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Aim: To develop and validate a self-administered population-specific survey, available in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, which investigates the prevalence of voice symptoms and perceptions of risk factors associated with training among prospective teachers., Methods: The present study had three stages: the first stage included a literature review and content validation by experts that supported the survey development. From this phase, we defined five aspects of the Prospective Teacher's Voice Questionnaire (PTVQ): (1) target population, (2) research objectives, (3) questions to be included, (4) scales for the answers, and (5) relevance, comprehensiveness, clarityclarity, and understandability of the questions. This process was performed in parallel for the three languages (Spanish, Portuguese, and English). The second stage included pilot testing. This involved administering the first draft of the survey to a group of 120 students to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the survey instrument, identify any potential problems with the survey, and refine the instrument based on feedback from the pilot participants. The third stage includes the restructuring of the questionnaire's voice quality section to eliminate redundant questions. Through Principal Component Analysis, multicollinear variables were condensed, facilitating the removal of redundant items, and ensuring that the final questionnaire comprised only the most relevant and discriminative questions., Results and Discussion: The final version of the survey, available in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, consists of four sections with a total of 57 questions. The development of the PTVQ represents a significant step toward better understanding and addressing voice disorders among prospective teachers. Future research could further refine the questionnaire and explore its predictive validity in identifying individuals at risk of voice disorders early in their teaching careers. Additionally, interventions based on the findings from the PTVQ could be developed to support the voice health and well-being of prospective teachers, ultimately improving teaching quality and job satisfaction in educational settings., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest No conflict of interest exists., (Copyright © 2024 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this work was to study the effect of blanching and ultrasound pretreatments on drying and quality characteristics of apple peel. Blanching was conducted in boiling water, ultrasound in a water bath, and drying in a batch tray dryer. The product obtained was ground into a flour, and assessed for color, water activity, proximate composition, sugars, and bioactive compounds. Results showed that effective moisture diffusivity increases with a decrease in product moisture content, being such dependence well described by a second order polynomial model. Average drying rate was higher and product moisture content was lower for blanched and sonicated flour, especially for the former. Such result suggests that blanching and ultrasound enhance water removal during drying of apple peel. Physical properties were significantly affected by pretreatments, being more intense red color and lower water activity obtained for sonicated flour. Nutritional and bioactive properties were also significantly affected by pretreatments, being lower sugar, higher protein, fiber, catechin and epicatechin content observed for blanched flour. Summarizing, blanching and ultrasound pretreatments improve drying of apple peel, both regarding process efficiency and product quality., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have created a global climate crisis which requires immediate interventions to mitigate the negative effects on all aspects of life on this planet. As current agriculture and land use contributes up to 25% of total GHG emissions, plant scientists take center stage in finding possible solutions for a transition to sustainable agriculture and land use. In this article, the PlantACT! (Plants for climate ACTion!) initiative of plant scientists lays out a road map of how and in which areas plant scientists can contribute to finding immediate, mid-term, and long-term solutions, and what changes are necessary to implement these solutions at the personal, institutional, and funding levels., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests No interests are declared., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The effect of harvest location on cooked pinhão seeds (Araucaria angustifolia) was investigated with regard to its centesimal composition, minerals, and color, and later correlated with environmental and soil variables. Significant differences between cooked pinhão from various harvesting locations were seen; also, principal component analysis was performed for the minerals, protein, moisture, total starch, and color parameters. The geographic location was one of the most important factors. Caçador presented greater differences: lower values for moisture, minerals, geographic parameter, and color characteristics. However, nearby localities, such as Cruz Machado with Bituruna and Lapa with São João do Triunfo, presented similar overall values for minerals and geographic parameters. Each regional geographic location was able to present unique characteristics so that the principal component analysis categorized it in specific quadrants, which is also in agreement with the CIELAB color space. However, hierarchical tree exhibited that CAÇ was the most distinct, due to the most distant municipality, presenting a unique microbiome. The pinhão is a source of various nutrients, which contributes to healthy dietetic daily values. It provides from 20% to 30% of dietary fiber, Cu (42.2%), P (31.1%), K (23.5%), and Zn (22.1%), while also providing quantities of Mg (12.9%), Mn (12.4%), Fe (11.5%), and Ca (6.4%). Therefore, it is possible to obtain food products based on cooked pinhão that contain many nutritional components associated with human health benefits. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The pinheiro-do-paraná is a conifer that is currently endangered. However, the commercial use of its seeds may be key to guaranteeing its preservation, in addition to strengthening the economies of households and small producers. The pinhão collected from a large area of Araucária forests, after subsequent boiling, removal of the almond, grinding, and freezing provides large amounts of carbohydrates, higher dietary fiber content, resistant starch, and large quantities of Cu, P, K, and Z, in addition to significant amounts of Mg, Mn, Fe, and Ca. All of these are desirable characteristics that increase the value of pinhão., (© 2022 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

Plant-based foods are recognized by their remarkable content of bioactive compounds. In an attempt to increase plant-based foods shelf-life, technologies like drying can be used. Foam-mat drying is a mild drying technology that removes water, usually by using hot air, from a foam obtained by the whipping of a liquid or semi-liquid food added with a foaming agent. There are several reports on the use of foam-mat drying for extending plant-based foods shelf-life, including reports on the effect of drying on their bioactive compounds. Therefore, this study aimed at reviewing the literature on the impact of foam-mat drying on plant-based foods bioactive compounds published in the last 10 years. Results show that short foam-mat drying time is beneficial to bioactive compounds retention. In addition, hot air temperature between 40-65 °C, foam thickness between 0.2 and 1 cm and the use of egg white as one of the foaming agents leads to high bioactive retention. Egg white is also the most used foaming agent. Regarding the mathematical models used for fitting the foam-mat drying kinetics, the Page model was shown as the most proper model. Foaming agent concentration is a delicate parameter, as its increase in foam formulation may beneficially enhance drying rates but, at the same time, it dilutes bioactive compounds and may cause their loss by oxidation. In conclusion, foam-mat drying stands out as a suitable technology for producing food powders with high bioactive retention.

Abstract: Lactobionic acid (LBA) shows singular properties (antioxidant and antimicrobial). However, few studies aim to test them in foods and confirm the actual occurrence of properties. The present study aims to apply LBA/lactic acid in the production of requeijão cremoso model in order to recognize some of the effects caused by the component as a food additive. The effects on the requeijão cremoso model were evaluated by the final properties of the product: water activity, rheological properties, antioxidant and antimicrobial capacity. Model of requeijão completely acidified with LBA showed the maximum antioxidant activity (88%). The results revealed a potential of application of LBA for microbial inhibition. All model produced presented pseudo plastic behaviour., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no conflict of interest., (© Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2020.)

Purpose Smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) and harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) are acoustic measures related to the periodicity, harmonicity, and noise components of an acoustic signal. To date, there is little evidence about the advantages of CPPS over HNR in voice diagnostics. Recent studies indicate that voice fundamental frequency (F0) and intensity (sound pressure level [SPL]), sample duration (DUR), vowel context (speech vs. sustained phonation), and syllable stress (SS) may influence CPPS and HNR results. The scope of this work was to investigate the effects of voice F0 and SPL, DUR, SS, and token on CPPS and HNR in dysphonic voices. Method In this retrospective study, 27 Brazilian Portuguese speakers with voice disorders were investigated. Recordings of sustained vowels (SVs) /a:/ and manually extracted vowels (EVs) /a/ from Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice sentences were acoustically analyzed with the Praat program. Results There was a highly significant effect of F0, SPL, and DUR on both CPPS and HNR ( p < .001), whereas SS and vowel context significantly affected CPPS only ( p < .05). Higher SPL, F0, and lower DUR were related to higher CPPS and HNR. SVs moderately-to-highly correlated with EVs for CPPS, whereas HNR had few and moderate correlations. In addition, CPPS and HNR highly correlated in SVs and seven EVs ( p < .05). Conclusion Speaking prosodic variations of F0, SPL, and DUR influenced both CPPS and HNR measures and led to acoustic differences between sustained and excised vowels, especially in CPPS. Vowel context, prosodic factors, and token type should be controlled for in clinical acoustic voice assessment.

Lactobionic acid (LBA) is a bionic acid naturally found in the "Caspian Sea yogurt" and chemically constituted of a gluconic acid bonded to a galactose. The compound is known for its numerous proven attributes as an antioxidant, chelator, and moisturizer agent. There is a growing interest of the academic community and industry research sectors in the application of LBA as a food ingredient. Thus, this review describes the current methods of LBA production, patents related, general applications and regulations, research statistics, future prospects, and an overview of the challenges faced by the food industry to incorporate the acid in their products. Studies associated to food application and human intake are scarce in the literature. To date, they account for only a small amount of all available research papers and patents on the subject, which is due to LBA prohibitions despite the approval of its salt (calcium lactobionate) and the lack of regulation in most countries. Further studies on the safety of consumption should be carried out in coming years in order to elucidate its toxicological aspects and to extend the technological possibilities of the food processing industry., (© 2019 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

Lactose is obtained as a by-product from whey. It is a source of several derivatives, including lactulose and lactobionic acid. These two compounds were analysed by using the following techniques: thermogravimetry/derivative thermogravimetry (TG/DTG), differential scanning calorimetry coupled with optical microscope (DSC-thermomicroscopy), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The DSC technique coupled with microscopy made it possible to observe that the lactobionic acid showed several thermal events upon decomposition, which occurred at temperatures higher than 50°C. The lactulose began to decompose above 180°C. The DSC curve was used to calculate the purity of the lactulose (according to Van't Hoff equation), which was 98% and the melting point peak occurred at 171°C. The lactulose showed crystalline behaviour that was different to that of the lactobionic acid, which was attributed to its high hygroscopicity. Purity of lactobionic acid was not calculated because the decomposition occurred in consecutive stages., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Freezing is a widely applied method in food preservation. The technique has negative effects on sensory and textural properties of some foods. In this study the effects of the freeze-thaw process and lactobionic acid (LBA) as a cryoprotectant on GlnK protein solution were evaluated by circular dichroism (CD) analysis and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The freeze-thaw cycles caused changes in GlnK conformation and interactions with small ligands (adenosine triphosphate, ATP). CD assay demonstrated changes in the molar ellipticity values of the samples subjected to freezing, indicating conformational changes to the GlnK protein. Additionally, ITC analysis indicated that the freeze-thaw process caused changes in the interaction properties of GlnK with its ligand ATP. LBA cryoprotectant activity was also evaluated and with both of the techniques it was demonstrated that the compound prevented the damage caused by the freeze-thaw process, thereby maintaining the characteristics of the samples.

The food industry is investigating new technological applications of lactobionic acid (LBA). In the current work, the effect of lactobionic acid on the acidification of dairy gels (pH 5.5 and 6.2), rheological properties using a double compression test, sodium mobility using (23)Na NMR technique and aroma release using headspace GC-FID were studied. Our results showed that it is possible to use LBA as an alternative to glucono-δ-lactone (GDL) for the production of dairy gels with a controlled pH value. Small differences in the rheological properties and in the amount of aroma volatile organic compounds that were released in the vapour phase, but no significant difference in the sodium ion mobility were obtained. The gels produced with LBA were less firm and released less volatile aroma compounds than the gels produced with GDL. The gels at pH 6.2 were firmer than those at pH 5.5 and had a more organised structure around the sodium ions., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of two speech therapy interventions, vocal warm-up and breathing training, focusing on teachers' voice quality.METHODS A single-blind, randomized, parallel clinical trial was conducted. The research included 31 20 to 60-year old teachers from a public school in Salvador, BA, Northeasatern Brazil, with minimum workloads of 20 hours a week, who have or have not reported having vocal alterations. The exclusion criteria were the following: being a smoker, excessive alcohol consumption, receiving additional speech therapy assistance while taking part in the study, being affected by upper respiratory tract infections, professional use of the voice in another activity, neurological disorders, and history of cardiopulmonary pathologies. The subjects were distributed through simple randomization in groups vocal warm-up (n = 14) and breathing training (n = 17). The teachers' voice quality was subjectively evaluated through the Voice Handicap Index (Índice de Desvantagem Vocal, in the Brazilian version) and computerized voice analysis (average fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, noise, and glottal-to-noise excitation ratio) by speech therapists.RESULTS Before the interventions, the groups were similar regarding sociodemographic characteristics, teaching activities, and vocal quality. The variations before and after the intervention in self-assessment and acoustic voice indicators have not significantly differed between the groups. In the comparison between groups before and after the six-week interventions, significant reductions in the Voice Handicap Index of subjects in both groups were observed, as wells as reduced average fundamental frequencies in the vocal warm-up group and increased shimmer in the breathing training group. Subjects from the vocal warm-up group reported speaking more easily and having their voices more improved in a general way as compared to the breathing training group.CONCLUSIONS Both interventions were similar regarding their effects on the teachers' voice quality. However, each contribution has individually contributed to improve the teachers' voice quality, especially the vocal warm-up.TRIAL RECORD NCT02102399, "Vocal Warm-up and Respiratory Muscle Training in Teachers".

Desserts made with soy cream, which are oil-in-water emulsions, are widely consumed by lactose-intolerant individuals in Brazil. In this regard, this study aimed at using response surface methodology (RSM) to optimize the sensory attributes of a soy-based emulsion over a range of pink guava juice (GJ: 22% to 32%) and soy protein (SP: 1% to 3%). WHC and backscattering were analyzed after 72 h of storage at 7 degrees C. Furthermore, a rating test was performed to determine the degree of liking of color, taste, creaminess, appearance, and overall acceptability. The data showed that the samples were stable against gravity and storage. The models developed by RSM adequately described the creaminess, taste, and appearance of the emulsions. The response surface of the desirability function was used successfully in the optimization of the sensory properties of dairy-free emulsions, suggesting that a product with 30.35% GJ and 3% SP was the best combination of these components. The optimized sample presented suitable sensory properties, in addition to being a source of dietary fiber, iron, copper, and ascorbic acid.