HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder: A Look into Cellular and Molecular Pathology.

Despite combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) limiting HIV replication to undetectable levels in the blood, people living with HIV continue to experience HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND). HAND is associated with neurocognitive impairment, including motor impairment, and memory loss. HIV has been detected in the brain within 8 days of estimated exposure and the mechanisms for this early entry are being actively studied. Once having entered into the central nervous system (CNS), HIV degrades the blood-brain barrier through the production of its gp120 and Tat proteins. These proteins are directly toxic to endothelial cells and neurons, and propagate inflammatory cytokines by the activation of immune cells and dysregulation of tight junction proteins. The BBB breakdown is associated with the progression of neurocognitive disease. One of the main hurdles for treatment for HAND is the latent pool of cells, which are insensitive to cART and prolong inflammation by harboring the provirus in long-lived cells that can reactivate, causing damage. Multiple strategies are being studied to combat the latent pool and HAND; however, clinically, these approaches have been insufficient and require further revisions. The goal of this paper is to aggregate the known mechanisms and challenges associated with HAND.

The forgotten method? Pulsed electric field thresholds from the perspective of texture analysis.

Pulsed electric field (PEF) technology has found applications in various industrial food sectors, including the potato industry, winemaking, biorefinery, and juice extraction, among others. The practical implementation of PEF technology in the food industry is however still hindered by several challenges. The detection and quantification of PEF effects are complex due to the variable characteristics and properties of raw materials, including cellular composition, structural organization, textural properties, and tissue porosity. Moreover, the PEF treatment parameters (e.g., pulse amplitude, duration, shape, rate), and process parameters (e.g., temperature, pH, medium conductivity) further complicate the optimization of PEF protocols, requiring a case-by-case approach. Knowledge of treated material properties and their functional dependence on PEF is a crucial prerequisite to informed, intelligent design of treatment protocols. We present an experimental study designed to gain insights into the mechanism behind the changes in textural properties induced by PEF in both plant and animal tissues. These changes in texture are then compared with findings from our previous study on electrical impedance, to highlight how different methods of detection of PEF-induced changes in tissue can yield vastly different results based on the method of analysis used depending on tissue properties. Furthermore, texture analysis unveiled the less-explored effects of PEF treatment on electroosmosis phenomena in both plant and animal tissues. We provide a comparative analysis between plant and animal tissues to elucidate the differences in deformation resulting from PEF treatment. We thus demonstrate how important it is, be it in the development phase or for process control during industrial operation, to choose an appropriate method of characterising PEF-induced changes in tissue to avoid under- or overtreatment.

Dry-salted cod (Gadus morhua) rehydration assisted by pulsed electric fields: modelling of mass transfer kinetics.

BACKGROUND: Dry-salted cod (Gadus morhua) must be rehydrated before consumption and this step can take up to 5 days. Desalting of cod on an industrial scale poses many problems, mainly related to the long processing times and the quality of the final product. For this reason, many researchers have focused on finding new desalting methods to improve mass transfer. The application of pulsed electric fields (PEF) has been proposed as an alternative method for improving mass transfer in many food processes. However, there is no previous literature on the use of PEF to improve animal tissue rehydration. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the influence of two PEF pre-treatments [PEF (1) 500 V cm-1 and PEF (2) 1000 V cm-1 ] on mass transport kinetics during the rehydration process of salted cod. The rehydration process was carried out under static conditions for 6 days, immersing dry-salted cod samples in tap water (5 ± 0.5 °C). RESULTS: The results show that the use of PEF technology increases the rate of the rehydration process of dry-salted cod and influences the redistribution of salt. In general, the samples pre-treated with PEF showed higher weight gain and lower salt loss than the control samples during the rehydration process. CONCLUSION: The application of PEF prior to rehydration of salted cod samples could be of interest to the food industry as a result of a higher process yield (higher weight gain) and the possibility to reduce the water renewal because less NaCl is lost in the wastewater. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of Plasma Activated Water on Selected Chemical Compounds of Rocket-Salad (Eruca sativa Mill.) Leaves.

Plasma activated water (PAW) has proven to be a promising alternative for the decontamination of rocket leaves. The impact of PAW on the volatile profile, phytosterols, and pigment content of rocket leaves was studied. Leaves were treated by PAW at different times (2, 5, 10, and 20 min). Compounds of the headspace were detected and quantified using GC-MS analysis. A total of 52 volatile organic compounds of different chemical classes were identified. Glucosinolate hydrolysis products are the major chemical class. PAW application induced some chemical modifications in the volatile compounds. Changes in the content of the major compounds varied with the increase or decrease in the treatment time. However, PAW-10 and -2 were grouped closely to the control. A significant decrease in the content of ß-sitosterol and campesterol was observed after PAW treatment, except for PAW-10, which showed a non-significant reduction in both compounds. A significant increase in ß carotene, luteolin, and chlorophyll b was observed after the shortest treatment time of PAW-2. A reduction in chlorophyll content was also observed, which is significant only at longer treatment, or PAW-20. Overall, PAW has proven to be a safe alternative for rocket decontamination.

The combined effect of pulsed electric field treatment and brine salting on changes in the oxidative stability of lipids and proteins and color characteristics of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax).

A combined effect of pulsed electric field application and salting in a brine with 5 and 10% w/w NaCl on oxidative stability of lipids and proteins, as well as color characteristics of sea bass samples, was assessed in the study. The applied intensity of the current was set at 10 and 20 A corresponding to 300 and 600 V cm-1, respectively. Pulsed electric field (PEF) treatment led to a significant (p < 0.05) increase in primary and secondary lipid oxidation products expressed as peroxide value, conjugated dienes and 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in PEF-treated samples compared to untreated ones. Conjugated dienes, as unstable primary oxidation products, correlated with b∗-value (p < 0.05, R = 0.789), suggesting their contribution to the yellowness of the fish flesh due to fast decomposition and conversion into secondary oxidation products yielding yellow pigmentation. However, none of the fish samples treated at the higher current intensity of 20 A exceeded the acceptable level of 5 meq active oxygen/kg lipid according to the requirements of the Standard for fish oils CODEX STAN 329-2017, suggesting acceptable oxidative status quality of sea bass samples after the treatment. PEF-treated fish samples also showed a significant increase in Schiff bases and total carbonyls on day 5 and day 8 of brine salting compared to non-treated samples, revealing a strong effect of electroporation on protein oxidation.

Freshness assessment of European hake (Merluccius merluccius) through the evaluation of eye chromatic and morphological characteristics.

The most commonly used method for fish freshness determination is the sensory inspection; alternative sensory methods such as the Quality Index Method (QIM), based on the significant sensory parameters of one specific species, have been recently suggested. Considering that most of the sensory parameters are based on chromatic and morphological visual impression, the set-up of an objective method using computer vision techniques is very promising. The objective of this research was to characterize the changes in eye chromatic and morphological characteristics of European hake (Merluccius merluccius) during 13 days of storage on ice, using a tailored computer vision technique and a 3D scanner. Results obtained by multivariate statistical analysis of the colour spectra of eye images and by the eye concavity index using a 3D scanner permitted to estimate fish unacceptability after 7 days of storage, in agreement with results obtained by QIM sensory analysis. Moreover, 1H NMR was used to evaluate the production of trimethylamine (TMA) and the Ki index, confirming a good correlation with eye chromatic and morphological features. This preliminary study showed the high potentiality of the developed method as a non-destructive technique for raw fish freshness characterization / prediction, being a promising approach to create a robust portable instrument for the evaluation of fish freshness in real transport and marketing conditions.

Reduction of acrylamide formation in fried potato chips by Aureobasidum pullulans L1 strain.

Acrylamide is a potential carcinogenic molecule formed during food heat processing at high temperature (Maillard reaction). In the present study, the ability of the yeast Aureobasidium pullulans to deplete the acrylamide precursor free asparagine in fresh potatoes was investigated. A. pullulans applied before final frying changes the free amino acid composition of potatoes, decreasing the content of free asparagine by 16% and reducing acrylamide by 83% in fried potatoes. Potato browning was also reduced by yeast treatment without negative drawbacks on chip taste. This yeast, commonly used in fruit postharvest disease control, can therefore also be applied in potato and bakery industries to reduce food acrylamide content.