat but none of them masked or enhanced meat color differences between samples or between measurement days. Significant differences in color coordinates were found between retail displays that mounted identical fluorescent models, proving the important role of uncontrolled environmental factors like daylight or scattered light from the walls and ceiling. With respect to computed color coordinates, the intrinsic natural variations in the color of meat samples were more important than variations in the illuminating conditions. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 30, 304–311, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20123     

Differences in prediction of mortality and non-fatal complications after acute myocardial infarction: a multivariate analysis

The global prognostic after acute myocardial infarction depends of the left ventricular function and the residual ischemia. However, there is controversy about the capacity of some variables reflecting this prognostic factors to predict futures complications. The main objective of this study is to know the influence of the kind of complications in the prognostic value of the variables more frequently used in the clinical practice. We studied 121 consecutive patients with acute myocardial infarction discharged from hospital. The previous and during acute infarction clinical variables were analyzed. The regional and global left ventricular function was studied by 2D echocardiography. An exercise test symptoms-limited was performed at 3rd week after discharge in 94 patients selected. The patients were followed during selected one year. The first year cardiac mortality rate was 8.6%. In the multivariate, the independent predictors of mortality were: age > 60 years (p = 0.02) and the impossibility to perform exercise test (p = 0.0002). In the univariate analysis the echocardiographic motility score > or = 17, eyection fraction < 35% and Killip class > or = II were also death predictors. Non fatal complications (angina, reinfarction o heart failure) were present in 47 patients (42.3%) of 111 survivors. The ischemic complications were predicted in multivariate analysis only by postinfarction angina (p = 0.0007), and heart failure by eyection fraction < 35% (p = 0.006), previous infarct (p = 0.002) and Killip class (p = 0.04).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The motif V of plum pox potyvirus CI RNA helicase is involved in NTP hydrolysis and is essential for virus RNA replication

The plum pox potyvirus (PPV) protein CI is an RNA helicase whose function in the viral life cycle is still unknown. The CI protein contains seven conserved sequence motifs typical of RNA helicases of the superfamily SF2. We have introduced several individual point mutations into the region coding for motif V of the PPV CI protein and expressed these proteins in Escherichia coli as maltose binding protein fusions. Mutations that abolished RNA helicase activity also disturbed NTP hydrolysis. No mutations affected the RNA binding capacity of the CI protein. These mutations were also introduced in the PPV genome making use of a full-length cDNA clone. Mutant viruses carrying CI proteins with reduced RNA helicase activity replicated very poorly in protoplasts and were unable to infect whole plants without rapid pseudoreversion to wild-type. These results indicate that motif V is involved in the NTP hydrolysis step required for potyvirus RNA helicase activity, and that this activity plays an essential role in virus RNA replication inside the infected cell.     

Nickel Nanoparticles Dispersion on Carbon Molecular Sieve by Electroless Deposition

This work presents a novel one step process to synthesize nickel nanoparticles dispersed on activated carbon. This technique is widely used for the plating of metal surfaces and consists of the immersion of substrate on a stabilized bath that contains the metal precursor, a complexing agent, an additive for pH control, and chemical stabilizer to avoid the spontaneous reduction of metal in bath solution. By this process, nickel was dispersed on chemical activated carbon (carbon molecular sieve, CMS) obtaining a catalyst which showed better catalytic activity on benzene dehydrogenation than the observed for unsupported nickel nanoparticles and a commercial catalyst composed by nickel nanoparticles supported in Al₂O₃?CSiO₂.     

Brettanomyces susceptibility to antimicrobial agents used in winemaking: in vitro and practical approaches

Brettanomyces bruxellensis is a spoiling yeast responsible for developing off-odors in wine described as “Brett-character.” The objective of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of four enological compounds against Brettanomyces: potassium metabisulfite (PMB), chitosan, enological tannins and dimethyl dicarbonate. Minimal inhibitory concentrations and minimal biocidal concentrations of the antimicrobial agents were determined, and a comparative study between B. bruxellensis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was performed under in vitro controlled conditions. All tested compounds showed inhibitory effect on the growth of Brettanomyces. Chitosan and the enological tannins showed selectivity against Brettanomyces, and PMB showed the highest efficacy in concentrations under the currently permitted limits for enological use; consequently, PMB was further evaluated in red wines naturally contaminated by Brettanomyces. Volatile phenol concentrations were determined after long-term storage of the wines treated with PMB. A direct correlation was demonstrated between the concentrations of 4-ethylphenol, 4-ethylguaiacol, 4-propylguaiacol and Brettanomyces populations in the studied wines, and these parameters correlated inversely with the concentrations of PMB employed. This is the first time that 4-propylguaiacol is shown to correlate with Brettanomyces population in wine. It is of enological significance that a concentration of 100 mg/L of total PMB efficiently prevented Brettanomyces growth in the aging red wines of our study and that volatile phenol concentrations were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in those poorly protected wines.     

Complete Proteome of a Quinolone-Resistant Salmonella Typhimurium Phage Type DT104B Clinical Strain

Salmonellosis is one of the most common and widely distributed foodborne diseases. The emergence of Salmonella strains that are resistant to a variety of antimicrobials is a serious global public health concern. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium definitive phage type 104 (DT104) is one of these emerging epidemic multidrug resistant strains. Here we collate information from the diverse and comprehensive range of experiments on Salmonella proteomes that have been published. We then present a new study of the proteome of the quinolone-resistant Se20 strain (phage type DT104B), recovered after ciprofloxacin treatment and compared it to the proteome of reference strain SL1344. A total of 186 and 219 protein spots were recovered from Se20 and SL1344 protein extracts, respectively, after two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The signatures of 94% of the protein spots were successfully identified through matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Three antimicrobial resistance related proteins, whose genes were previously detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), were identified in the clinical strain. The presence of these proteins, dihydropteroate synthase type-2 (sul2 gene), aminoglycoside resistance protein A (strA gene) and aminoglycoside 6''-N-acetyltransferase type Ib-cr4 (aac(6'')-Ib-cr4 gene), was confirmed in the DT104B clinical strain. The aac(6'')-Ib-cr4 gene is responsible for plasmid-mediated aminoglycoside and quinolone resistance. This is a preliminary analysis of the proteome of these two S. Typhimurium strains and further work is being developed to better understand how antimicrobial resistance is developing in this pathogen.     

Assessment of antibiotic susceptibility within lactic acid bacteria strains isolated from wine

Susceptibility to 12 antibiotics was tested in 75 unrelated lactic acid bacteria strains of wine origin of the following species: 38 Lactobacillus plantarum, 3 Lactobacillus hilgardii, 2 Lactobacillus paracasei, 1 Lactobacillus sp, 21 Oenococcus oeni, 4 Pediococcus pentosaceus, 2 Pediococcus parvulus, 1 Pediococcus acidilactici, and 3 Leuconostoc mesenteroides. The Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations of the different antibiotics that inhibited 50% of the strains of the Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc and Pediococcus genera were, respectively, the following ones: penicillin (2, < or =0.5, and < or =0.5 microg/ml), erythromycin (< or =0.5 microg/ml), chloramphenicol (4 microg/ml), ciprofloxacin (64, 8, and 128 microg/ml), vancomycin (> or =128 microg/ml), tetracycline (8, 2, and 8 microg/ml), streptomycin (256, 32, and 512 microg/ml), gentamicin (64, 4, and 128 microg/ml), kanamycin (256, 64, and 512 microg/ml), sulfamethoxazole (> or =1024 microg/ml), and trimethoprim (16 microg/ml). All 21 O. oeni showed susceptibility to erythromycin, tetracycline, rifampicin and chloramphenicol, and exhibited resistance to aminoglycosides, vancomycin, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim, that could represent intrinsic resistance. Differences were observed among the O. oeni strains with respect to penicillin or ciprofloxacin susceptibility. Antibiotic resistance genes were studied by PCR and sequencing, and the following genes were detected: erm(B) (one P. acidilactici), tet(M) (one L. plantarum), tet(L) (one P. parvulus), aac(6')-aph(2") (four L. plantarum, one P. parvulus, one P. pentosaceus and two O. oeni), ant(6) (one L. plantarum, and two P. parvulus), and aph(3')-IIIa (one L. plantarum and one O. oeni). This is the first time, to our knowledge, that ant(6), aph(3')-IIIa and tet(L) genes are found in Lactobacillus and Pediococcus strains and antimicrobial resistance genes are reported in O. oeni strains.     

基于C 语言的串口通讯程序设计

本文着重介绍三线多环回型结构电缆结构的构成 ,设计了新的发送 /接收收程序来防止信息丢失 ,用 Turbo C语言实现了个人计算机同智能仪表的通讯程序设计