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Combination of plant and animal protein diet is becoming a valuable source of nutrition in the modern diet due to the synergistic functional properties inherent in these protein complexes. Moreover, the synergy between animal and plant proteins can contribute to the high stability and improved solubility of the encapsulated bioactive ingredients (e.g., essential oils). Therefore, the study was designed to evaluate the plant (pea protein (PP) and lupine protein (LP)) and animal protein (whey protein, WP) mixed systems as a wall material for microencapsulation of manuka essential oil, as an example of bioactive compound. Moreover, physicochemical properties and in vitro release profile of encapsulated manuka essential oil were studied. Manuka essential oil microcapsules exhibited low moisture content (5.3-7.1 %) and low water activity (0.33-0.37) with a solubility of 53.7-68.1 %. Change in wall material ratio significantly affected the color of microcapsules, while microcapsules prepared with 1:1 protein/oil ratio demonstrated a high encapsulation efficiency (90.4 % and 89.4 %) for protein mixed systems (PP + WP and LP + WP), respectively. Microcapsules further showed low values for lipid oxidation with a high oxidative stability and antioxidant activity (62.1-87.0 %). The zero order and Korsmeyer-Peppas models clearly explained the release mechanism of encapsulated oil, which was dependent on the type and concentration of the protein mixed used. The findings demonstrated that the protein mixed systems successfully encapsulated the manuka essential oil with controlled release and high oxidative stability, indicating the suitability of the protein mixed systems as a carrier in encapsulation and application potential in development of encapsulated functional foods.

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Livestock production systems contribute significantly to environmental impacts at the global level, and meat consumption is projected to increase with the population. There is a need to reduce the impact of food production, including that from beef systems. Different production systems, ranging from traditional grazing to landless systems, coexist within the beef sector. Among these, mixed systems have emerged as a promising alternative. These mixed systems typically involve adult cattle in grazing systems alongside fattening calves in landless systems, potentially achieving higher productivity while reducing the overall environmental impacts. The first step towards proposing mitigation strategies involves identifying the impacts of the sector. This study aimed to estimate the main environmental impacts of four types of mixed beef systems based on the origin of the calves that are raised, fattened, and slaughtered. Using life cycle assessment, the study evaluated the environmental impacts from the cradle to the slaughterhouse gate, expressed per kilogram of carcass weight. The four systems assessed include suckler cow farms that fatten their own offspring (beef single farm, BSF), a system in which calves raised on a suckler farm are fattened on a different farm (beef fattening unit, BFU), and systems in which dairy calves are fattened on growing units, with calves either from Spain (dairy national, DN) or from farms located abroad (dairy abroad, DA). Primary data were obtained from representative surveys of farmers and slaughterhouses, and allocation between co-products was performed according to the updated guidelines of Environmental Product Declarations and the Product Category Rules for meat. Seven environmental impact categories were assessed: climate change, marine eutrophication, freshwater eutrophication, stratospheric ozone depletion, terrestrial acidification, photochemical ozone formation on ecosystems, and photochemical ozone formation on human health. The results indicate that meat production from BSF and BFU has greater environmental impacts than that from DN and DA systems, primarily due to the lower environmental burden allocated to dairy calves, whereas the contribution of slaughterhouse activities to the environmental impacts was minimal. This study highlights the importance of mitigating the environmental impacts associated with feed production, enteric fermentation, and manure management in beef systems. Future studies should consider potential environmental benefits of grazing animals such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity promotion.

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In the context of a diet transition from animal protein to plant protein, both for sustainable and healthy scopes, innovative plant-based foods are being developing. A combination with milk proteins has been proposed as a strategy to overcome the scarce functional and sensorial properties of plant proteins. Based on this mixture were designed several colloidal systems such as suspensions, gels, emulsions, and foams which can be found in many food products. This review aims to give profound scientific insights on the challenges and opportunities of developing such binary systems which could soon open a new market category in the food industry. The recent trends in the formulation of each colloidal system, as well as their limits and advantages are here considered. Lastly, new approaches to improve the coexistence of both milk and plant proteins and how they affect the sensorial profile of food products are discussed.

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Demulsification and crude oil desorption are usually a necessary step for the treatment of oily sludge in the petroleum industry. In this study a binary mixed bio-surfactant (rhamnolipid / sophorolipid, RL/SL) was used to strengthen the removing oil efficiency for oily sludge by thermal washing method. Surface tension values of the single and the mixed surfactants were carried out to investigate the effect of mixing systems on reducing critical micelle concentrations (CMC) value. The models proposed by Clint, Rubingh and Gibbs et al. had been employed to interpret the formation of mixed micelles and synergism and found out in case of the mass ratios of 4:6 the synergism was the strongest in RL and SL mixed surfactant systems, which was selected as the washing agents to treat the oily sludge produced from Huabei oilfield. Through the optimization of oil washing process parameters, the oil removal rate reached the maximum value (95.66%, residual oil rate 1.98%) at the condition of heating temperature of 45 °C, detergents concentration of 500 mg/L, washing time of 3 h, liquid/solid mass ratio of 1:4, stirring speed of 300 r/min, and washing 4 times. The factors affecting the oil washing effect were analyzed from the composition and performance characteristics of oily sludge samples, washing oil system and washing process parameters. The results showed that low oil content of oily sludge, small specific surface area, strong wetting and solubilization of the oil-washing system all can increase the oil-washing effect and the washing time and temperature had a great influence on the oil-washing effect. Compared with the results of other researchers, the oil washing temperature and the concentration of oil washing agent were significantly lower and high oil removal rate and low residual oil rate were obtained in this study. It was confirmed that thermal oil washing method using RT/SL binary bio-surfactant mixing system was proved to a high-efficiency, low-consumption and wide range of applications technology.

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The partial replacement of proteins from animal sources by plant proteins in formulated food products has been proposed as useful to improve sustainability aspects of the products without dramatically changing their techno-functional properties. Although several research groups have published on the gelling properties of mixed systems containing whey and soy protein isolates (WPI and SPI), their foaming properties are much less described. In this context, the main objective of this paper was to evaluate the structural and foaming properties of samples containing different mass ratios of WPI:SPI (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100) before and after heat treatment. The samples were evaluated according to their solubility, foaming capacity (FC), foam microstructure and foam stability (FS). Before heat treatment, mixing SPI to WPI did not affect the solubility of whey proteins, but, after heat treatment, insoluble co-aggregates were formed. Similar FC was measured for all samples despite their WPI:SPI ratio and the applied heat treatment. The partial replacement of WPI by SPI changed the microstructure of the foams and had an antagonistic effect on the FS of the samples, due to the negative effect of insoluble soy protein aggregates and/or insoluble co-aggregates on the reinforcement of the air-water interfacial film.

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To obtain insight into physicochemical interactions between Cu(II) ions, kaolinite, and exopolysaccharide (EPS) synthesized by Sinorhizobium meliloti Rm 1021 soil bacteria, an adsorption, electrokinetic, and aggregation study was performed in the selected systems. The obtained data showed that supporting electrolyte type affects both EPS and Cu(II) ions adsorption. For initial Cu(II) concentration 100 mg/L, 4.36 ± 0.25 mg/g (21.80 ± 1.00%) of the ions were adsorbed in 0.001 M NaCl and 3.76 ± 0.20 mg/g (18.80 ± 1.00%) in 0.001 M CaCl2. The experimental data were best fitted to the Langmuir model as well as pseudo second-order equation. The EPS adsorbed amount on kaolinite was higher in the CaCl2 electrolyte than in NaCl one. For an initial polymer concentration of 100 mg/L, the EPS adsorbed amount was 4.69 ± 0.08 mg/g (23.45 ± 0.40%) in 0.001 M NaCl and 5.26 ± 0.15 mg/g (26.32 ± 0.75%) in 0.001 M CaCl2. In the mixed system, regardless of electrolyte type, exopolysaccharide contributed to immobilization of higher amount of copper(II) ions on the clay mineral. Also, in the samples containing heavy metal ions and exopolysaccharide simultaneously, the aggregation of kaolinite particles was the strongest. The results presented in the paper may be very helpful in soil bioremediation, especially in the development of technologies reducing the mobility of heavy metals in the environment.

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In the present study, we investigated the removal of Cr(VI) and the associated bacterial activity in the systems containing Bacillus subtilis BSn5 (B. subtilis BSn5) and hematite. The microcalorimetry was used to study the effect of hematite on the normal physiological functions of B. subtilis BSn5 towards the removal of Cr(VI) for the first time. The results of the heat flux and the sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed that hematite does not affect the normal physiological functions of B. subtilis BSn5, and can help the strains maintain their activity in the presence of Cr(VI). More importantly, the relative capacity and intensity of Cr(VI) and total Cr removal by B. subtilis BSn5 in the presence of hematite were higher than that in the absence of hematite. The enhancement effect could be associated with their mineral adsorption, biosorption, Fe(II) reduction, bioreduction and immobilization functions. This study demonstrates the possibility of reducing the toxicity of Cr(VI) and enhancing the Cr(VI) removal efficiency in contaminated environments using a combination of hematite and B. subtilis BSn5.

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Intercropping forest plantations of Eucalyptus with nitrogen-fixing trees can increase soil N inputs and stimulate soil organic matter (OM) cycling. However, microbial indicators and their correlation in specific fractions of soil OM are unclear in the tropical sandy soils. Here, we examined the microbial indicators associated with C and N in the soil resulting from pure and intercropped Eucalyptus grandis and Acacia mangium plantations. We hypothesized that introduction of A. mangium in a Eucalyptus plantation promotes changes in microbial indicators and increases C and N concentrations on labile fractions of the soil OM, when compared to pure eucalyptus plantations. We determined the microbial and enzymatic activity, and the potential for C degradation by the soil microbial community. Additionally, we evaluated soil OM fractions and litter parameters. Soil (0-20 cm) and litter samples were collected at 27 and 39 months after planting from the following treatments: pure E. grandis (E) and A. mangium (A) plantations, pure E. grandis plantations with N fertilizer (E+N) and an E. grandis, and A. mangium intercropped plantations (E+A). The results showed that intercropped plantations (E+A) increase 3, 45, and 70% microbial biomass C as compared to A, E+N, and E, at 27 months after planting. The metabolic quotient (qCO2) showed a tendency toward stressful values in pure E. grandis plantations and a strong correlation with dehydrogenase activity. A and E+A treatments also exhibited the highest organic fractions (OF) and C and N contents. A canonical redundancy analysis revealed positive correlations between microbial indicators of soil and litter attributes, and a strong effect of C and N variables in differentiating A and E+A from E and E+N treatments. The results suggested that a significant role of A. mangium enhance the dynamics of soil microbial indicators which help in the accumulation of C and N in soil OF in intercropped E. grandis plantations. Our results are mostly relevant to plantations in sandy soil areas with low levels of OM, suggesting and efficient method for improving nutrient availability in the soil and optimizing eucalyptus growth and development.

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BACKGROUND: Regulating the behavior of private providers in the context of mixed health systems has become increasingly important and challenging in many developing countries moving towards universal health coverage including Mongolia. This study examines the current regulatory architecture for private healthcare in Mongolia exploring its role for improving accessibility, affordability, and quality of private care and identifies gaps in policy design and implementation. METHODS: Qualitative research methods were used including documentary review, analysis, and in-depth interviews with 45 representatives of key actors involved in and affected by regulations in Mongolia's mixed health system, along with long-term participant observation. RESULTS: There has been extensive legal documentation developed regulating private healthcare, with specific organizations assigned to conduct health regulations and inspections. However, the regulatory architecture for healthcare in Mongolia is not optimally designed to improve affordability and quality of private care. This is not limited only to private care: important regulatory functions targeted to quality of care do not exist at the national level. The imprecise content and details of regulations in laws inviting increased political interference, governance issues, unclear roles, and responsibilities of different government regulatory bodies have contributed to failures in implementation of existing regulations.

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The aim of this work was to examine foaming and interfacial behavior of three milk protein mixtures, bovine α-lactalbumin-ß-casein (M1), camel α-lactalbumin-ß-casein (M2) and ß-lactoglobulin-ß-casein (M3), alone and in binary mixtures, at the air/water interface in order to better understand the foaming properties of bovine and camel milks. Different mixture ratios (100:0; 75:25; 50:50; 25:75; 0:100) were used during foaming tests and interfacial protein interactions were studied with a pendant drop tensiometer. Experimental results evidenced that the greatest foam was obtained with a higher ß-casein amount in all camel and bovine mixtures. Good correlation was observed with the adsorption and the interfacial rheological properties of camel and bovine protein mixtures. The proteins adsorbed layers are mainly affected by the presence of ß-casein molecules, which are probably the most abundant protein at interface and the most efficient in reducing the interfacial properties. In contrast of, the globular proteins, α-lactalbumin and ß-lactoglobulin that are involved in the protein layer composition, but could not compact well at the interface to ensure foams creation and stabilization because of their rigid molecular structure.

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The possibility of designing various microstructures through the interplay between phase separation due to depletion mechanisms and acid-induced protein gelation was investigated. To modify the phase separation and gelation kinetics, guar gum/acid milk mixtures were acidified using glucono-δ-lactone at temperatures varying from 30 to 60°C. The microstructures of the stirred mixed gels were then discussed in light of the knowledge of the phase separation and gelation timescales. Small spherical protein-enriched micro-gels dispersed in a guar gum-enriched continuous phase were found at high acidification temperatures, suggesting that the protein acid gelation kinetics was quicker than an extensive droplet growth through phase separation. For lower acidification temperatures, a region where droplet coalescence and sedimentation competed with gel formation was identified. Thus, depending on the residence time in that temperature domain, the resulting microstructures varied from spherical to extended filaments of more than 100 µm length. The results demonstrated that a broad range of defined microstructures can been created by triggered arrest through gelation of the phase-separating structure.

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