University of Lleida

About: University of Lleida is a education organization based out in Lleida, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Pregnancy. The organization has 2939 authors who have published 5853 publications receiving 148417 citations. The organization is also known as: Escola Superior Politècnica & Universitat de Lleida.

Increased Burden of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and Retinopathy

Abstract: OBJECTIVE We sought to examine the presence and severity of brain small vessel disease (SVD) in patients with type 2 diabetes and diabetic retinopathy (DR) compared with those without DR. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We evaluated 312 patients with type 2 diabetes without previous cardiovascular disease (men 51%; mean age 57 years; age range 40–75 years); 153 patients (49%) had DR. MRI was performed to evaluate the presence and severity (age-related white matter changes scale) of white matter lesions (WMLs) and lacunes, and transcranial Doppler ultrasound was used to measure the Gosling pulsatility index (PI) of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). RESULTS The prevalence of lesions of cerebral SVD (WML and/or lacunes) was higher in patients with DR (40.2% vs. 30.1% without DR, P = 0.04). Age (P CONCLUSIONS Patients with type 2 diabetes who have DR have an increased burden of cerebral SVD compared with those without DR. Our findings suggest that the brain is a target organ for microangiopathy, similar to other classic target organs, like the retina.

A Comparison of the Effects of Pulsed Electric Field and Thermal Treatments on Grape Juice

Abstract: The work was aimed at comparing the effect of pulsed electric field (PEF) and thermal technologies on physical, chemical, microbiological, and nutritional properties of freshly squeezed grape juice of different varieties when they are applied using continuous flow systems. It has been evidenced that grape variety is a factor to be taken into account when comparing the processing effects of PEF and heat treatments. Nevertheless, results of general and specific microbial populations were not affected by it and followed a very similar trend with each processing treatment. Soluble solids, pH, acidity, and the electrical conductivity of grape juice were not affected by PEF processing. On average, PEF treatment reduced the radical scavenging activity a 9% in front of the 13% of the heat treatment whereas both treatments halved the protein content. Data of vitamin C, total polyphenol, cinnamic acid, free catechin and non-flavonoid content were not enough to show differences between both treatments. However, all these nutritionally related properties share the same behaviour, PEF processing yielded milder values than heat processed samples. Information comparing PEF and thermal processes on food products help to clarify the advantages and disadvantages of each technology even though the disparity in development and use of each one.

How to prevent ripening blockage in 1-MCP-treated 'Conference' pears.

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Some European pear varieties treated with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) often remain ‘evergreen’, meaning that their ripening process is blocked and does not resume after removal from cold storage. In this work this was confirmed also to be the case in ‘Conference’ pears. To reverse the blockage of ripening 1-MCP treatments combined with external exogenous ethylene were tested. RESULTS: 1-MCP treatment of ‘Conference’ pears is very effective in delaying ripening and, more specifically, softening. The same 1-MCP concentration in different experimental years caused a different response. The higher dose of 1-MCP (600 nL L−1) always resulted in irreversible blockage of ripening, whereas the behaviour of fruit receiving a lower dose (300 nL L−1) depended on the year, and this did not depend on maturity at harvest or on storage conditions. Simultaneous exposure to 1-MCP and exogenous ethylene significantly affected fruit ripening, allowing significant softening to occur but at a lower rate compared with control fruit. CONCLUSION: The application of exogenous ethylene and 1-MCP simultaneously after harvest permitted restoration of the ripening process after storage in ‘Conference’ pears, extending the possibility of marketing and consumption. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry

Quantitative dietary exposure assessment of the Catalonian population (Spain) to the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol.

Abstract: The mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most common contaminants of cereals worldwide, and its occurrence has been widely reported in raw foods and foodstuffs, around the European region, including Catalonia. In the present work, a stochastic methodology has been applied to accurately assess the exposure of the Catalonian population (Spain) to DON through food consumption. Raw contamination data was provided by a large survey conducted in this region, in addition to the raw consumption data from a nutritional study specifically designed to assess the dietary intake of the main foodstuffs related to DON contamination for all population age groups. Contamination and consumption data were combined by simulation using an essentially parametric (P-P) method. The P-P method draws sampling values from distribution functions fitted to consumption and contamination data sets. Moreover, to quantify the accuracy and reliability of the statistics estimates, we built the related confidence intervals using a pseudo-parametric bootstrap method. Considering the results drawn from the P-P simulation method, the Catalonian population should be expected to be exposed at moderated levels of deoxynivalenol, the infants and individuals with ethnic dietary patterns being the most exposed population groups.