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Calcium addition to soybean protein dispersions increases nutritional value but harms functional properties, such as protein solubility and colloidal stability. The high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment can reverse those effects. The aims of this work were to evaluate the influence of pH and protein and calcium concentration on HHP solubilizing/stabilizing effect and to characterize the physicochemical properties of HHP-stabilized species. Proteins without calcium addition were stabilized by HHP at both pHs. However, calcium-added proteins behaved differentially: at pH 5.9, the effect was verified only at low protein concentration, whereas at pH 7.0, the effect was verified under both assayed protein concentrations (5 and 10 g L −1 ) and with a higher magnitude in calcium-added samples. Moreover, at pH 7.0, the effect was independent of the order of calcium addition and HHP treatment, whereas at pH 5.9, the effect was smaller when calcium was added after HHP treatment. At both pHs, the solubilizing/stabilizing effect of HHP on soybean proteins seemed to be largely dependent on the decrease in the size of protein species. The smaller the size, the greater the amount of protein that remained in dispersion after intense centrifugation (10,000g, 20 min, 4 °C). Although the effect of HHP consisted, at least in part, of stabilizing insoluble protein, turbidity decreased in all samples after HHP treatment. By combining different levels of pH, calcium, and protein concentrations, translucent or turbid colloidal-stable dispersions can be obtained by HHP treatment.

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The effects of the essential oil of mandarin peel (Corrientes, Argentina) and limonene (its major component) were studied on two human tumour cell lines growth (lung adenocarcinoma A549 and hepatocarcinoma HepG2). The essential oil was obtained by cold press and its composition was investigated by gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. The antiproliferative effect was studied using an MTT assay. Both mandarin essential oil and limonene tested showed a strong dose-dependent effect on the growth inhibition of these cell lines. The essential oil was more effective in A549 than in HepG2 cells and more effective than limonene in both the cases. It is likely that minor components and limonene of the oil could exert additive or synergistic effects. Hence, mandarin essential oil could lead to the development of anti-tumour agent or complementary and alternative medicines for the treatment of diverse cancers.

Soybean protein isolates (SPI) represent an important source of proteins that are used to prepare oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions. The influence of an innovative treatment (high hydrostatic pressure, HHP) combined with calcium addition at different pH levels and protein concentrations on the formation and stability of o/w SPI emulsions was evaluated in this work. When applied separately, calcium addition or HHP treatment produced different effect at pHs 5.9 and 7.0. Calcium addition led to stable emulsions with decreased flocculation index (FI) at pH 5.9 and low protein concentration (5 g L −1 ), whereas at pH 7.0, this effect was observed at high protein concentration (10 g L −1 ). In these conditions, calcium would favor the arrival of big aggregates to interface, which would be modified and adsorbed during homogenization. Treatment with HHP decreased FI and stabilized emulsions during storage at pH 7.0 (but not at pH 5.9) when prepared from 10 g L −1 protein dispersions. In these conditions, protein unfolding due to HHP-induced denaturation, and high ζ-potential would be responsible for emulsion improvement. Combination of calcium addition and HHP treatment impaired both formation and stabilization abilities of SPI at both pHs. Bridging flocculation was enhanced in these samples while interfacial protein concentration and percentage of adsorbed protein were increased. Thus, soybean proteins that were subjected to combined calcium addition and HHP treatment exhibited a great ability to associate each other, what can be useful to improve other functional properties such as gelation.

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The first cases of AIDS occurred about 1981. There are not fully appropriate therapeutic interventions for treating this medical condition. People who are diagnosed HIV-positive or with AIDS suffer a poor quality of life and receive medication that produces severe adverse reactions. We have analyzed a significant number of papers published in several countries on these topics, and we have found various inconsistencies: -HIV risk behaviors: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States, the Estimated Per-Act Probability of Acquiring HIV from an Infected Source, by Exposure Act (heterosexual) is about one in one thousand for women and about one in two thousand for men. Nevertheless, in an investigation conducted through the University of San Francisco, California, on 442 discordant heterosexual couples no seroconversions were observed throughout the ten years the research lasted. (1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995). No other study of similar characteristics has been conducted ever since. -Diagnostics methods: In Argentina, we employ the ELISA screening method, subsequently confirmed by a Western Blot test, but in the United Stated this last is discouraged since 2014. -Medication: Many of the drugs that are used to treat HIV are DNA chain terminators which interfere with the normal functioning and replication of normal cells. As a result, damage in the immune system and the mitochondrial DNA are reported very frequently. We ask the scientific community what we should inform the patients about all these. We urge the experts´ opinion on the ethical management aspects. Since the diagnostic tests employed may result in false positives and the fact that the medication is highly toxic, we recommend that patients with HIV positive diagnosis fully re-test their condition at least once a year to minimize eventual diagnostic errors, suspending specific medications in case of discrepancies on the testing results.