Comparing Different Packaging Conditions on Quality Stability of High-Pressure Treated Serra da Estrela Cheeses during Cold Storage.

cheese with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is a traditional cheese that is wrapped in paper without vacuum. High-pressure processing (HPP), which requires vacuum packaging of the cheese, has been used for its cold pasteurization to overcome safety issues. In this study, two packaging systems were studied: non-vacuum greaseproof paper wrapping package and vacuum packaging in plastic film.

Needleless administration of advanced therapies into the skin via the appendages using a hypobaric patch.

Advanced therapies are commonly administered via injection even when they act within the skin tissue, and this increases the chances of off-target effects. Here we report the use of a skin patch containing a hypobaric chamber that induces skin dome formation to enable needleless delivery of advanced therapies directly into porcine, rat, and mouse skin. Finite element method modeling showed that the hypobaric chamber in the patch opened the skin appendages by 32%, thinned the skin, and compressed the appendage wall epithelia.

Optimization of Raw Ewes' Milk High-Pressure Pre-Treatment for Improved Production of Raw Milk Cheese.

Serra da Estrela protected designation of origin (PDO) cheese is manufactured with raw milk from Bordaleira and/or Churra Mondegueira da Serra da Estrela sheep breeds. Several socio-environmental shortcomings have reduced production capacity; hence, treatments that may contribute to its efficient transformation into cheese are welcome. High-pressure processing (HPP) milk pre-treatment may contribute to a cheese yield increment, yet optimization of processing conditions is warranted.

Approach and anesthetic management for kidney transplantation in a patient with bilateral lung transplantation: case report.

Lung transplantation is the last resort for end-stage lung disease treatment. Due to increased survival, lung recipients present an increased likelihood to be submitted to anesthesia and surgery. This case report describes a 23-year-old female patient with history of lung transplantation for cystic fibrosis, with multiple complications, and chronic kidney disease, and who underwent kidney transplantation under general anesthesia.

Raccoon eyes in a newborn.

Periorbital ecchymoses or "raccoon eyes" in the neonate/infant may be due to basal skull fractures or neuroblastoma.A term male baby born by vacuum-assisted delivery developed a medium size subgaleal hematoma on the first day of life (DOL). On the third DOL, bilateral periorbital ecchymosis (raccoon eyes) developed.

[Correction to the article "Case Series of 103 Children with SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Portugal", published on Acta Med Port 2020 Dec;33(12):795-802].

On page 801, fifth, where it reads: "No início da pandemia, teorizou-se que a vacina BCG pudesse ter um efeito protetor relativamente à COVID-19,27,28 mas não se encontrou até à data evidência para tal, não estando atualmente recomendada a vacinação BCG na prevenção da COVID-19.28,29 No nosso estudo, a maioria dos doentes (76%) tinha sido vacinada. Analisámos separadamente o subgrupo de crianças nascidas após janeiro de 2016, altura em que passaram a ser vacinadas apenas as crianças pertencentes a grupos de risco.

Effect of high pressure pre-treatment on raw ewes' milk and on subsequently produced cheese throughout ripening.

Background: Raw ewe's milk, as used to manufacture Serra da Estrela Protected Designation of Origin cheese, was pre-treated by high pressure processing (HPP), using previously optimized conditions (121 MPa for 30 min), aiming to evaluate its effect on milk technological properties for subsequent cheese production, namely the impact on resulting curd, whey and cheese throughout ripening.

Results: The cheese yield increased 10.4% as a result of milk pre-treated by HPP, which also yielded inactivation of beneficial microbial groups.

Effects of high-pressure processing on fungi spores: Factors affecting spore germination and inactivation and impact on ultrastructure.

Food contamination with heat-resistant fungi (HRF), and their spores, is a major issue among fruit processors, being frequently found in fruit juices and concentrates, among other products, leading to considerable economic losses and food safety issues. Several strategies were developed to minimize the contamination with HRF, with improvements from harvesting to the final product, including sanitizers and new processing techniques. Considering consumers' demands for minimally processed, fresh-like food products, nonthermal food-processing technologies, such as high-pressure processing (HPP), among others, are emerging as alternatives to the conventional thermal processing techniques.

[Case Series of 103 Children with SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Portugal].

Introduction: The North Lisbon University Hospital Center was activated for referral of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients on the 11th March 2020. The aim of this study is to describe the experience at the Department of Pediatrics in the approach and the clinical outcomes of infected children.

Material And Methods: A descriptive observational study was performed.

The Combined Effect of Pressure and Temperature on Kefir Production-A Case Study of Food Fermentation in Unconventional Conditions.

Food fermentation under pressure has been studied in recent years as a way to produce foods with novel properties. The purpose of this work was to study kefir production under pressure (7-50 MPa) at different temperatures (17-32 °C), as a case study of unconventional food fermentation. The fermentation time to produce kefir was similar at all temperatures (17, 25, and 32 °C) up to 15 MPa, compared to atmospheric pressure.

Intraoperative oliguria does not predict postoperative acute kidney injury in major abdominal surgery: a cohort analysis.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery and is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Several studies investigating the association between intraoperative urine output and postoperative AKI have shown conflicting results. Here, we investigated the association of intraoperative oliguria with postoperative AKI in a cohort of patients submitted to elective major abdominal surgery.

Effect of high-pressure processing on carotenoids profile, colour, microbial and enzymatic stability of cloudy carrot juice.

The objective of this work was to assess the impact of high-pressure processing (HPP) on the carotenoid profile, colour as well as the microbial and enzymatic stability of cloudy carrot juice. The predominant carotenoids in the fresh juices were by far the provitamin A carotenoids β-carotene and α-carotene. Others were ζ-carotene, phytofluene, phytoene and lutein.

Hyperbaric storage at variable room temperature - a new preservation methodology for minced meat compared to refrigeration.

Hyperbaric storage (HS) at variable room temperature (RT) has been proposed as an alternative to refrigeration at atmospheric pressure (RF/AP) for food preservation. Little information is available regarding the effect of HS in meat products. In this study the RT/HS effect was evaluated at 100 MPa and variable RT (≈20 °C) for minced meat preservation up to 24 h, initially for one batch.

Landmarks in the historical development of twenty first century food processing technologies.

Over a course of centuries, various food processing technologies have been explored and implemented to provide safe, fresher-tasting and nutritive food products. Among these technologies, application of emerging food processes (e.g.

Study of mesenchymal stem cells cultured on a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) scaffold containing simvastatin for bone healing.

Background: Tissue engineering is a promising alternative for the development of bone substitutes; for this purpose, three things are necessary: stem cells, a scaffold to allow tissue growth and factors that induce tissue regeneration.

Methods: To congregate such efforts, we used the bioresorbable and biocompatible polymer poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) as scaffold. For the osteoinductive factor, we used simvastatin (SIM), a drug with a pleiotropic effect on bone growth.

Astroglioma conditioned medium increases synaptic elimination and correlates with major histocompatibility complex of class I (MHC I) upregulation in PC12Cells.

Astrocytes are multifunctional glial cells that actively participate in synaptic plasticity in health and disease. Little is known about molecular interactions between neurons and glial cells that result in synaptic stability or elimination. In this sense, the main histocompatibility complex of class I (MHC I) has been shown to play a role in the synaptic plasticity process during development and after lesion of the CNS.

Investigating how the attributes of self-associated drug complexes influence the passive transport of molecules through biological membranes.

Relatively little is known about how drug self-association influences absorption into the human body. This study presented two hydrophobic membranes with a series of solutions containing different types of tetracaine aggregates with the aim of understanding how the attributes of supramolecular aggregate formation influenced passive membrane transport. The data showed that aqueous solutions of the unprotonated form of tetracaine displayed a significantly higher (p<0.

The application of local hypobaric pressure - A novel means to enhance macromolecule entry into the skin.

The local application of controlled hypobaric stress represents a novel means to facilitate drug delivery into the skin. The aims of this work were to understand how hypobaric stress modified the properties of the skin and assess if this penetration enhancement strategy could improve the percutaneous penetration of a macromolecule. Measurements of skin thickness demonstrated that the topical application of hypobaric stress thinned the tissue (p<0.

New insights into eutectic cream skin penetration enhancement.

The manner in which the eutectic cream EMLA enhances the percutaneous penetration of lidocaine and prilocaine into human skin is still not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the modification of drug aggregation played a role in the way EMLA facilitates delivery. Light scattering analysis of lidocaine alone in water gave a critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of 572 μM and a mean aggregate size of 58.

Microbial diagnosis of infection and colonization of cardiac implantable electronic devices by use of sonication.

Objectives: The clinical utility of sonication as an adjunctive diagnostic tool for the microbial diagnosis of cardiac implantable device-associated infections (CIDAIs) was investigated.

Methods: The implants of 83 subjects were investigated, 15 with a CIDAI and 68 without a clinical infection. Clinical data were analyzed prospectively and sonication fluid cultures (83 patients, 100%) and traditional cultures (31 patients, 37.

Hyperbaric storage of melon juice at and above room temperature and comparison with storage at atmospheric pressure and refrigeration.

Hyperbaric storage (8h) of melon juice (a highly perishable food) at 25, 30 and 37°C, under pressure at 25-150 MPa was compared with atmospheric pressure storage (0.1 MPa) at the same temperatures and under refrigeration (4°C). Comparatively to the refrigerated condition, hyperbaric storage at 50/75 MPa resulted in similar or lower microbial counts (total aerobic mesophiles, enterobacteriaceae, and yeasts/moulds) while at 100/150 MPa, the counts were lower for all the tested temperatures, indicating in the latter case, in addition to microbial growth inhibition, a microbial inactivation effect.