Impact of the use of Non-Caloric Sweeteners on the Development and Acceptibility of Sweet Preparations

The aim of this study was to substitute saccharose in culinary preparations—custard-filled profiteroles with chocolate topping, chocolate brownie, chocolate mousse, soft coconut candy, soft chocolate fudge, and diet condensed milk—using two types of sweetener, while observing the behavior and performance of these substances, highlighting the difficulties and other required modifications to ensure the acceptance of the final product. Recipes that produced satisfactory characteristics were analyzed by the affective acceptance test using the nine-point hedonic scale to rate specifics attributes. Preparations attaining 50% of scores greater than or equal to 7 were considered accepted. The preference test (Friedman) was applied to products in which both non-caloric sweeteners yielded satisfactory results. Results were analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey tests. The main differences observed in the modified recipes were reduced viscosity, lower yield, less creaminess, less rising, limited capacity to incorporate air, and lower intensity of color and sweetness. Nevertheless, these characteristics did not affect the acceptance of the preparations since the majority of preparations were well accepted by the tasters. No statistically significant difference in preference was detected. The substitution of saccharose by non-caloric sweeteners resulted in products with good acceptability.     

Sleep Apnea and Atrial Fibrillation: Role of the Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System

Sleep apnea is highly associated with atrial fibrillation (AF), and both diseases are highly prevalent in the United States. The mechanistic underpinnings that contribute to their association remain uncertain, but numerous possible mechanisms have been proposed, including dysfunction of the cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS). Studies have reported that apnea induces hyperactivity of the ANS, leading to increases in AF susceptibility. This review compiles the latest evidence on the role of the ANS in sleep-apnea-induced AF.     

A Two-Dimensional Second Order Conservative Front-Tracking Method with an Original Marker Advection Approach Based on Jump Relations

A two-dimensional front-tracking method is developed for handling complex shape interfaces satisfying the volume conservation. In order to validate the proposed front-tracking method, a complete convergence study is carried out on several analytical test cases for which the interface is widely stretched and deformed. Comparisons to different existing approaches show that our front-tracking method is second order accurate in space with lower errors than existing interface tracking techniques of the literature.We also propose an original marker advection method which takes into account the jump relations valid at interface in order to deal with the contrast of physical properties encountered in two-phase flow simulations. The conservative front-tracking method computed in this work is shown to be able to describe interfaces with high accuracy even for poorly resolved Eulerian grids.     

Endomiocardite de Löffler – a propósito de um caso clínico

Loeffler's endocarditis is an acute form of primary restrictive cardiomyopathy. We report the case of a young woman with pleuritic chest pain associated with fever and hypereosinophilia. She was hospitalized with suspected acute myopericarditis and was treated with aspirin, leading to clinical improvement. Ten days after discharge, she was rehospitalized due to recurrence of chest pain. The echocardiogram showed what appeared to be a mass filling the apex of the right ventricle (RV). She was referred for magnetic resonance imaging, which revealed marked myocardial thickening in the apex of the RV. The patient underwent an endomyocardial biopsy, resulting in a diagnosis of eosinophilic endocarditis. After treatment with prednisolone, all symptoms and the eosinophilia disappeared, and there was complete remission of the RV abnormalities. After three years of follow-up, the patient remains asymptomatic. This case shows that, even without an etiologic diagnosis of eosinophilia, the prognosis for Loeffler's endocarditis can be favorable if treatment is initiated early.     

Saline contrast echocardiography for the detection of anomalous origin of pulmonary artery from aorta

Saline contrast echocardiography is a well‐established modality for the diagnosis of right‐to‐left shunt lesions. In this brief report, we demonstrate, for the first time, its usefulness in the diagnosis of anomalous origin of right pulmonary artery from aorta.