Sheep milk has a high nutritional value and high concentrations of proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins, as compared to the milks of other domestic species. The physicochemical and nutritional characteristics of sheep milk can be advantageous for the manufacture of products containing prebiotic ingredients and/or probiotic bacteria, which are major categories in the functional food market. Following this technological trend, this review will address the characteristics and advantages of sheep milk as a potentially functional food, as well as the development of sheep milk dairy products containing prebiotics and/or probiotics.
RESUMO Esta pesquisa objetivou determinar a prevalência de quedas, nos últimos 12 meses, entre os idosos; comparar as variáveis sociodemográficas, clínicas, de saúde e funcionais entre os idosos que tiveram quedas e aqueles que não as tiveram; e verificar os fatores associados a quedas em idosos. Inquérito domiciliar conduzido com 729 idosos da zona urbana de Uberaba, Minas Gerais. A prevalência de quedas foi de 28,3%. A maior proporção entre os idosos que tiveram queda foi a do sexo feminino; com 80 anos ou mais; que apresentavam duas ou mais morbidades e usavam cinco ou mais medicamentos. As quedas estavam associadas ao sexo feminino; com idade de 80 anos ou mais e que apresentavam duas ou mais morbidades. O estudo reforça a necessidade de investimento na promoção da saúde e prevenção de morbidades, considerando que, dentre os preditores de quedas, somente a presença de comordidades é passível de intervenção do profissional de saúde.
Bacteriocins are bacterial antimicrobial peptides with bactericidal activity against other bacteria. Staphylococcins are bacteriocins produced by staphylococci, which are Gram-positive bacteria with medical and veterinary importance. Most bacteriocins produced by staphylococci are either lantibiotics (e.g., Pep5, epidermin, epilancin K7, epicidin 280, staphylococcin C55/BacR1, and nukacin ISK-1) or class II bacteriocins (e.g., aureocins A70 and 53). Only one staphylococcin belonging to class III, lysostaphin, has been described so far. Production of staphylococcins is a self-protection mechanism that helps staphylococci to survive in their natural habitats. However, since these substances generally have a broad spectrum of activity, inhibiting several human and animal pathogens, they have potential biotechnological applications either as food preservatives or therapeutic agents. Due to the increasing consumer awareness of the risks derived not only from food-borne pathogens, but also from the artificial chemical preservatives used to control them, the interest in the discovery of natural food preservatives has increased considerably. The emergence and dissemination of antibiotic resistance among human and animal pathogens and their association with the use of antibiotics constitute a serious problem worldwide requiring effective measures for controlling their spread. Staphylococcins may be used, solely or in combination with other chemical agents, to avoid food contamination or spoilage and to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. The use of combinations of antimicrobials is common in the clinical setting and expands the spectrum of organisms that can be targeted, prevents the emergence of resistant organisms, decreases toxicity by allowing lower doses of both agents and can result in synergistic inhibition.
Centro Tecnológico do Corpo de Fuzileiros Navais RESUMO A importância da tomada de decisão na organização é bastante clara e pode ser percebida empiricamente em qualquer análise organizacional. Porém, existe uma tendência de muitos gestores em confiar cegamente na sua capacidade de decidir com base na experiência ou na intuição, sem levar em conta informações e metodologias que lhes permitam ter muito mais clareza e eficácia naquilo sobre o que decidem. Diante deste cenário, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo aplicar a metodologia Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) combinada com a lógica Fuzzy para otimizar a tomada de decisão na seleção de um painel fotovoltaico na fase de concepção de projeto de uma armadilha elétrica. Para isto, a pesquisa se apoiou em metodologias de análise multicritério, mais especificamente no AHP e na lógica Fuzzy que é uma técnica que incorpora a forma humana de pensar. Ambas as metodologias são braços da pesquisa operacional. No intuito de demonstrar a aplicação desses dois métodos em um caso prático, foi elaborado um projeto conceitual de uma armadilha elétrica. Este produto utiliza para seu funcionamento energia fotovoltaica, que é a energia solar convertida através de painéis fotovoltaicos. Com intuito de otimizar a definição do painel fotovoltaico em função dos parâmetros de custo, vida útil, eficiência energética e classificação energética, foi aplicado um modelo baseado na metodologia AHP. Porém, como o parâmetro eficiência energética não possuía parâmetros numéricos evidentes, o modelo foi combinado com a metodologia Fuzzy afim de transformar o critério impreciso, nebuloso, em um critério mensurável, para aplicação do Método AHP. Como resultado, obtive-se a definição do painel mais adequado dentro dos parâmetros e requisitos levantados.
Aims: To investigate the activity of seven staphylococcins, bacteriocins produced by staphylococci, against multiresistant Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase‐negative staphylococci (CNS) involved in human infections.
Methods and Results: Four bacteriocins produced by Staph. epidermidis (Pep5, epidermin, epilancin K7 and epicidin 280) and three produced by Staph. aureus (aureocins A70, A53 and 215FN) were tested. Sixteen Staph. aureus strains, including a representative strain of the endemic Brazilian methicillin‐resistant clone (MRSA), and 57 CNS strains were used as indicators. Among the staphylococcins used, Pep5 was able to inhibit 77·2% of the CNS strains and 87·5% of the Staph. aureus strains tested, including the Brazilian MRSA endemic clone, responsible for a large number of hospital‐acquired infections in Brazil. On the other hand, aureocin A53 and epidermin presented a high antagonistic activity only against the Staph. aureus strains, being able to inhibit, respectively, 87·5% and 81·3% of them, including also the Brazilian MRSA endemic clone. The remaining bacteriocins inhibited only a low percentage of the nosocomial staphylococcal strains tested.
Conclusions: Aureocin A53 and epidermin have potential applications against MRSA, whereas Pep5 seems to be an attractive agent against both MRSA and CNS, including mupirocin‐resistant strains and the Brazilian endemic clone of MRSA, which is also found disseminated in other countries.
Significance and Impact of the Study: Bacteriocins may represent alternative agents to control important nosocomial pathogens.
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