Marinade with alkaline solutions for the improvement of pork quality

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of alkaline solution marinades on the characteristics of pork subjected to post-mortem pH decrease in pig muscle. The pH of carcasses was measured in a commercial slaughterhouse (n = 526), 45 min after slaughtering (pH45) and, then, the carcasses were divided into the groups with pH45<5.7 or pH45>5.7. Ten samples of the longissimus dorsi muscles of each group were collected and distributed in an entirely randomized design, in a 2x4 factorial arrangement, with two conditions (pH45<5.7 or pH45>5.7), and four marinade solutions: TC, no marinade; TM1, sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride; TM2, sodium tripolyphosphate and sodium chloride; TM3, sodium bicarbonate, sodium tripolyphosphate and sodium chloride. There was no interaction between pH45 of the meat and the marinade treatments. Meat with pH45<5.7 showed higher values for lightness, and for purge loss (PL), exudate loss (EL), cooking loss (CL) and shear force (SF). Marinating increased the pH, reduced the lightness, EL, CL and SF, and improved tenderness, juiciness and flavor of meat. Marinades with solutions containing chloride, bicarbonate, and sodium tripolyphosphate are effective in the improvement of pork quality, making physical characteristics of marinated meat similar to those of fresh pork, as a consequence of accelerated postmortem glycolysis.

Safety of a new algorithm for the management of childhood illness (Almanach) to improve quality of care and rational use of drugs

Introduction New evidence from randomized controlled and etiology of fever studies, the availability of reliable RDT for malaria, and novel technologies call for revision of the IMCI strategy. We developed a new algorithm based on (i) a systematic review of published studies assessing the safety and appropriateness of RDT and antibiotic prescription, (ii) results from a clinical and microbiological investigation of febrile children aged <5 years, (iii) international expert IMCI opinions. The aim of this study was to assess the safety of the new algorithm among patients in urban and rural areas of Tanzania.Materials and Methods The design was a controlled noninferiority study. Enrolled children aged 2-59 months with any illness were managed either by a study clinician using the new Almanach algorithm (two intervention health facilities), or clinicians using standard practice, including RDT (two control HF). At day 7 and day 14, all patients were reassessed. Patients who were ill in between or not cured at day 14 were followed until recovery or death. Primary outcome was rate of complications, secondary outcome rate of antibiotic prescriptions.Results 1062 children were recruited. Main diagnoses were URTI 26%, pneumonia 19% and gastroenteritis (9.4%). 98% (531/541) were cured at D14 in the Almanach arm and 99.6% (519/521) in controls. Rate of secondary hospitalization was 0.2% in each. One death occurred in controls. None of the complications was due to withdrawal of antibiotics or antimalarials at day 0. Rate of antibiotic use was 19% in the Almanach arm and 84% in controls.Conclusion Evidence suggests that the new algorithm, primarily aimed at the rational use of drugs, is as safe as standard practice and leads to a drastic reduction of antibiotic use. The Almanach is currently being tested for clinician adherence to proposed procedures when used on paper or a mobile phone

APTIC : a social network to improve the quality of life of members of patients' associations

Peer-reviewed

Quality of Learners' Time and Learning Performance Beyond Quantitative Time-on-Task

Peer-reviewed

Binary proposal for assessing quality of Open Access Institutional Repositories : the case of Spanish repositories

The reason for this study is to propose a new quantitative approach on how to assess the quality of Open Access University Institutional Repositories. The results of this new approach are tested in the Spanish University Repositories. The assessment method is based in a binary codification of a proposal of features that objectively describes the repositories. The purposes of this method are assessing the quality and an almost automatically system for updating the data of the characteristics. First of all a database was created with the 38 Spanish institutional repositories. The variables of analysis are presented and explained either if they are coming from bibliography or are a set of new variables. Among the characteristics analyzed are the features of the software, the services of the repository, the features of the information system, the Internet visibility and the licenses of use. Results from Spanish universities ARE provided as a practical example of the assessment and for having a picture of the state of the development of the open access movement in Spain.

Energy deficit and length of hospital stay can be reduced by a two-step quality improvement of nutrition therapy: the intensive care unit dietitian can make the difference.

OBJECTIVE: Critically ill patients are at high risk of malnutrition. Insufficient nutritional support still remains a widespread problem despite guidelines. The aim of this study was to measure the clinical impact of a two-step interdisciplinary quality nutrition program. DESIGN: Prospective interventional study over three periods (A, baseline; B and C, intervention periods). SETTING: Mixed intensive care unit within a university hospital. PATIENTS: Five hundred seventy-two patients (age 59 ± 17 yrs) requiring >72 hrs of intensive care unit treatment. INTERVENTION: Two-step quality program: 1) bottom-up implementation of feeding guideline; and 2) additional presence of an intensive care unit dietitian. The nutrition protocol was based on the European guidelines. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Anthropometric data, intensive care unit severity scores, energy delivery, and cumulated energy balance (daily, day 7, and discharge), feeding route (enteral, parenteral, combined, none-oral), length of intensive care unit and hospital stay, and mortality were collected. Altogether 5800 intensive care unit days were analyzed. Patients in period A were healthier with lower Simplified Acute Physiologic Scale and proportion of "rapidly fatal" McCabe scores. Energy delivery and balance increased gradually: impact was particularly marked on cumulated energy deficit on day 7 which improved from -5870 kcal to -3950 kcal (p < .001). Feeding technique changed significantly with progressive increase of days with nutrition therapy (A: 59% days, B: 69%, C: 71%, p < .001), use of enteral nutrition increased from A to B (stable in C), and days on combined and parenteral nutrition increased progressively. Oral energy intakes were low (mean: 385 kcal*day, 6 kcal*kg*day ). Hospital mortality increased with severity of condition in periods B and C. CONCLUSION: A bottom-up protocol improved nutritional support. The presence of the intensive care unit dietitian provided significant additional progression, which were related to early introduction and route of feeding, and which achieved overall better early energy balance.

Effect of liming on yield and quality of pepperment and Sachalin mint in fine sand soil of Northern Finland

Selostus: Kalkituksen vaikutus piparmintun ja Sachalinin mintun satoon Pohjois-Suomessa

Genetic diversity of irrigated barley based on molecular and quantitative data and on malting quality

The objective of this work was to quantify the genetic diversity of elite genotypes of irrigated barley in the Brazilian savanna. Thirty elite barley genotypes from Embrapa Cerrados' collection were evaluated using 160 RAPD markers, 12 agronomic traits related to yield components, and 10 malting quality parameters. The genetic dissimilarity matrices based on molecular markers, quantitative traits, and malting quality characters were calculated and a cluster analysis was performed using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) as grouping criterion. High genetic diversity among accessions were observed. The estimated genetic dissimilarities were weakly correlated, showing the complementarity of the different character groups. Selection indices and graphical dispersion analysis allowed the selection of promising genotypes and the indication of suitable crosses for maximizing the heterotic effects in breeding programs for irrigated barley in the Brazilian savanna.