Monica Flores - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Monica Flores

Cureus, 2020

A pandemic outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that began in Wuhan, China, in Dece... more A pandemic outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 has spread rapidly to multiple countries. In the United States, the first confirmed case was reported on January 20, 2020, and since then, the number of cases is rising exponentially on a daily basis. We report a case of COVID-19 infection that presented with symptoms suggestive of pneumonia. Due to the major backlog with an immense number of pending tests, it took 48 hours for the result to come back positive, while the patient went into acute respiratory distress syndrome. We provide an internist's perspective of the difficulties encountered in terms of the available management options, as the patient progressively deteriorated on the regular medical floor prompting transfer to the intensive care unit.

Meat Science, 2018

Dry-fermented pork sausages, from Cinta Senese local breed, were manufactured replacing sodium 13... more Dry-fermented pork sausages, from Cinta Senese local breed, were manufactured replacing sodium 13 nitrite (NIT) with two mixtures of natural antioxidants consisting of: i) grape seed extract and olive 14 pomace hydroxytyrosol (GSE); ii) chestnut extract and olive pomace hydroxytyrosol (CHE). The 15 effects on physical-chemical, aromatic and sensory traits, as well as the microbiological safety, 16 were tested. Nitrite replacement lowered the pH in GSE and CHE samples and resulted in several 17 differences in physical traits between CHE and NIT samples. Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella 18 and Clostridium botulinum were not found in any samples. GSE and CHE mixtures showed a 19 slightly lower antioxidant activity. Volatile profile showed a similar aromatic profile among the 20 three treatments with differences mainly to abundance of the single compounds, indicating that 21 replacement of nitrite by natural antioxidants did not affect the overall aroma profile, as outlined by 22 olfactometry results. In addition, the replacement did not affect the overall acceptability, except for 23 color-related traits, underscored in GSE and CHE products.

International journal of food microbiology, Jun 5, 2018

Meat Science, 2010

Low fat dry fermented sausages were manufactured using controlled ripening conditions and a slow ... more Low fat dry fermented sausages were manufactured using controlled ripening conditions and a slow fermented process. The effect of fat content and ripening time on the chemical, colour, texture parameters and sensory acceptability of fermented sausages was studied. The fat reduction in slow fermented sausages produced an increase in the pH decline during the first stage of the process that was favored by the higher water content of the low fat sausages. Fat reduction did not affect the external appearance and there was an absence of defects but lower fat content resulted in lower sausage lightness. The sausage texture in low fat sausages was affected by an increase in chewiness and at longer ripening times, an increase in hardness. The sensory acceptability of the fermented sausages analyzed by internal preference mapping depended on the different preference patterns of consumers. A group of consumers preferred sausages with high and medium fat content and high ripening time. The second group of consumers preferred sausages with low ripening time regardless of fat content except for the appearance for which these consumers preferred sausages of high ripening time. Finally, the limit to produce high acceptability low fat fermented sausages was 16 % fat content in the raw mixture that it is half of the usual content of dry fermented sausages.

Food Control, 2014

The inoculation of a Debaryomyces hansenii strain in dry fermented sausages with reduced fat and ... more The inoculation of a Debaryomyces hansenii strain in dry fermented sausages with reduced fat and salt contents was evaluated in terms of chemical, microbial and consumer acceptability. The implantation of the inoculated yeast strain was confirmed by RAPDs of M13 minisatellite. A reduction of 17-20 % salt and 10-16 % fat content was achieved. These reductions affected the sausage quality by producing an increase in a w , hardness and chewiness values and a decrease of staphylococci growth. However, D. hansenii inoculation compensated these changes although it was not able to modify neither the hardness of reduced fat batches nor the staphylococci growth decrease. In terms of sensory acceptability, different preferences patterns of consumers were found. Yeast inoculation improved the aroma and taste quality when fat or salt reductions were carried out in dry fermented sausages.

Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 1983

The soluble form of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase was purified in an electrophoretically... more The soluble form of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase was purified in an electrophoretically and immunologically pure form from sweet potato root tissue. The enzyme consisted of six kinds of subunits with different molecular weights (52

Current Analytical Chemistry, 2013

The applicability of selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT-MS, for the study of the qual... more The applicability of selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT-MS, for the study of the quality of meat and meat products in comparison to conventional techniques (SPME-GC-MS) has been investigated. To this end, two different approaches were followed. The first was to study the release of aroma compounds after saliva addition to fermented sausages and the second, the application of SIFT-MS and SPME-GC-MS to the detection of chemical spoilage in retail meat (raw and cooked). The headspace (HS) concentration of volatile compounds was influenced by saliva addition to the fermented sausage. SIFT-MS obtained better correlations than SPME-GC-MS between compound release and their molecular weight, MW, and hydrophobicity properties. Saliva differentially affected the release of the compounds, suppressing the release of hydrophilic and low MW compounds and either having little effect or enhancing the release of hydrophobic and higher MW compounds. These results provide preliminary explanations of aroma perception during eating. In addition, SIFT-MS was able to detect differences in the same way as SPME-GC-MS in fresh beef meat during refrigerated storage, but the differences were hardly detectable in cooked meat. Therefore, SIFT-MS can be used as a fast monitor of lipid oxidation changes in retail meat packaged in high oxygen atmospheres.

International Dairy Journal, 2014

The contribution of Debaryomyces hansenii, Kluyveromyces lactis and Kluyveromyces marxianus strai... more The contribution of Debaryomyces hansenii, Kluyveromyces lactis and Kluyveromyces marxianus strains to the typical flavour of traditional ewes' and goats' cheeses was assessed. Fourteen yeast strains were grown in liquid medium mimicking cheese composition and volatile compounds were identified by GC-MS. Yeasts were able to produce key volatile compounds characteristic of the cheeses from which they were isolated. Inter-species and inter-strain variations were observed. Under the conditions tested D. hansenii produced the lowest levels of volatile compounds, with large intra-strain variations. Kluyveromyces strains primarily produced esters and alcohols. K. marxianus strains were associated with the production of acids, ethyl decanoate, 1propanol and benzaldehyde, whereas K. lactis was correlated with the presence of ketones, ethyl acetate and secondary alcohols. In conclusion, this study shows the heterogeneous potential of dairy yeasts to contribute to final cheese flavour. b Linear retention indices (LRI) of the compounds eluted from the GC-MS using a DB-624 595 capillary column (J&W Scientific 30 m×0.25 mm i.d.×1.4 m film thickness). 596 c Reliability of identification (RI): A, mass spectrum and retention time identical with an authentic 597 standard; B, tentative identification by mass spectrum. 598 d Compounds previously reported in ewes' and goats' raw milk cheeses. Reference numbers are 599