Search results for " sensitivity"
showing 10 items of 947 documents
Impact of Very Hot Drink Consumption Habits, Age, and Sex, on Taste Sensitivity
2021
The temperature range for consuming hot drinks includes temperatures that can damage cells on the tongue. We hypothesized that the consumption of very hot drinks can lead to a decrease in the ability to perceive low concentrations of tastants. We evaluated the ability to perceive low concentrations of five prototypical sapid compounds in 42 women and 40 men aged 18–65. A questionnaire made it possible to collect the usual frequencies (number of unit/day) and consumption temperature levels (medium hot/very hot) for four very common hot drinks (coffee, tea, herbal infusions, and hot chocolate). Our results showed that subjects who consumed very hot drinks (versus medium hot) were less sensiti…
Evaluation of antimicrobial resistance and virulence of enterococci from equipment surfaces, raw materials and traditional cheeses
2016
Forty enterococci isolated along the production chains of three traditional cheeses (PDO Pecorino Siciliano, PDO Vastedda della Valle del Belìce, and Caciocavallo Palermitano) made in Sicily (southern Italy) were studied for the assessment of their antibiotic resistance and virulence by a combined phenotypic/genotypic approach. A total of 31 Enterococcus displayed resistance to at least one or more of the antimicrobials tested. The strains exhibited high percentages of resistance to erythromycin (52.5%), ciprofloxacin (35.0%), quinupristin–dalfopristin (20.0%), tetracycline (17.5%), and high-level streptomycin (5.0%). The presence of tet(M), cat(pC221), and aadE genes for resistance to tetr…
Luminance Information Is Required for the Accurate Estimation of Contrast in Rapidly Changing Visual Contexts.
2020
Summary Visual perception scales with changes in the visual stimulus, or contrast, irrespective of background illumination. However, visual perception is challenged when adaptation is not fast enough to deal with sudden declines in overall illumination, for example, when gaze follows a moving object from bright sunlight into a shaded area. Here, we show that the visual system of the fly employs a solution by propagating a corrective luminance-sensitive signal. We use in vivo 2-photon imaging and behavioral analyses to demonstrate that distinct OFF-pathway inputs encode contrast and luminance. Predictions of contrast-sensitive neuronal responses show that contrast information alone cannot ex…
Improved detection and enumeration of yeasts in wine by Cells-qPCR
2018
Abstract Quantitative PCR by directly sampling (Cells-qPCR) has been adapted to detect and quantify total yeasts, and B. bruxellensis, S. cerevisiae and Z. bailii species, in grape musts and wines. To increase assay sensitivity, the effects of a previous cell wall lysis, by both enzymatic and mechanical methods, were evaluated. Cell wall disruption by mechanical methods showed the best results to enhance assay sensitivity. Numerous standard curves were constructed by mechanically lysed cells in culture medium, and in white and red grape musts and wines. Good regression values (>0.99) and efficiencies (>0.99) were obtained, and it was possible to detect one single cell per reaction in all th…
High Bacterial Agglutination Activity in a Single-CRD C-Type Lectin from Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
2017
Lectins are carbohydrate-interacting proteins that play a pivotal role in multiple physiological and developmental aspects of all organisms. They can specifically interact with different bacterial and viral pathogens through carbohydrate-recognition domains (CRD). In addition, lectins are also of biotechnological interest because of their potential use as biosensors for capturing and identifying bacterial species. In this work, three C-type lectins from the Lepidoptera Spodoptera exigua were produced as recombinant proteins and their bacterial agglutination properties were characterized. The lowest protein concentration producing bacterial agglutination against a panel of different Gram+ an…
Frequency and clinical aspects of neurological and psychiatric symptoms in patients with non-celiac wheat sensitivity
2021
Background: Non-Celiac Wheat Sensitivity (NCWS) is characterized by both intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms. The study aims to investigate the frequency of neuropsychiatric manifestations in NCWS patients and identify their clinical and demographic characteristics. Methods: 278 clinical records of NCWS patients, diagnosed by a double-blind placebo-controlled wheat challenge between 2006 and 2020, were retrospectively revised. Fifty-two patients with Celiac Disease (CD) and 54 patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) served as controls. Results: 87% of the NCWS patients had an IBS-like clinical presentation. The NCWS group showed a longer duration of symptoms, a higher frequency of…
Nitration of Wheat Amylase Trypsin Inhibitors Increases Their Innate and Adaptive Immunostimulatory Potential
2018
Amylase trypsin inhibitors (ATI) can be found in all gluten containing cereals and are, therefore, ingredient of basic foods like bread or pasta. In the gut ATI can mediate innate immunity via activation of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) on immune cells residing in the lamina propria, promoting intestinal, as well as extra-intestinal, inflammation. Inflammatory conditions can induce formation of peroxynitrite (ONOO-) and, thereby, endogenous protein nitration in the body. Moreover, air pollutants like ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) can cause exogenous protein nitration in the environment. Both reaction pathways may lead to the nitration of ATI. To investigate if and how nitration mo…
Prospecting for cytotoxic and antiprotozoal 4-aryl-4H-chromenes and 10-aryldihydropyrano[2,3-f]chromenes.
2018
Different studies reported that genetic predisposition or metabolic dysfunction are the risk factors for cancer. Infectious parasitic diseases were listed among factors that predispose to cancer. Because of the resemblance between the life cycle of cancer cells and some parasites, this study aimed to prepare pyran derivatives with cytotoxic and antiprotozoal potencies. Therefore, 7 chromenes, 10 pyranocoumarins, and an unexpected intermediate were obtained from a multi-reagent one-pot reaction. These compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxicity on sensitive and resistant leukemia cancer cells lines and against two protozoan parasites, namely Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania amazonensis a…
Bistacrines as potential antitrypanosomal agents
2017
Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) is caused by two subspecies of the genus Trypanosoma, namely Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense. The disease is fatal if left untreated and therapy is limited due to only five non-adequate drugs currently available. In preliminary studies, dimeric tacrine derivatives were found to inhibit parasite growth with IC50-values in the nanomolar concentration range. This prompted the synthesis of a small, but smart library of monomeric and dimeric tacrine-type compounds and their evaluation of antiprotozoal activity. Rhodesain, a lysosomal cathepsin-L like cysteine protease of T. brucei rhodesiense is essential for parasite survival a…
The Overlapping Area of Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) and Wheat-Sensitive Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): An Update
2017
Gluten-related disorders have recently been reclassified with an emerging scientific literature supporting the concept of non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS). New research has specifically addressed prevalence, immune mechanisms, the recognition of non-immunoglobulin E (non-IgE) wheat allergy and overlap of NCGS with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)-type symptoms. This review article will provide clinicians with an update that directly impacts on the management of a subgroup of their IBS patients whose symptoms are triggered by wheat ingestion.