Life Sciences Commons^™

Implementation Of Iso/Iec Practices In Small And Academic Laboratories, Eric Layne Oliver

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Food Manufacturers are facing challenging times due to regulations such as the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requiring them to provide evidence they are producing safe foods. Food testing laboratories aid in the mitigation of food safety issues providing evidence that a manufacturers food safety system is acceptable. To perform these activities laboratories are required to adhere to certain standards such as ISO/IEC 17025 General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories. However, implementation of ISO/IEC 17025 practices is challenging, especially for small and academic laboratories, due to lack of available guidance. A long-term goal of the University …

The Msdin Family In Amanitin-Producing Mushrooms And Evolution Of The Prolyl Oligopeptidase Genes, Hong Luo, Qing Cai, Yungjiao Luli, Xuan Li, Rohita Sinha, Heather E. Hallen-Adams, Zhu L. Yang

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

The biosynthetic pathway for amanitins and related cyclic peptides in deadly Amanita (Amanitace ae) mushrooms represents the first known ribosomal cyclic peptide pathway in the Fungi. Amanitins are found outside of the genus in distantly related agarics Galerina (Strophariaceae) and Lepiota (Agaricaceae). A long-standing question in the field persists: why is this pathway present in these phylogenetically disjunct agarics? Two deadly mushrooms, A. pallidorosea and A. subjunquillea, were deep sequenced, and sequences of biosynthetic genes encoding MSDINs (cyclic peptide presursor) and prolyl oligopeptidases (POPA and POPB) were obtained. The two Amanita species yielded 20 and 18 MSDINs, respectively. In addition, …

Law Library Blog (August 2018): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

Cilantro/Coriander In The Garden, Dan Drost, Colt Miller

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes cilantro/coriander in the garden, varieties, how to grow, problems, harvesting and storage, nutrition, and frequently asked questions.

Investigating The Potential Of Plant-Derived Antimicrobials For Controlling Campylobacter Jejuni In Poultry And Poultry Products, Basanta Raj Wagle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Campylobacter jejuni infection in humans is strongly associated with the handling and consumption of contaminated poultry products. Interventions reducing C. jejuni contamination in poultry would reduce the risk of subsequent human infections. In the first study, the efficacy of a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) compound, eugenol (EG; derived from cloves), as an antimicrobial dip treatment to reduce C. jejuni in postharvest poultry was evaluated. The antimicrobial efficacy of EG was studied in suspension, emulsion and nanoemulsion delivery systems. EG suspension reduced C. jejuni counts with the greatest reduction of >2.0 Log CFU/sample for the 2% dose of EG (P<0.05). Eugenol emulsions or nanoemulsions did not provide any additional Campylobacter reduction when compared with suspension alone. In the second study, the efficacy of pectin or chitosan coatings fortified with eugenol to reduce C. jejuni on chicken wingettes was investigated. Inoculated wingettes were randomly assigned to controls, eugenol (0.5, 1 or 2%), pectin (3%), chitosan (2%) or their combinations. Following 1 min of coating, wingettes were air dried (1 h) and sampled on d 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7. The incorporation of 0.5, 1 or 2% eugenol in the pectin improved coating efficacy against C. jejuni whereas the efficacy of chitosan coating was improved by 2% eugenol treatment (P<0.05). Exposure of C. jejuni to eugenol, chitosan or combination significantly modulated select genes encoding for motility, quorum sensing and stress response. In the third study, the efficacy of eugenol, trans-cinnamaldehyde and carvacrol in inhibiting C. jejuni biofilm formation and inactivating mature biofilm was evaluated. For the inhibition study, C. jejuni was grown either in the presence or absence of sub-inhibitory concentrations of phytochemicals and biofilm formation was quantified at 24 h intervals by enumeration. For the inactivation study, mature C. jejuni biofilms were exposed to the phytochemicals (0, 0.25, 0.5, or 1%) for 1, 5, or 10 min, and surviving C. jejuni in the biofilms were enumerated. All phytochemicals reduced C. jejuni biofilm formation as well as inactivated mature biofilm at both temperatures (P<0.05). Moreover, scanning electron microscopy revealed disruption of biofilm architecture and loss of extracellular polymeric substances after treatment.

Anti-Inflammatory Activity Of Phenolic And Volatile Compounds In Cranberries (Vaccinium Macrocarpon L), Katherine Moore

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this study was to compare the anti-inflammatory effects of phenolic and volatile compounds extracted from cranberries. The Griess Reagent System assay was used to measure the in vitro anti-inflammatory capabilities of cranberry phenolic and volatile extracts on RAW 264.7 mouse macrophage cells. This study tested the anti-inflammatory capabilities of the cranberry phenolic and volatile extracts before, as a preventative treatment, and after, as a means of treating pre-existing inflammation, inducing inflammation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). All experiments were conducted in the following manner, varying only in whether treated with the extracts before or after LPS: 1 x …

Influences Of Intrinsic And Extrinsic Hand-Feel Touch Cues On Sensory Perception And Emotional Responses Toward Beverage Products, Ragita Cantika Pramudya

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Consumer perception of and preference toward products are influenced by intrinsic product-specific (e.g., product temperature) and extrinsic non-product-specific (e.g., packaging or container) characteristics. Besides communicating information between products and consumers to create expectations toward the content at the point of sale, packaging also influences sensory perception of the content during consumption. Previous cross-modal studies on packaging effects on the content had largely overlooked hand-feel touch cues. Touch closely relates to consumers’ emotional responses to and their quality evaluation of products. One way to manipulate hand-feel touch cues in a beverage consumption setting is to vary materials of cup sleeve, which …

The Effect Of Wild Blueberry Anthocyanins And Phenolic Acids On Innate Immunity: The Compliment System, Vasiliki Papakotsi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ingestion of berries containing polyphenols is associated with lower risk of inflammatory, metabolic, cardiovascular and degenerative diseases. Diet has been shown to modulate the activation of the complement system, a set of over 50 proteins present in the circulation and tissues that reacts in response to damage or microbial encounter and is critical for the maintenance of homeostasis. Imbalanced activation is tightly correlated with inflammation and various pathologies. Wild blueberries are a rich source of anthocyanins and phenolic acids, which can be found in plasma shortly after consumption. Given the involvement of both complement and polyphenols in the modulation of …

Advancing Risk Assessment: Mechanistic Dose-Response Modelling Of Listeria Monocytogenes Infection In Human Populations, Ashrafur Rahman, Daniel Munther, Aamir Fazil, Ben Smith, Jianhong Wu

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. The utility of characterizing the effects of strain variation and individual/subgroup susceptibility on dose-response outcomes has motivated the search for new approaches beyond the popular use of the exponential dose-response model for listeriosis. While descriptive models can account for such variation, they have limited power to extrapolate beyond the details of particular outbreaks. By contrast, this study exhibits dose-response relationships from a mechanistic basis, quantifying key biological factors involved in pathogen-host dynamics. An …

Modifying The Mineral Profile Of Crickets (Acheta Domesticus) Using A Supplemented Diet, Rhianne Morgan Le Maxwell

Master's Theses

Captive insectivores may consume invertebrates as all, or part of their overall diet. The challenge with feeding captive insectivores involves the limited number of invertebrate species that are commercially available, and the lack of key nutrients provided by these insects. Among these insects, a naturally occurring low concentration of calcium and an inverse calcium to phosphorus ratio may put insectivores at the risk of developing hypocalcemia. A strategy to correct this nutrient imbalance involves supplementing the insect diet with high concentrations of targeted nutrients – a term referred to as gut-loading. Current industry guidelines recommend feeding a supplemented diet for …

Development And Shelf Life Evaluation Of A Novel Fermented Seaweed Sauerkraut Utilizing Commercially Important Maine Seaweeds, Sarah M. Brochu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fermented vegetables can provide consumers with important health benefits, particularly due to the presence of probiotics. These fermented products have gained popularity with American consumers over the past decade. Therefore, a lacto-fermented seaweed sauerkraut, containing seaweed and cabbage, was developed to address this trend and to create a value-added seaweed product with extended refrigerated shelf life. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of kelp species and seaweed incorporation level on the fermentative success, microbial safety, consumer acceptability, and refrigerated shelf life of seaweed sauerkraut for 60 days post inoculation.

Six treatments with varying levels (25%, 50%, …

Effect Of Grain Sorghum Polyphenols On Fecal Fermentation, Danielle Marie Ashley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is an increasing epidemic which during 2015-2016 afflicted 39.8% of adults and 18.5% of youth in the United States. Not only can obesity affect quality of life, but it can lead to life-threatening diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers. Animal and human research have demonstrated a pattern of gut microbiota perturbation in overweight and obesity, characterized by a reduction of beneficial bacterial species and increase in harmful species. Diet has been established as a contributing factor in gut ecology, and foods including fiber, resistant starch, and polyphenols have been found to both enhance …

Effects Of Serving Temperature On Sensory Perception And Acceptance Of Brewed Coffee, Matthew James Chapko

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coffee continues to be one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide. How an individual perceives a cup of coffee is impacted by a plethora of factors including origin, growing climate, roasting level, and consumption habits. This thesis utilized both trained descriptive panelists and untrained consumer panelists to analyze how serving/consumption temperature modulates sensory perception of brewed coffee in regards to appearance, aroma, flavor, taste, and mouthfeel. Three varieties of coffee (Colombia, Ethiopia, and Kenya) were brewed and served to panelists at four temperatures: 70, 55, 40, and 25 °C. In one study (Study 1, Chapter 3), results from descriptive …

Growth Characteristics Of Lactobacillus Wasatchensis And Its Detection And Enumeration Using Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction, Isaac Brockbank Bowen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There are numerous challenges encountered during the manufacturing and storage of cheese by both the large-scale and artesian producers. One such challenge has been the formation of late gassy defect, which occurs when gas is produced by certain lactic acid bacteria found in the cheese block during storage and aging over a three month time period. Negative consequences of late gas production are slits and cracks in the cheese block and puffy cheese packaging, which cause significant financial losses for manufacturers along with poor consumer acceptance.

Lactobacillus wasatchensis is one such lactic acid bacterium shown to produce gas during cheese …

Anti-Inflammatory Effect Of Berry Essences, Inah Gu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Inflammation is one of defense reactions of our body tissues against harmful stimuli such as infection and tissue injury. However, it has been reported that chronic inflammation can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. This transition from acute to chronic inflammation state is usually induced by pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines including nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), which accelerate the development of other chronic diseases. Accordingly, targeting these pro-inflammatory factors is one of the important roles for anti-inflammatory agents. For last two decades, researches about anti-inflammatory …

Methane Emissions From Rice Production On A Silt-Loam Soil In Arkansas, Joshua Jeffry Humphreys

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Methane (CH4) emissions from rice (Oryza sativa L.) production are a source of concern in the environmental and agricultural communities. New and/or revised agronomic methodologies will be needed to identify production practice combinations that reduce CH4 emissions without decreasing yields. The objective of this multi-year study was to evaluate the effects of water management (i.e., full-season flood and mid-season drain) (2015), cultivar (i.e., pure-line cultivar ‘LaKast’ and the RiceTec hybrid “XP753”) (2015), soil organic matter (SOM) concentration (2016), and tillage [conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT)] and urea-based fertilizers [N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT)-coated urea and non-coated urea] (2017) on CH4 …

The Effects Of Cold Plasma Treatment On Sweet Basil (Ocimum Basilicum), Sauvelson Auguste

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The study discussed herein looks both to continue and to expand upon previous work conducted here at Seton Hall University, which investigated the effect of cold plasma processing on sweet basil and their essential oils. It was found that the application of cold plasma treatment increases plant growth and eugenol concentration, which is an essential oil component and one of the potential natural antioxidants used in food preservation. In this study, we considered methods for increasing the production and harvesting of plants that produce essential oils such as sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum). The study also incorporated more controls …

Analysis Of Notifications On China Food Safety By Eu Rapid Alert System For Food And Feed （Rasff） In 2016～2017, Yuan Yanfang, Chen Hui

Food and Machinery

This article analyzes the food safety notifications on China by EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed（RASFF）in 2016~2017 from five perspectives: number of notifications, notifying countries, notification types, product categories and hazard categories. It makes a summary on the characteristics of food safety notifications on China by RASFF in 2016~2017, and analyses the key food categories and risk factors focused by European Union. Finally, three suggestions are concluded to improve food safety supervision in China, including establishing a food safety early warning platform based on data analysis; accurately analyzing the characteristics of food safety risks notified by RASFF to …

Effect Of Distilled Spirit On The Structural Changes And Functional Properties Of Myofibrillar Protein In Saury, Dong Wei, He Xuehua, Dou Chuanlin, Shang Yongbiao

Food and Machinery

In this study, the effect of distilled spirit on the myofibril protein solubility, emulsification, turbidity, surface hydrophobicity, gel properties and sulfhydryl content were investigated in the saury. The results showed that, with the increase of the additive amount of distilled spirit, the solubility, emulsification, gel hardness, elasticity, mastication, cohesion and water retention of myofibril protein first increased and then decreased. However, no significant change was found in the gel whiteness, and the turbidity, surface hydrophobicity and sulfhydryl content were first decreased and then increased. In conclusion, the distilled spirit processing had a great influence on the functional characteristics of the …

Effects Of Roasting Temperature On The Fatty Acid, Pigment And Ethanol-Extracts And Their Antioxidant Activities In Chlorella Pyrenoidosa, Wang Baobei, Jia Jing, Sun Hui, Liu Lei, Cai Shulin, Li Liting

Food and Machinery

Effects of roasting temperature and duration on the composition fatty acid and pigment and antioxidant attribute of Chlorella pyrenoidosa were studied. The results showed that oleic acid (C_18:2) and linolenic acid (C_18∶3,n3) were the predominant fatty acids species, and poly unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) accounted for ca. 76.69% of total fatty acids in Chlorella. Roasting treatment had little effect on fatty acid content and composition when the temperature no higher than 150 ℃. However, remarkably decrease of PUFA content was found with 200 ℃. Both pigments and the antioxidant activity of ethanol extracts (scavenging DPPH) from …

Identification And Variation Of Flavonoid Content Of Semen Astragali Complanati Wine In The Brewing Process, Fan Xuehui, Zhang Qingan, Tian Chengrui

Food and Machinery

Purpose: The total flavonoids content was determined by the colorimetric method of NaNO₂-Al(NO₃)₃, and the changes of the contents of five kinds of flavonoids were detected by the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to study on the content of flavonoids in the brewing process of the different processing of the semen astragali complanati, which provided an important reference for the brewing and quality control. Results: The contents of other flavonoids in semen A complanati showed a increase trend in the beginning, then followed by a decrease, which was consistent with the changing trend of …

Electronic Nose And Gc-Ms Analysis On Volatile Compounds In Essential Oils From Mandarin （Citrus Reticulata Blanco） Peels, Cao Xuedan, Fang Xiugui, Li Erhu, Xu Jianguo, Zhao Kai

Food and Machinery

The essential oils were extracted from four varieties of Citrus Reticulata peels (Citrus poonensis Hort. ex Tanaka, Citrus unshiu Marc., Citrus suceosa Hort.ex Tanaka and Citrus tardiferax Hort. ex Tanaka）by roll-pressed, and then volatile compounds were analyzed by electronic nose and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technology. The results shows that: 5 kinds of the 18 sensors have a significant difference in the response values of the four kinds of Citrus Reticulata Blanco oils (P＜0.05), electronic nose was applied to distinguish the essential oils through the principal component analysis (PCA) and the classification index was above 86%. GC-MS analysis showed there …

Design And Motion Simulation Of Automatic Packing Robot For Small Size Pouch Food, Cai Chuntang

Food and Machinery

In order to design an automatic packing robot for small size pouch foods placed in chaos, a parallel pick-up robot is designed on the basis of analyzing the actual requirement of bagged food packing, and its performance parameters and mechanical structure are determined. Then the space motion trajectory of the robot is planned, and Adams software is used. The planning path is simulated. The results show that the designed robot can grasp and release accurately, and move smoothly in the planned path, and the trajectory is standardized to meet the design requirements.

Design Of Walnut Online Weighing System Based On Support Vector Regression, Jin Zuohui, Zhai Zhiqiang, Zhang Ruoyu, Zou Kunlin, Pang Yujie

Food and Machinery

In order to accurately detect walnut weight online, a walnut weight online testing system based on multi-sensor information fusion was designed, which was adopted the method of dynamic compensation and calibration to process signal collected from an acceleration sensor and symmetrical weight sensors and used the algorithm of support vector regression (SRV) to predict the walnut weight. Then, 400 walnuts were used to acquire weight data at speed of 0.02, 0.03 and 0.05 m/s respectively based on this system. Meanwhile the data were trained and verified. The better prediction model of walnut weight was determined as SVR model with linear …

Research On The Single Spherical Fruit Picking Terminal Device Based On A Binocular Vision, Wang Runtao, Li Ming, Gong Zhenping

Food and Machinery

The terminal device was designed for spherical fruit picking. It was presented the working process and hardware structure of the device, including the binocular vision system, the embedded control core, the mechanical arm and the picker. The proposed algorithm of binding Hough transform circular detection could complete the occlusion fruit segmentation. Based on the improved PMF stereo correspondence point algorithm, the 3D matching of left and right fruit images was realized, and the 3D centered coordinates of fruit were also obtained. The results of the picking experiments on tomato, apple and citrus fruits showed that the module could coordinate and …

Experimental Study On Negative Pressure Grading For Peanut, Yin Shuangshuang, Jiang Haiyong, Li Na, Feng Yongfei

Food and Machinery

A peanut negative pressure grading device with simple structure, good grading effect and easy operation was designed based on Laval nozzle structure. Five factors affecting the vacuum degree in negative pressure tube were simulated and the structure size of air duct was determined based on Fluent. CFD-DEM coupled simulation software was used to simulate the negative pressure sorting of two kinds of peanuts with the same volume and small density difference, and the sorting differences of high quality and inferior grade peanuts were obtained. On this basis, taking the sorting height, conveyor belt speed and air inlet speed as experimental …

Fast Examination Of Total Colony Numbers In Electronic Cigarette Liquids Based On Adenosine Triphosphate (Atp) Bioluminescence Method, Zhang Tingting, Feng Yingjie, Yang Zongcan, Liu Xiangzhen, Hao Hui, Zhang Dongyu, Zhu Qi, Zhang Zhan

Food and Machinery

In order to fast evaluate the hygiene situation of electronic cigarette liquids, the fast examination of total colony numbers in electronic cigarette liquids has been achieved which was based on the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence method.The method has been optimized, and the examination results of total colony by ATP method was compared with the results by National standard microbial detection method . Results showed: (1) the optimal temperature for ATP examination was 25 ℃, optimal time for bioluminescence reaction was 30 s, the detection limit of ATP was 2.36 × 10^-12 mol/L, RSD was 3.5%～8.2%, and the sample recovery …

Screening Of Sudan Dyes Adulteration In Grape Juice Based On Hptlc-Sers Detection, Wang Liao, Ye Zhiyang, Wang Tiannan, Xu Xueming, Chen Yisheng, Yang Na, Wu Fengfeng, Jin Yamei

Food and Machinery

This paper presented a fast screening method for determining Sudan dye adulteration in grape juice, based on the combination of High Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) and Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). Chromatography separation was achieved on silica gel plates using petroleum/acetone/acetic acid (9/1/0.1) as the mobile phase. After that, key factors including silver nano particle concentrations, electrolyte types/concentrations and incident laser wavelength was investigated with regarding to their effects on the quality of SERS results. Under optimized conditions, the method sensitivity reached to 0.01～0.05 mg/kg, while remarkable linearity (R²＞0.996) was obtained within the range of 1～20 mg/kg. Apart …

Evaluation Of Uncertainty Of Vanillin In Tobacco By Solvent Extraction Direct Injection-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry, Li Chao, Xu Yong, Li Exian, Qin Yunhua, Wu Jiacan, Liu Xiuming, Wang Jiajun, Jiang Wei, Zhang Chengming

Food and Machinery

The content of vanillin in tobacco was determined by liquid solvent extraction direct injection -gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LSE-GC-MS/MS). By calculating the uncertainty component and synthetic uncertainty of vanillin, the influence error on the detection results of vanillin content was achieved. The uncertainty of the measurement result of the substance was 1.37 μg/g.

Characteristic Analysis And Optimization Design Of Extrusion Cream Conveyor, Yang Jian, Li Xinwen, Liu Weibing

Food and Machinery

Objective By analyzing the working conditions of the conveyor, the factors affecting the transportation were studied and the mechanical characteristics model of the conveyor was determined. Methods Analytical mechanics method was used to obtain the mechanical characteristics model affecting the equal-pitch variable pitch factor. The three-dimensional model was built using Unigraphics NX and imported into Ansys workbench software. The static simulation, modal analysis and optimization design were performed. Results Through simulation analysis and optimization, the maximum deformation of the cream conveyor occurred at the top edge of the screw shaft, and the mass, total deformation and equivalent stress of the …