PSV-B-21 Evaluation of whole soybeans as an ingredient in dog diets: Apparent total tract digestibility and stool quality of extruded diets with graded levels of dehulled whole soybeans by dogs

Increasing the amount of liquid fat to the ration during extrusion can negatively affect product density and product expansion. Ingredients, like whole soybeans (WSB), which are high in fat may aid increased energy density while avoiding production issues. In a preliminary extrusion project, the effects on the process of foods were evaluated, followed by animal evaluation. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of dehulled WSB on nutrient digestibility and stool quality by dogs. Experimental diets were extruded with 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% WSB (WSB0, WSB10, WSB20, and WSB30, respectively). Seven castrated male and three spayed female Beagles of similar age (6.25 ± 0.452 years) were individually housed and fed the experimental diets. The study was designed as replicated 4 × 4 Latin square where dogs were allowed 9-d adaptation followed by 5-d total fecal collection for each period. Titanium dioxide was added to all diets (0.4%) to serve as an indigestible dietary marker to determine apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD). Least-square means of fecal parameters and ATTD were analyzed with a single degree of freedom contrasts and significance at α = 0.05. There was no difference among treatments for food intake or fecal scores. However, there were linear increases (P < 0.05) in DM fecal output, as is fecal output, fecal moisture, and defecation frequency stools/day as WSB increased in the diets. Apparent total tract digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, acid hydrolyzed ether extract, and gross energy decreased linearly as dogs were fed increasing levels of WSB in the diets (P < 0.05). In conclusion, additional thermal processing before extrusion may improve nutrient digestibility, although stool quality was not affected by the inclusion of WSB.

Optimizing Spray-Dried Porous Particles for High Dose Delivery with a Portable Dry Powder Inhaler

This manuscript critically reviews the design and delivery of spray-dried particles for the achievement of high total lung doses (TLD) with a portable dry powder inhaler. We introduce a new metric termed the product density, which is simply the TLD of a drug divided by the volume of the receptacle it is contained within. The product density is given by the product of three terms: the packing density (the mass of powder divided by the volume of the receptacle), the drug loading (the mass of drug divided by the mass of powder), and the aerosol performance (the TLD divided by the mass of drug). This manuscript discusses strategies for maximizing each of these terms. Spray drying at low drying rates with small amounts of a shell-forming excipient (low Peclet number) leads to the formation of higher density particles with high packing densities. This enables ultrahigh TLD (>100 mg of drug) to be achieved from a single receptacle. The emptying of powder from capsules is directly proportional to the mass of powder in the receptacle, requiring an inhaled volume of about 1 L for fill masses between 40 and 50 mg and up to 3.2 L for a fill mass of 150 mg.

Optimizing Spray-Dried Porous Particles for High Dose Delivery with a Portable Dry Powder Inhaler

This manuscript critically reviews the design and delivery of spray-dried particles for the achievement of high total lung doses (TLD) with a portable dry powder inhaler. We introduce a new metric termed the product density, which is simply the TLD of a drug divided by the volume of the receptacle it is contained within. The product density is given by the product of three terms: the packing density (the mass of powder divided by the volume of the receptacle), the drug loading (the mass of drug divided by the mass of powder), and the aerosol performance (the TLD divided by the mass of drug). This manuscript discusses strategies for maximizing each of these terms. Spray drying at low drying rates with small amounts of a shell-forming excipient (low Peclet Number) leads to formation of higher density particles with high packing densities. This enables ultrahigh TLD (>100 mg of drug) to be achieved from a single receptacle. Emptying of powder from capsules is directly proportional to the mass of powder in the receptacle, requiring an inhaled volume of about 1 L for fill masses between 40 and 50 mg and up to 3.2 L for a fill mass of 150 mg.

Purification of Hollow Sporopollenin Microcapsules from Sunflower and Chamomile Pollen Grains

Pollen grains are natural microcapsules comprised of the biopolymer sporopollenin. The uniformity and special tridimensional architecture of these sporopollenin structures confer them attractive properties such as high resistance and improved bioadhesion. However, natural pollen can be a source of allergens, hindering its biomedical applicability. Several methods have been developed to remove internal components and allergenic compounds, usually involving long and laborious processes, which often cannot be extended to other pollen types. In this work, we propose an abridged protocol to produce stable and pristine hollow pollen microcapsules, together with a complete physicochemical and morphological characterization of the intermediate and final products. The optimized procedure has been validated for different pollen samples, also producing sporopollenin microcapsules from Matricaria species for the first time. Pollen microcapsules obtained through this protocol presented low protein content (4.4%), preserved ornamented morphology with a nanoporous surface, and low product density (0.14 g/cm3). These features make them interesting candidates from a pharmaceutical perspective due to the versatility of this biomaterial as a drug delivery platform.

Producing Drink like Grafted Milk from Chickpeas and Evaluation of its Qualitative Properties

The present study aimed to study the possibility of producing a drink that looks like grafted milk by using chickpeas and evaluate its physical, chemical, microbial, and sensory properties. The result showed the superiority of F treatment (soaking 100 grams of chickpeas at the refrigerator temperature 4ºC for 12 hours) over the rest seven treatments in extraction efficiency, which was 70%, while, it was 50.5% in H treatment (soaking 100 grams of chickpeas in the heated water at 60ºC for 30 minutes). The highest value of the product density was after water and flavorings addition in the D treatment (soaking 100 grams chickpeas in 0.05 soda solution at 60ºC for 30 minutes), and it was 0.97 g cm-3, compared with the lowest density 0.57 g cm-3 in A treatment (soaking 100 grams chickpeas in 0.05 soda solution at room temperature 25ºC for 12 hours). pH values were highest in A treatment compared with the other treatments, and its value was 7.66 in the 1st and 2nd day, after dissolving in a refrigerator at 4ºC, and then, for 5 minutes at room temperature 30ºC. The lowest value in the D treatment was 6.45 on the 1st day, and 6.87 on the 2nd day in the G treatment. On the 3rd day, the highest pH value was 7.13 in the D treatment, and the lowest value 6.79 was in the E treatment. pH highest value was 6.2 on the 4th day in A treatment. From the last results, it may be concluded that F treatment was the best in extraction efficiency, the final product density, and less total bacterial number, after dissolving for 5 days at refrigerator temperature 4ºC, and then, at room temperature 30ºC for 3 and 48 hours incubation. The best extraction volume and pH were in A treatment.

Effect of Different Hardwood Species and Lay-Up Schemes on the Mechanical Properties of Plywood

In Estonia, hardwoods form approximately 50% of all forest area, where the main species are birch (30%), gray alder (9%), aspen (6%) and black alder (4%). Birch has been extensively used by the veneer-based industry, but species like black alder, gray alder and aspen have not been commonly used by the veneer-based products industry due to the lower quality of this resource. The aim of this research is to determine the effect of different lay-up schemes and usages of gray alder, black alder and aspen on the mechanical properties of plywood, by replacing birch veneer in the plywood core with alternative wood species. The main veneer and plywood characteristics will be evaluated according to the current standards, e.g., veneer strength perpendicular to grain, plywood bonding and bending strength, and modulus of elasticity. All processing parameters will be kept similar to those used generally by birch plywood manufacturers. The results showed that birch and black alder plywood panels had generally the highest bending strength properties, followed by grey alder and aspen. It was also found that, for proper gluing, birch veneers had the lowest glue consumption, 152 g/m2, and aspen had the highest glue consumption, 179 g/m2. It was found that when lower density wood was used in the plywood, the product density increased. Low density wood veneers had higher glue consumption, and also higher compaction in thickness than birch veneers under the same pressure. Overall, it was shown that the wood species used in this study have slightly lower strength properties, but with proper lay-up schemes, these wood species could be successfully used by the veneer-based products industry.

NON-AUTOCLAVE SILICATE COMPOSITES USING NON-TRADITIONAL RAW MATERIALS AND CRYSTAL FILLER

In the construction of buildings and structures, many wall materials are used, including silicate products of various functional purposes. In traditional production technology of such materials, the hardening process occurs due to the formation of a crystal structure in the CaO-SiO2-H2O system. There are various ways to modify the crystalline growth of the cementing substance, one of which is the use of various kinds of crystal seedings, in particular the use of natural and synthetic calcium hydrosilicates. The purpose of the experiments is to study the possibility of improving the performance properties of non-autoclave silicate composites by modifying the structure formation in the "lime-non-traditional aluminosilicate raw materials" system, which consists in the crystal-chemical regulation of the structure formation processes with a synthetic crystal filler CaO-SiO2-H2O (C-S-H). The use of synthetic crystalline filler C-S-H synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis in an autoclave at a pressure of 1 MPa and a temperature of 175 °C from a mixture of Ca(OH)2 and crystalline silica in a ratio different C/S=1 in the technology of non-autoclave silicate materials on the basis of alternative aluminium raw material allows to increase the operational indicators resulting products to 18 % or more. The optimal content of CaO and crystal filler C-S-H at which the maximum strength characteristics are provided is 8 % and 2.5 %, respectively, which allows to develop optimal compositions of raw materials for the technology of producing high-density non-autoclave silicate materials based on non-traditional aluminosilicate raw materials with a compressive strength of at least 20 MPa and more, with an average product density of no more than 2000 kg /m3.

Characterization of Esophageal Cancer and Its Association with Influencing Factors in Guangzhou City, China

Epidemiological features of esophageal cancer (EC), as well as their associations with potential influencing factors in a city, have seldom been seldom explored on a fine scale. The EC death cases in Guangzhou city during 2012−2017 were collected to describe the epidemiological characteristics such as EC mortality rate (ECMR) and health-seeking behaviors of deaths. Potential influencing factors, including socioeconomic conditions (population density, gross domestic product density), medical resources, and ageing degree were also gathered for exploring their relationships with the epidemiological characteristics of EC. A total of 2,409 EC deaths were reported during 2012−2017 in Guangzhou with an age-standardized ECMR of 3.18/105. The prevalence of EC in Guangzhou was spatially featured and was divided into three regions with obvious differentiated ECMR (ECMR of 6.41/105 in region A, ECMR of 5.51/105 in region B, ECMR of 2.56/105 in region C). The street/town-level ECMR was spatially clustered in Guangzhou city, especially two clusters of streets/towns with high ECMR were highlighted in region A and B respectively. Meanwhile, demographic features including gender gap, death age, temporal interval between diagnosis and death, health-seeking behaviors were remarkably different among the three regions. Moreover, health-seeking behaviors (e.g., the proportion of hospital deaths) of the EC deaths were obviously influenced by medical institution occupancy rate and socioeconomic conditions at street/town level. In addition, the street/town-level ECMR was significantly associated with ageing degree across Guangzhou city (r = 0.466, p < 0.01), especially in region A (r = 0.565, p < 0.01). In contrast, the ECMR in region B was closely related to population density (r = −0.524, p < 0.01) and gross domestic product density (r = −0.511, p < 0.01) when the ageing degree was controlled, while these associations were weak in region C. The epidemiological characteristics of EC in Guangzhou city were spatially featured and potentially associated with socioeconomic conditions, medical resources and ageing degree on a fine scale across Guangzhou city. This study could provide scientific basis for local authorities to implement more targeted EC interventions.