The fractal dimension has been employed as a useful parameter in the diagnosis of retinal disease. Avakian et al. (Curr Eye Res 2002; 24: 274-280), comparing the vascular pattern of normal patients with mild to moderate non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), found a significant difference between them only in the macular region. This significant difference in the box-counting fractal dimension of the macular region between normal and mild NPDR patients has been proposed as a method of precocious diagnosis of NPDR. The aim of the present study was to determine if fractal dimensions can really be used as a parameter for the early diagnosis of NPDR. Box-counting and information fractal dimensions were used to parameterize the vascular pattern of the human retina. The two methods were applied to the whole retina and to nine anatomical regions of the retina in 5 individuals with mild NPDR and in 28 diabetic but opthalmically normal individuals (controls), with age between 31 and 86 years. All images of retina were obtained from the Digital Retinal Images for Vessel Extraction (DRIVE) database. The results showed that the fractal dimension parameter was not sensitive enough to be of use for an early diagnosis of NPDR.

O principal objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar a aplicabilidade do método de Acton na determinação de lactose em queijo tipo Minas Frescal e, para isso estudou-se a porcentagem de recuperação de lactose adicionada a amostras dos queijos, em diferentes situações. As recuperações variam de 99,1% e 103,7% , e os melhores resultados em torno de 100%, obtidos para as amostras preparadas contendo até 40 <FONT FACE="Symbol">m</font>g de lactose / ml. Os queijos tipo Minas Frescal, de três lotes diferentes com três queijos por lote, foram adquiridos no comércio de Piracicaba, SP aos dois dias de fabricação e nesse mesmo dia, analisados para o teor de lactose. Os resultados variaram de 2,36% a 2,47% no lote 1; 2,68% a 3,03% no lote 2 e 2,19% a 2,48% no lote 3, mostrando, assim, boa uniformidade dentro dos lotes e pequena variação entre estes, mas, todos os valores apresentaram-se dentro das faixas comumente encontradas para este tipo de queijo.

The main objective of this work was to study the applicability of the method of Acton to estimate the lactose concentration in Minas Frescal cheese. Recovery experiments were carried out, with recoveries for lactose ranging from 99.1% to 103.7%., for samples containing up to 40<FONT FACE="Symbol">m</font>g lactose/ml. Cheese samples were purchased randomly in Piracicaba, SP, Brasil with two days of shelf life, from three batches, with three samples per batch. Lactose was determined in the same day and its concentration varied from 2.36% to 2.47% for batch 1; 2.58% to 3.03% for batch 2; and from 2.19% to 2.48% for batch 3. A high uniformity was observed among batches, with little variation among samples. All values were within the range tipically found for this kind of cheese.

Estudou-se, a influência de culturas láticas no índice de proteólise do queijo Minas Frescal, processado com leite não pasteurizado e pasteurizado. O emprego de culturas láticas na elaboração de queijo Minas Frescal pode ser indicado, uma vez que o índice de proteólise só se correlacionou com o tempo de conservação.

The influence of lactic cultures in the ripening index of Minas Frescal cheese was studied, utilizing pasteurized and not pasteurized milk. The use of lactic cultures for Minas Frescal cheese can be recomended, since the ripening index had good correlation only with storage time.

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo verificar a composição química e nutricional do queijo e iogurte elaborados com leite de búfala e comparados com aqueles elaborados com leite de vaca. Dos resultados obtidos foram obtidas as seguintes conclusões: o queijo tipo mozzarella e o iogurte elaborado com leite de búfala apresentaram níveis superiores em proteína, gordura, cinzas, cálcio e fósforo, estando relacionados com a composição química inicial do leite. Os níveis de digestibilidade in vitro dos queijos tipo mozzarella e iogurte de leite de búfala apresentaram resultados semelhantes aos elaborados com leite de vaca, indicando níveis adequados de digestibilidade para consumo humano.

The chemical and nutritional compositions of cheese and yogurt made from buffalo and cow milk were compared. The following conclusions were obtained: mozzarella type cheese and yogurt made from buffalo milk exhibited higher content of protein, fat, minerals, calcium and phosphorus when compared to those made from cow milk; in vitro digestibility tests of mozzarella type cheese and yogurt made from buffalo milk were similar to those of cow milk, indicantig suitable digestibility levels for human consumption.

Estudou-se, neste trabalho, a aceitabilidade do sabor do iogurte de "leite de soja" adicionado de leite de vaca em vários sabores, nos teores de 85% de "leite de soja" e 15% de leite de vaca. Todos os dez saborizantes experimentados proporcionaram ao produto sabor aceitável e no grau de aceitabilidade "gostei regularmente".

A study was made of the acceptability of the flavor of soybean milk ioghurt, to which 15% of cow's milk in several flavors was added. All the ten experimented flavors gane the product aceptable flavors, at the "liked regularly" acceptability degree of the hedonic scale.