ABSTRACT
In this study we examined the development of wine expertise. We asked four groups--untrained wine drinkers, second- and third-level trainee sommeliers, and professional sommeliers--to engage in a range of olfactory tasks to assess perceptual and semantic aspects of expertise. These tasks included identification, recognition, and description of a range of domain-specific and common odour stimuli, including wines. Trainee sommeliers were significantly poorer at identification of wine-relevant odours than untrained wine drinkers and professional sommeliers. Trainee and professional sommeliers were, however, significantly better than untrained wine drinkers in a delayed matching-to-sample wine-recognition task, but not in the case of other odorous stimuli. The wine-description task demonstrated a degree of skill, in terms of specificity and quantity of wine-relevant descriptors, as a function of expertise. These results, of one of the first studies of examining wine expertise by a cross-sectional developmental approach, indicate that perceptual aspects of expertise are probably rapidly acquired, being present even in the second- and third-level trainees, while semantic expertise is slower to develop, and may incur time for the identification of wine-specific odorants during training.
Subject(s)
Alcohol Drinking/psychology , Discrimination, Psychological , Odorants , Professional Competence , Recognition, Psychology , Smell , Wine , Adult , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young AdultABSTRACT
Se ha investigado, mediante estudios de cinética de muerte celular, el efecto inhibidor de una cepa de Lactobacillus casei, aislada de un alimento cárnico fermentado producido en la región santafesina (Argentina), y de su sobrenadante libre de células (SLC), frente a tres cepas de Escherichia coli O157:H7. La cepa de L. casei 206/1 se seleccionó sobre la base de resultados obtenidos en estudios previos donde, aplicando la técnica de agar spot, se determinó que su SLC produjo el mayor efecto inhibitorio sobre E. coli O157:H7. En los ensayos de cinética de muerte celular se observó una reducción significativa de las cepas de E. coli O157:H7 estudiadas, tanto en cocultivos como en el ensayo con el SLC, no detectándose bacterias viables luego de 24 horas de incubación. Estos resultados demuestran que cepas de bacterias ácido lácticas aisladas a partir de un determinado ecosistema regional, pueden convertirse en una herramienta biotecnológica útil para controlar a E. coli O157:H7 en alimentos.
Through the study of cell death kinetics, we have analyzed the inhibiting effect of a Lactobacillus casei strain isolated from a fermented meat product produced at the Santa Fe region in Argentina, and of its cell-free supernatant (CFS), against three Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains. The L. casei 206/1 strain was selected on the basis of results obtained in previous studies where using the agar spot technique, it was determined that CFS produced the greatest inhibitory effect over E. coli O157:H7. The studies of cell death kinetics showed a significant reduction of the E. coli O157:H7 strains tested, both in cocultures and in assays with CFS, and no viable bacteria were detected after 24-hours of incubation. These results show that lactic acid bacterial strains isolated from a determined regional ecosystem, can become a useful biotechnological tool for controlling E. coli O157:H7 in food.
ABSTRACT
PspA, a pneumococcal surface protein, is highly immunogenic and common to all serotypes. Although pspA gene shows a great heterogeneity at the N-terminal region, PspA protein has conserved epytopes which are able to elicit protective cross-reaction against various serotypes presenting different PspA. In spite of the high polimorfism of the PspA, three majority families can be identified. These properties convert PspA as ideal candidate for the formulation of a pneumococcal vaccine. Investigations of the PspA families were mostly carried out on prevalent serotypes in other countries. The aim of this study was to identify PspA families from Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates of our region as well as to associate them to prevalent serotypes or pathologies. We studied 70 isolates from pediatric patients with invasive infections. PCR was performed using specific primers for each family. In these studies we observed that 60% were PspA family 1, 34% were PspA family 2 and 6% remained unclassified. Serotypes 1 and 5 presented only family 1; serotypes 14, 6B, 19F y 18C showed genes from both families. Family 1 was observed respectively in 60 y 50% of pneumonias and meningitis. The family 2 was identified in 33 and 50% of pneumonias and meningitis. This information about the PspA family distribution could become a valuable contribution to develop an effective regional vaccine using recombinant PspA as immunogen.
Subject(s)
Bacterial Proteins/classification , Streptococcus pneumoniae/classification , Bacterial Proteins/immunology , Electrophoresis, Agar Gel , Humans , Membrane Proteins/classification , Polymerase Chain Reaction , SerotypingABSTRACT
The early detection of anti-CagA antibodies in young adults would be of a great clinical impact in the prevention of gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to assess IgG and anti-CagA antibodies seroprevalence against Helicobacter pylori in our region using a non invasive technique, easy to perform an evaluating its relationship with different epidemiological risk factors. Four hundred and thirty-five volunteers with a mean age of forty years old from different health centers were included in this study. Demographic socieconomical and other data of interest were recorded. IgG and CagA antibodies against Helicobacter pylori were determined using an enzyme immunoassay technique. The prevalence of IgG antibodies was 52.2% being 152 in women (53.7%) and 75 in men (49%). These antibodies were showed in 65% of affected patients and 43.1% in asymptomatic carriers. The prevalence anti-CagA antibodies was 63.4% among seropositives (IgG) individuals corresponding to 33.1% of the total studied population. Ninety-six (33.9%) persons of this group were women an 48 (31.6%) were men. The prevalence was 45.4% and 25.7% in symptomatic an asymptomatic individuals, respectively. It was demonstrated that IgG antibodies were associated with age, area of residence, educational level reached and number of bedrooms in the house. The anti-CagA antibodies depend on area of residence and symptoms. The relation between the symptoms and the presence of anti-CagA antibodies shows the selective importance of clinical data in the gastric diseases associated with Helicobacter pylori.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/blood , Antibodies, Bacterial/blood , Antigens, Bacterial/blood , Bacterial Proteins/blood , Helicobacter Infections/epidemiology , Helicobacter pylori/immunology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/isolation & purification , Argentina/epidemiology , Female , Helicobacter Infections/blood , Humans , Immunoglobulin G/blood , Immunoglobulin G/isolation & purification , Male , Middle Aged , Predictive Value of Tests , Risk Factors , Seroepidemiologic StudiesABSTRACT
The early detection of anti-CagA antibodies in young adults would be of a great clinical impact in the prevention of gastric cancer. The aim of this study was to assess IgG and anti-CagA antibodies seroprevalence against Helicobacter pylori in our region using a non invasive technique, easy to perform an evaluating its relationship with different epidemiological risk factors. Four hundred and thirty-five volunteers with a mean age of forty years old from different health centers were included in this study. Demographic socieconomical and other data of interest were recorded. IgG and CagA antibodies against Helicobacter pylori were determined using an enzyme immunoassay technique. The prevalence of IgG antibodies was 52.2
being 152 in women (53.7
) and 75 in men (49
). These antibodies were showed in 65
of affected patients and 43.1
in asymptomatic carriers. The prevalence anti-CagA antibodies was 63.4
among seropositives (IgG) individuals corresponding to 33.1
of the total studied population. Ninety-six (33.9
) persons of this group were women an 48 (31.6
) were men. The prevalence was 45.4
and 25.7
in symptomatic an asymptomatic individuals, respectively. It was demonstrated that IgG antibodies were associated with age, area of residence, educational level reached and number of bedrooms in the house. The anti-CagA antibodies depend on area of residence and symptoms. The relation between the symptoms and the presence of anti-CagA antibodies shows the selective importance of clinical data in the gastric diseases associated with Helicobacter pylori.
