Search results for " quality."
showing 10 items of 2995 documents
Physico-chemical properties and sensory profile of durum wheat Dittaino PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) bread and quality of re-milled semolina…
2018
To help future quality checks, we characterized the physico-chemical and sensory properties of Dittaino bread, a sourdough-based durum wheat bread recently awarded with Protected Designation of Origin mark, along with the quality features of re-milled semolina used for its production. Semolina was checked for Falling Number (533–644 s), protein content (12.0–12.3 g/100 g d.m.), gluten content (9.7–10.5 g/100 g d.m.), yellow index (18.0–21.0), water absorption (59.3–62.3 g/100 g), farinograph dough stability (171–327 s), softening index (46–66 B.U.), alveograph W (193 × 10−4–223 × 10−4 J) and P/L (2.2–2.7). Accordingly, bread crumb was yellow, moderately hard (16.4–27.1 N) and chewy (88.2–10…
Antihistamine-resistant chronic spontaneous urticaria: 1-year data from the AWARE study.
2018
BACKGROUND Previous reports indicate that patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) are undertreated and that physicians show poor adherence to guideline recommendations. Awareness of CSU has improved in recent years, but it remains unclear if this has improved the management of these patients in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE To describe disease burden, quality of life (QoL), and treatment patterns of patients with H1 -antihistamine-refractory CSU in Germany. METHOD A World-wide Antihistamine-Refractory chronic urticaria (CU) patient Evaluation (AWARE) is a global prospective, non-interventional study of CU in the real-world setting, supported by the manufacturer of omalizumab. Patie…
Novel noninvasive embryo selection algorithm combining time-lapse morphokinetics and oxidative status of the spent embryo culture medium.
2019
Objective To develop a noninvasive embryo selection algorithm consisting of time-lapse morphokinetics and the oxidative status of the spent embryo culture medium determined using the Thermochemiluminescence (TCL) Analyzer. Design Retrospective cohort. Setting Not applicable. Patient(s) From women participating in the oocyte donation program, data from 505 samples of spent embryo culture media samples from 292 intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Morphokinetic parameters assessed during incubation in the time-lapse system Embryoscope. Oxidative parameters (H1sm, H2sm, and H3sm) from the spent culture medium on day 5 of incubation measured usi…
Combination of metabolism measurement and a time-lapse system provides an embryo selection method based on oxygen uptake and chronology of cytokinesi…
2016
Objective To evaluate correlations between oxygen consumption (OC) measurements before and after embryo cytokinesis, observing OC during embryo cleavages and combining that information with morphokinetics to relate to implantation potential. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting University-affiliated private IVF unit. Patient(s) A total of 1,150 injected oocytes in 86 first oocyte donation cycles with embryo transfer on day 3. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measurement(s) We analyzed the embryo OC and combined this data with the cytokinesis event, exact timing (in hours) of blastomeric cleavages, with the use of an incubator equipped with time-lapse videography, gathering a total of …
Chemical–physical characteristics, polyphenolic content and total antioxidant activity of three Italian-grown pomegranate cultivars
2019
Background: In Mediterranean countries, there is an increasing demand for pomegranate fruits due to their antioxidant properties and nutritional values. The large diffusion of new genotypes and cultivars requires the knowledge of all fruit characteristics in connection with the cultivation area, to satisfy the market demand. This study seeks to determine the fruit quality attributes and nutraceutical values of three pomegranate cultivars (Wonderful, Acco and Kamel) grown in the Mediterranean climate. Methods: The fruits were evaluated for their main physico-chemical traits (weight, volume, height, width, thickness, total arils number, total arils weight, juiciness, fruit index, peel index a…
Apolipoprotein B is regulated by gonadotropins and constitutes a predictive biomarker of IVF outcomes
2016
Background Follicular fluid (FF) is an important micro-environment influencing oocyte growth, its development competence, and embryo viability. The FF content analysis allows to identify new relevant biomarkers, which could be predictive of in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes. Inside ovarian follicle, the amount of FF components from granulosa cells (GC) secretion, could be regulated by gonadotropins, which play a major role in follicle development. Methods This prospective study included 61 female undergoing IVF or Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure. Apolipoprotein B (APOB) concentrations in follicular fluid and APOB gene and protein expression in granulosa cells from rep…
A versatile bioreactor for dynamic suspension cell culture. Application to the culture of cancer cell spheroids.
2016
A versatile bioreactor suitable for dynamic suspension cell culture under tunable shear stress conditions has been developed and preliminarily tested culturing cancer cell spheroids. By adopting simple technological solutions and avoiding rotating components, the bioreactor exploits the laminar hydrodynamics establishing within the culture chamber enabling dynamic cell suspension in an environment favourable to mass transport, under a wide range of tunable shear stress conditions. The design phase of the device has been supported by multiphysics modelling and has provided a comprehensive analysis of the operating principles of the bioreactor. Moreover, an explanatory example is herein prese…
Decreased consumption of branched-chain amino acids improves metabolic health
2016
Protein-restricted (PR), high-carbohydrate diets improve metabolic health in rodents, yet the precise dietary components that are responsible for these effects have not been identified. Furthermore, the applicability of these studies to humans is unclear. Here, we demonstrate in a randomized controlled trial that a moderate PR diet also improves markers of metabolic health in humans. Intriguingly, we find that feeding mice a diet specifically reduced in branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) is sufficient to improve glucose tolerance and body composition equivalently to a PR diet via metabolically distinct pathways. Our results highlight a critical role for dietary quality at the level of amino…
Standardization of Light Transmission Aggregometry for Diagnosis of Platelet Disorders: An Inter-Laboratory External Quality Assessment.
2019
AbstractSeveral in vitro platelet function tests are available for the diagnosis of inherited platelet function disorders. Currently, the light transmission aggregometry (LTA) is recommended as one of the first-step tests. LTA is available in most specialized hemostasis laboratories. Although the LTA is accepted as a ‘gold standard’ assay for the evaluation of platelet function, its standardization in the clinical practice is still challenging. The GTH-based THROMKID-Plus Study Group has performed an inter-laboratory trial in Germany and Austria. Five different agonists were selected according to the Scientific and Standardization Committee/International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasi…
Two simple criteria to estimate an objective's performance when imaging in non design tissue clearing solutions
2019
Tissue clearing techniques are undergoing a renaissance motivated by the need to image fluorescent neurons, and other cells, deep in the sample without physical sectioning. Optical transparency is achieved by equilibrating tissues with high refractive index (RI) solutions. When the microscope objective is not perfectly matched to the RI of the cleared sample, aberrations are introduced. We present two simple-to-calculate numerical criteria predicting: (i) the degradation in image quality (brightness and resolution) from optimal conditions of any clearing solution/objective combination; (ii) which objective, among several available, achieves the highest resolution in a given medium. We deriv…