THERE IS AN URGENT NEED WORLDWIDE FOR AN UPDATED AND COMPREHENSIVE UNIVERSITY-LEVEL CRITICAL THINKING ASSESSMENT TOOL. THIS PAPER REPORTS ON THE ADAPTATION AND VALIDATION OF AN INSTRUMENT TO ASSESS CRITICAL THINKING IN SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE TASKS, DEVELOPED BY A STATE UNIVERSITY, IN A SAMPLE OF 161 UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. THE PSYCHOMETRIC QUALITY OF THE ITEMS, THEIR RELIABILITY AND THEIR FACTORIAL ORGANIZATION WERE EVALUATED. AN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS (AFE) WAS PERFORMED TO DETERMINE THE EXISTENCE OF DIMENSIONS, ASSESSING INTERNAL CONSISTENCY AND CONSTRUCT VALIDITY USING CRONBACH'S ALPHA, AND CORRELATION BETWEEN THE ITEMS AND THE GLOBAL SCALE. THE AFE INDICATED THREE DIMENSIONS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE, THE INTERNAL CONSISTENCY OBTAINED AN ? = .67 AND THE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE SUM OF THE SCALE AND THE ITEMS, WAS SHOWN WITH MEDIUM AND SIGNIFICANT STRENGTH (BETWEEN R = .30 AND R = .60; P < 0.001). IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE ADAPTATION OF THE TEST HAS AN ADEQUATE INTERNAL CONSISTENCY, ALTHOUGH SOMEWHAT BELOW THE IDEAL; THE FACTORIAL STRUCTURE OF THREE VARIABLES IS MAINTAINED, WHICH ARE THE ONES THAT SUSTAIN THE CONSTRUCT THEORETICALLY.

NATURAL COMPOUNDS FROM DRIMYS WINTERI FORST AND DERIVATIVES EXHIBITED LARVICIDAL EFFECTS AGAINST DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER TIL-TIL. THE MOST ACTIVE COMPOUND WAS ISODRIMENIN (4). THE HIGHEST LETHAL CONCENTRATION TO THE LARVAE OF D. MELANOGASTER WAS 4.5 ± 0.8 MG/L. AT VERY LOW CONCENTRATIONS DRIMENOL (1), CONFERTIFOLIN (3), AND DRIMANOL (5) DISPLAYED ANTIFEEDANT AND LARVAE GROWTH REGULATORY ACTIVITY. THE ANTIFEEDANT RESULTS OF NORDRIMANIC AND DRIMANIC COMPOUNDS WERE BETTER IN FIRST INSTAR LARVAE. THE EC?? VALUE OF POLYGODIAL (2) WAS 60.0 ± 4.2 MG/L; OF DIOL 15 45.0 ± 2.8 MG/L, AND OF DIOL 17 36.9 ± 3.7 MG/L, WHILE THE NEW NORDRIMANE COMPOUND 12 PRESENTED A VALUE OF 83.2 ± 3.5 MG/L.

ABALONE (HALIOTIS SPP.) IS AN EXOTIC SEAFOOD PRODUCT RECOGNIZED AS A PROTEIN SOURCE OF HIGH BIOLOGICAL VALUE. TRADITIONAL METHODS USED TO PRESERVE FOODS SUCH AS DRYING TECHNOLOGY CAN AFFECT THEIR NUTRITIONAL QUALITY (PROTEIN QUALITY AND DIGESTIBILITY). A 28-DAY RAT FEEDING STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF THE DRYING PROCESS ASSISTED BY HIGH-PRESSURE IMPREGNATION (HPI) (350, 450, AND 500 MPA × 5 MIN) ON CHEMICAL PROXIMATE AND AMINO ACID COMPOSITIONS AND NUTRITIONAL PARAMETERS, SUCH AS PROTEIN EFFICIENCY RATIO (PER), TRUE DIGESTIBILITY (TD), NET PROTEIN RATIO, AND PROTEIN DIGESTIBILITY CORRECTED AMINO ACID SCORE (PDCAAS) OF DRIED ABALONE. THE HPI-ASSISTED DRYING PROCESS ENSURED EXCELLENT PROTEIN QUALITY BASED ON PER VALUES, REGARDLESS OF THE PRESSURE LEVEL. AT 350 AND 500 MPA, THE HPI-ASSISTED DRYING PROCESS HAD NO NEGATIVE EFFECT ON TD AND PDCAAS THEN, BASED ON NUTRITIONAL PARAMETERS ANALYSED, WE RECOMMEND HPI-ASSISTED DRYING PROCESS AT 350 MPA × 5 MIN AS THE BEST PROCESS CONDITION TO DRY ABALONE. VARIATIONS IN NUTRITIONAL PARAMETERS COMPARED TO CASEIN PROTEIN WERE OBSERVED; NEVERTHELESS, THE HIGH PROTEIN QUALITY AND DIGESTIBILITY OF HPI-ASSISTED DRIED ABALONES WERE MAINTAINED TO SATISFY THE METABOLIC DEMANDS OF HUMAN BEINGS.

CRYOCONCENTRATE BLUEBERRY JUICE (CBJ) AT DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS WAS INCORPORATED INTO GELATIN GEL AND THE EFFECTS ON RHEOLOGICAL AND TEXTURAL PROPERTIES, TOTAL BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS (TBC) AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY (AA) WERE EVALUATED. SPECIFICALLY, CBJ AT 20 G/100 G REINFORCED THE GEL STRUCTURE, SINCE THE SAMPLE SHOWED THE HIGHEST GELLING (15.0 °C) AND MELTING TEMPERATURES (27.4 °C) IN COMPARISON TO THE OTHER SAMPLES. ADDITIONALLY, THIS CBJ CONCENTRATION HAD AN INCREASE OF 28%, 46%, 47% AND 54% IN RELATION TO THE INITIAL GEL STRENGTH, HARDNESS, GUMMINESS, AND CHEWINESS, RESPECTIVELY. IN TBC AND AA TERMS, THE VALUES WERE CLOSE TO 55 MG GAE/100 G, 4.5 MG C3G/100 G, 18 MG CEQ/100 G, 42, 29 AND 738 ?MOL TE/100 G, WHICH ARE EQUIVALENT TO 18%, 11%, 14%, 8%, 3% AND 32%, FOR TOTAL POLYPHENOL, ANTHOCYANIN AND FLAVONOID CONTENTS, 2,2-DIPHENYL-1-PICRYLHYDRAZYL (DPPH), FERRIC REDUCING ANTIOXIDANT POWER (FRAP) AND OXYGEN RADICAL ABSORBANCE CAPACITY (ORAC) ASSAYS, IN RELATION TO THE INITIAL CBJ VALUE, RESPECTIVELY. SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE IMAGES REVEALED THAT THE CBJ-GELATIN GELS FORMED A STRUCTURAL NETWORK WITH POROUS AND THICK WALLS. THEREFORE, CBJ HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE AN EXCELLENT INGREDIENT TO ADD DURING GELATIN GEL PREPARATION SINCE IT DELIVERS BIOACTIVE COMPONENTS WITHOUT AFFECTING THE RHEOLOGICAL AND TEXTURAL PROPERTIES.

PROTEIN HAZE DEVELOPMENT IN BOTTLED WHITE WINES IS ATTRIBUTED TO THE SLOW DENATURATION OF UNSTABLE PROTEINS, WHICH RESULTS IN THEIR AGGREGATION AND FLOCCULATION. THESE PROTEIN FRACTIONS CAN BE REMOVED BY USING BENTONITE; HOWEVER, A DISADVANTAGE OF THIS TECHNIQUE IS ITS COST. THE EFFECTS OF HIGH HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE (HHP) ON WINE STABILITY WERE STUDIED. FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY EXPERIMENTS WERE PERFORMED TO ANALYSE THE SECONDARY STRUCTURE OF PROTEIN, THERMAL STABILITY WAS EVALUATED WITH DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY, WHILE A HEAT TEST WAS PERFORMED TO DETERMINE WINE PROTEIN THERMAL STABILITY. THE RESULTS CONFIRMED THAT HIGH PRESSURE TREATMENTS MODIFIED THE ?-HELICAL AND ?-SHEET STRUCTURES OF WINE PROTEINS. THROUGHOUT THE 60 DAYS STORAGE PERIOD THE ?-HELIX STRUCTURE IN HHP SAMPLES DECREASED. STRUCTURAL CHANGES BY HHP (450 MPA FOR 3 AND 5 MIN) IMPROVE THERMAL STABILITY OF WINE PROTEINS AND THUS DELAY HAZE FORMATION IN WINE DURING STORAGE.

THIS STUDY AIMED TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF HIGH PRESSURE IMPREGNATION (HPI) (PRESSURE: 350, 450, AND 500?MPA; TIME: 5 MIN; OSMOTIC SOLUTION: 15% NACL) AS A PRETREATMENT TO THE DRYING PROCESS OF ABALONE SAMPLES (TEMPERATURE: 60°C) AND SUBSEQUENT EVALUATION OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES THEREOF. THE PROTEIN CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES OF HPI-DRIED SAMPLES WERE EVALUATED BY FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED (FT-IR) SPECTROSCOPY. THE MOLECULAR WEIGHT PROFILE AND AMINO ACID COMPOSITION WERE DETERMINED. THERMAL ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED BY DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY (DSC). PROCESS DRYING RATES WERE REDUCED UP TO 33%, AND DRIED ABALONES HAD LOWER MOISTURE CONTENT AND WATER ACTIVITY AS THE PRESSURE LEVEL INCREASED. IN ADDITION, LESS DEGRADATION EFFECTS WERE FOUND IN AMINO ACID COMPOSITIONS. IN THE ?-SHEET STRUCTURE, HPI-ASSISTED DRYING PROCESS CAUSED PARTIALLY FOLDED CONFORMATIONS AT 350 AND 450?MPA, AND AGGREGATION AT 500?MPA. A COMPACTED STRUCTURE WAS IDENTIFIED AS PRESSURE INCREASED (350 ? 500?MPA), CONFIRMING THAT THE STRUCTURE OF ABALONE MUSCLE TREATED WITH HPI-ASSISTED DRYING DIFFERED SIGNIFICANTLY FROM RAW MATERIAL. THE RESULTS PRESENTED IN THIS RESEARCH COULD SUPPORT THE POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF HIGH HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE TREATMENT AS COMBINED TREATMENTS FOR OTHER COMPOUND IMPREGNATION UNDER HIGH PRESSURE. IN ADDITION, HPI TECHNOLOGY COULD BE USED TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY PROPERTIES OF DRIED ABALONES AND DRIED MARINE PRODUCTS OF THE AQUACULTURE AND FISHERY INDUSTRY.

THIS STUDY EVALUATED THE INFLUENCE OF STARCH-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS ON THE CHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND DIGESTIBILITY OF A 3D-PRINTED GEL BASED ON SALMON BY-PRODUCT PROTEIN. CHANGES IN THE STARCH-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS OF THE STABLE CORNSTARCH (CS, 15%) AND SALMON PROTEIN ISOLATE (SPI, 4%?12%) PRINTABLE GELS DURING THE IN VITRO GASTROINTESTINAL DIGESTION PROCESS WERE STUDIED BY PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS. PROTEIN-RICH PRINTED GELS INCREASED RESISTANT STARCH CONTENT BY 18.05%. CHANGES IN CHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND THE STARCH-PROTEIN CONCENTRATION OF THE GELS DURING THE DIGESTION PROCESS WERE HIGHLY CORRELATED. THE CS-SPI GELS IN THE GASTRIC AND INTESTINAL PHASES EXHIBITED LOWER ?-HELIX/?-SHEET RATIO AND FLUORESCENCE INTENSITY VALUES, WHEREAS SURFACE HYDROPHOBICITY INCREASED. THIS RESULTED IN MORE ORDERED STRUCTURES WITH A HIGH LEVEL OF MOLECULAR INTERACTION THAT INHIBITED ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS. THIS STUDY PROVIDES CRUCIAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF STARCH-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS DURING THE DI- GESTIBILITY OF 3D-PRINTED FOOD MATRICES AS AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF NUTRIENTS WITH A HIGH NUTRITIONAL QUALITY.

THE EMULSIFYING PROPERTIES OF PULSE PROTEINS OFFER THE POSSIBILITY TO PROVIDE FUNCTIONALITY TO COLLOIDAL FOOD SYSTEMS LIKE NANOEMULSIONS. THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO OBTAIN STABLE LENTIL NANOEMULSIONS THROUGH HIGH-PRESSURE HOMOGENIZATION (HPH) (50?300?MPA) USING DIFFERENT NUMBER OF HOMOGENIZATION PASSES (1?3) AND EMULSIFIER:OIL RATIOS (1:1, 1:2, 2:1). OIL-IN-WATER NANOEMULSIONS WERE CHARACTERIZED THROUGH PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION, MEAN DROPLET SIZE, POLIDISPERSITY INDEX (PDI), ?-POTENTIAL, INTERFACIAL TENSION (IT), STABILITY AGAINST CREAMING, AND FLOW BEHAVIOR. HPH >100?MPA CHANGED PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF 1:1 LENTIL NANOEMULSION FROM MULTIMODAL TO BIMODAL, REGARDLESS OF HOMOGENIZATION PASSES NUMBER. TWO HOMOGENIZATION PASSES AND RATIOS OF 1:1 AND 2:1 IMPROVED REDUCTION OF DROPLET SIZE (587?149?NM) AND PDI (0.821?0.168), WITH NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE RATIOS. ?-POTENTIAL VALUES WERE LOWER THAN ?30?MV, WHICH CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A STABLE EMULSION. AS EMULSIFIERS, LENTIL PROTEINS DECREASED IT OF WATER-OIL INTERPHASE FROM 16.5 TO

THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF HHP AND RIGOR STATE ON PALM RUFF (SERIOLELLA VIOLACEA) MUSCLE PROTEINS. HHP TREATMENTS WERE PERFORMED AT 450?550 MPA FOR 3 AND 4 MIN AT 15 °C. PROTEIN SECONDARY STRUCTURE WAS EVALUATED BY USING FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY, AND THE THERMAL BEHAVIOR WAS EVALUATED BY USING DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETRY. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT HHP TREATMENTS REDUCED ?-HELIX AND INCREASED ?-SHEET IN FISH PROTEIN STRUCTURES. THROUGHOUT THE 35-D STORAGE PERIOD, SECONDARY STRUCTURES IN HHP SAMPLES CHANGED DEPENDING ON PRESSURE INTENSITY, HOLDING TIME, AND RIGOR STATE. THE THERMOGRAMS OF PALM RUFF MUSCLES SHOWED FOUR ENDOTHERMIC TRANSITIONS IN PRERIGOR STATE AND THREE IN POSTRIGOR STATE. THE HHP TREATMENT AFFECTED THERMAL STABILITY OF MYOSIN PROTEIN, WHICH IS REFLECTED IN THE CHANGE OF DENATURATION TEMPERATURE (T D) AND A DECREASE IN DENATURATION ENTHALPY (?H D) WITH RESPECT TO THE NATIVE PROTEIN; ACTIN WAS DENATURED BY THE PRESSURE TREATMENTS. IN CONCLUSION, RIGOR STATE AND HHP AFFECTED PROTEIN STRUCTURE OF FISH PROTEINS.

THIS STUDY AIMED TO OPTIMIZE THE 3D PRINTING PARAMETERS OF SALMON GELATIN GELS (SGG) USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS WITH THE GENETIC ALGORITHM (ANN-GA) AND RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY (RSM). IN ADDITION, THE INFLUENCE OF THE OPTIMAL PARAMETERS OBTAINED USING THE TWO DIFFERENT METHODOLOGIES WAS EVALUATED FOR THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND DIGESTIBILITY PROPERTIES OF THE PRINTED SGG (PSGG). THE ANN-GA HAD A BETTER FIT (R2 = 99.98%) WITH THE EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS OF THE 3D PRINTING PROCESS THAN THE RSM (R2 = 93.99%). THE EXTRUSION SPEED WAS THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PARAMETER ACCORDING TO BOTH METHODOLOGIES. THE OPTIMAL VALUES OF THE PRINTING PARAMETERS FOR THE SGG WERE 0.70 MM FOR THE NOZZLE DIAMETER, 0.5 MM FOR THE NOZZLE HEIGHT, AND 24 MM/S FOR THE EXTRUSION SPEED. GEL THERMAL PROPERTIES SHOWED THAT THE OPTIMAL 3D PRINTING CONDITIONS AFFECTED DENATURATION TEMPER- ATURE AND ENTHALPY, IMPROVING DIGESTIBILITY FROM 46.93% (SGG) TO 51.52% (PSGG). THE SECONDARY GEL STRUCTURES SHOWED THAT THE ?-TURN STRUCTURE WAS THE MOST RESISTANT TO ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS, WHILE THE INTERMOLECULAR ?-SHEET WAS THE MOST LABILE. THIS STUDY VALIDATED TWO OPTIMIZATION METHODOLOGIES TO ACHIEVE OPTIMAL 3D PRINTING PARAMETERS OF SALMON GELATIN GELS, WITH IMPROVED PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND DIGESTIBILITY PROPERTIES FOR USE AS TRANSPORTERS TO INCORPORATE HIGH VALUE NUTRIENTS TO THE BODY.