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Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is considered a sleep-related respiratory disorder, characterized by repetitive episodes of complete (apnea) or partial (hypopnea) obstruction of airflow in the upper airway (UA) during sleep. The pathophysiology of upper airway obstruction in OSAS is multifactorial, leading to a chronic recurrent state of intermittent hypoxemia and reoxygenation during sleep, maintaining a state of oxidative stress, which seems to be the key to the pathophysiological manifestations of OSAS, and is associated with the development of a number of high morbidity–mortality systematic complications, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular and neuropsychological diseases. This study is an open, cross-sectional, and comparative clinical trial, whose general objective was to assess the correlation between OSAS severity, oxidative stress markers, and the presence of affective symptoms (depressive and anxious) in OSAS patients. We studied 38 adult males, who had been diagnosed with OSAS by overnight polysomnography, between 18 and 60 years of age, divided into three groups: group 1—10 individuals with mild OSAS (AHI between 5 and 14.9/h), group 2—13 individuals with moderate OSAS (AHI between 15 and 30/h), and group 3—15 individuals with severe OSAS (AHI >30/h). All individuals were evaluated for level of subjective sleepiness using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, for depressive and anxiety symptoms by the Hamilton Depression (HAM-D) and Anxiety (HAM-A) Scales, and for parameters of the oxidative stress state, measuring superoxide radical and serum nitrates and nitrites levels. There was a progressive and significant increase in the state of oxidative stress ( p  < 0.05), in the total score of depressive symptoms ( p  = 0.001) and in the overall score of anxiety symptoms ( p  = 0.004) directly proportional to the severity of apnea when comparing the mild group to the severe group. Positive correlations were identified between superoxide production and the apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) ( r  = 0.48), Epworth sleepiness score ( r  = 0.36), and Hamilton depression score (HAM-D) ( r  = 0.40); between serum nitrates and nitrites levels and SO 2 min ( r  = 0.44); and between the AHI and the HAM-D ( r  = 0.51) score and HAM-A ( r  = 0.40) score. Negative correlations were observed between the AHI and serum nitrates and nitrites levels ( r  = −0.42), between superoxide production and SO 2 min ( r  = −0.31), between serum nitrates and nitrites levels and HAM-D ( r  = −0.50) and HAM-A (−0.42) scores, and between SO 2 min and HAM-D ( r  = −0.48) and HAM-A ( r  = −0.40) scores. According to the results of this study, we can conclude that (1) individuals with OSAS show an increase in the production of superoxide radical and a decrease in serum nitrates and nitrites levels, which are objective signs of a state of oxidative stress. (2) The more severe the OSAS, the more fragmented the sleep and the greater the nocturnal hypoxemia, the more severe is the oxidative stress state and the greater is the incidence of daytime symptoms, especially sleepiness and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Future studies might explore the investigation of oxidative stress parameters as an alternative approach to anticipate symptoms, measure prognosis, and monitor OSAS progression or treatment response.

Four different strategies were employed to obtain egg-derived products in form of sticks with a reduced cholesterol content (use of β-cyclodextrins, extraction of egg-yolk granules, bioconversion of cholesterol by cholesterol oxidase, and use of chitosan as a chelating agent). The developed products were analyzed and compared to conventional egg-derived products for their proximate composition, cholesterol content, color, and consumer acceptability. Additionally, the lipid oxidation and surface color stability of modified and conventional egg-derived products were investigated during 30 days of frozen storage. The results obtained showed reductions in the cholesterol content of egg-derived yolks ranging from 27.11 % (chitosan addition in a range 1:1) to 87.54 % (β-cyclodextrins added directly). Lipid oxidation determinations revealed that no significant increases were found in any of the developed yolks with respect to control ones. In fact, chitosan-added products (in a range 2:1) and egg-derived products elaborated with yolk granules showed significantly lower lipid oxidation than control ones after frozen storage. Consumer acceptability parameters did not reveal significant differences between chitosan-added egg-derived products with respect to the control ones, with the only exception of a slight difference in odor (5.57 in chitosan-added product vs 5.14 in control product). Considering all the results obtained, egg-derived yolk that was chelated by chitosan contained the best balance out of the four methodologies employed, considering price, the ease of industrial application, and the minor changes in color and consumer acceptability. The final reduction of cholesterol content using this method was about 50 %.

Salmonella serovars are responsible for foodborne diseases around the world. The ability to form biofilms allows microorganisms to survive in the environment. In this study, 73 Salmonella strains, belonging to four different subspecies, were isolated from poultry houses and foodstuffs and tested. Biofilm formation was measured at four different temperatures and two nutrient concentrations. Morphotypes and cellulose production were evaluated at three different temperatures. The presence of several genes related to biofilm production was also examined. All strains and subspecies of Salmonella had the ability to form biofilms, and 46.57% of strains produced biofilms under all conditions tested. Biofilm formation was strain dependent and varied according to the conditions. This is the first study to analyze biofilm formation in a wide number of Salmonella enterica subsp. arizonae strains, and no direct relationship between the high prevalence of Salmonella enterica subsp. arizonae strains and their ability to form biofilm was established. Morphotypes and cellulose production varied as the temperature changed, with 20°C being the optimum temperature for expression of the red, dry, and rough morphotype and cellulose. Salmonella enterica subsp. arizonae, whose morphotype is poorly studied, only showed a smooth and white morphotype and lacked the csgD and gcpA genes that are implicated in biofilm production. Thus, Salmonella biofilm formation under different environmental conditions is a public health problem because it can survive and advance through the food chain to reach the consumer.

Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligasaccharides composed by d -glucose monomers joined by α-1,4- d glicosidic linkages. The main types of CDs are α-, β- and γ-CDs consisting of cycles of six, seven, and eight glucose monomers, respectively. Their ability to form inclusion complexes is the most important characteristic, allowing their wide industrial application. The physical property of the CD-complexed compound can be altered to improve stability, volatility, solubility, or bio-availability. The cyclomaltodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase, EC 2.4.1.19) is an enzyme capable of converting starch into CD molecules. In this work, the CGTase produced by Bacillus clausii strain E16 was used to produce CD from maltodextrin and different starches (commercial soluble starch, corn, cassava, sweet potato, and waxy corn starches) as substrates. It was observed that the substrate sources influence the kind of CD obtained and that this CGTase displays a β-CGTase action, presenting a better conversion of soluble starch at 1.0%, of which 80% was converted in CDs. The ratio of total CD produced was 0:0.89:0.11 for α/β/γ. It was also observed that root and tuber starches were more accessible to CGTase action than seed starch under the studied conditions.

This paper presents a novel mathematical model for the transmission network expansion planning problem. Main idea is to consider phase-shifter (PS) transformers as a new element of the transmission system expansion together with other traditional components such as transmission lines and conventional transformers. In this way, PS are added in order to redistribute active power flows in the system and, consequently, to diminish the total investment costs due to new transmission lines. Proposed mathematical model presents the structure of a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem and is based on the standard DC model. In this paper, there is also applied a specialized genetic algorithm aimed at optimizing the allocation of candidate components in the network. Results obtained from computational simulations carried out with IEEE-24 bus system show an outstanding performance of the proposed methodology and model, indicating the technical viability of using these nonconventional devices during the planning process.

Mean counts of Escherichia coli were determined for 54 samples of organic pork meat, and in 67 samples of conventional pork meat. Up to three E. coli strains from each sample were analysed by an agar disk diffusion assay for their resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, cephalotin, doxycycline, enrofloxacin, gentamicin, nitrofurantoin, sulfisoxazole and streptomycin by the agar disk diffusion method. Results indicated that the presence of E. coli was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in organic pork meat as compared to conventional pork meat. Isolates from organic pork meat exhibited lower levels of antimicrobial resistance against ampicillin (P < 0.0001), doxycycline (P < 0.0001) and sulfisoxazole (P < 0.0001), as compared to isolates from conventional meat. Moreover, presence of multi-resistant E. coli strains was significantly (P < 0.0001) higher in conventional pork meat as compared to organic pork meat, the largest differences being observed for isolates resistant to combinations of ampicillin, sulfisoxazol and/or doxycycline. Organically-farmed pork samples showed significantly lower development of antimicrobial resistance in E. coli, thus contributing to reduce the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance among these food-borne bacteria.

Previous studies have shown that the renin–angiotensin system (RAS) is affected by adverse maternal nutrition during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a maternal low-protein diet on proinflammatory cytokines, reactive oxygen species and RAS components in kidney samples isolated from adult male offspring. We hypothesized that post-weaning losartan treatment would have beneficial effects on RAS activity and inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in these animals. Pregnant Sprague–Dawley rats were fed with a control (20% casein) or low-protein diet (LP) (6% casein) throughout gestation. After weaning, the LP pups were randomly assigned to LP and LP-losartan groups (AT1 receptor blockade: 10 mg/kg/day until 20 weeks of age). At 20 weeks of age, blood pressure levels were higher and renal RAS was activated in the LP group. We also observed several adverse effects in the kidneys of the LP group, including a higher number of CD3, CD68 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cells and higher levels of collagen and reactive oxygen species in the kidney. Further, our results revealed that post-weaning losartan treatment completely abolished immune cell infiltration and intrarenal RAS activation in the kidneys of LP rats. The prevention of augmentation of angiotensin (Ang II) concentration abolished inflammatory and fibrotic events, indicating that Ang II via the AT1 receptor is essential for pathological initiation. Our results suggest that the prenatal programming of hypertension is dependent on the up-regulation of local RAS and presence of immune cells in the kidney.

Selected toxic elements (total As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, Sr, U and V) and essential elements (Co, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) were analyzed using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in unpolished and milled rice collected from Kazakhstan and milled rice from Spain and Portugal to evaluate the potential health risk to the population. Arsenic species (arsenite, arsenate, arsenobetaine, dimethylarsinate and monomethilarsonate) were analyzed using HPLC-IC-MS. From 146 samples analyzed, none of them exceeded the maximum limit set by the European Legislation for Cd or Pb or values recommended by the Codex Alimentarius. Concentrations of Sr, U and V were below LOD and those of Hg, Pb, Co and Cr between

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