Individual variation in semen parameters was investigated in healthy young volunteers. Semen samples were collected approximately once a month over a one-year period for a total of 93 samples (5 to 10 samples per subject) from 12 volunteers in their twenties. Semen analysis was carried out according to the WHO Manual. The amount of variation in each semen variable was calculated for each subject by dividing the maximum value by the minimum value. The results showed that the semen volume varied by 1.9 ± 0.8 fold (1.3 to 4.2 fold), the sperm concentration by 4.8 ± 4.3 fold (1.5 to 17.2 fold), the percentage of sperm with forward progression by 2.8 ± 1.4 fold (1.6 to 6.4 fold), the percentage of sperm with rapid linear progression by 3.4 ± 2.6 fold (1.7 to 10.9 fold), the percentage of sperm with normal morphology by 1.9 ± 0.4 fold (1.3 to 2.4 fold), and the percentage of live sperm by 1.5 ± 0.4 fold (1.1 to 2.6 fold). A between-group comparison showed significant differences in all of the variables except the percentage of sperm with normal morphology. These results suggest multiple and considerable semen analyses are needed when evaluating semen parameters.

This study aimed to analyze the printability of corn-based dough during screw-based three-dimensional (3D) food printing (3DFP) by relating its rheological and mechanical properties to its screw-based 3DFP performance, with the objective of providing insights into the utilization of corn-based dough to produce 3D-printed foods. Screw-based 3DFP was performed using seven corn-based doughs with different nixtamalized corn flour (NCF) and water contents. Afterward, their rheological and mechanical properties were analyzed and associated with their screw-based 3DFP performance. The results showed that stable printability was obtained within a specific range of NCF content in the dough (30–32.5 wt%). Below this range, the 3D-printed foods flattened, while above it, the extrudability of the dough was affected. The printability of the dough was influenced by different rheological and mechanical properties, depending on the stage of the screw-based 3DFP process. During the extrusion stage, the loss tangent at nozzle strain, yield stress, apparent viscosity, and adhesiveness mainly affected the extrudability of the dough. In contrast, the loss tangent at minimum strain, elastic modulus, Young’s modulus, and hardness influenced the self-supporting stage. Therefore, it is important to find a balance between all of these properties, where stable extrudability and self-supporting of the 3D structure are achieved.

Objectives: To clarify the effects of high-intensity and high-frequency long-term/chronic training on neutrophil function and serum levels of myogenic enzymes in male university judoists. Methods: The subjects were 24 male judoists who had stopped judo training for 6 months and then restarted their training. The following parameters were examined before and after a 2 h unified exercise loading (UEL) at the beginning of the restarted quotidian training (pre-training) and at 2 months, 4 months and 6 months thereafter: myogenic enzymes, neutrophil and leucocyte counts, and neutrophil phagocytic activity (PA) and oxidative burst activity as a measure of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production capability. Results: Myogenic enzymes that were measured after UEL at all four points significantly increased except for creatine kinase at the 2-month point (p<0.01 in each) and neutrophil counts significantly increased after UEL at the pre-training, 2-month and 4-month points (p<0.01 in each), but these changes became smaller from the 2-month point. PA significantly decreased after UEL at the pre-training and 2-month points (p<0.01 in each), but no change was seen at the 4-month and 6-month points. On the other hand, no change in ROS production per cell after UEL was seen at the pre-training point, but it significantly increased after UEL at the 2-month, 4-month and 6-month points (p<0.01 in each). Conclusion: The changing rate of the levels of UEL-mediated myogenic enzymes, neutrophil mobilisation and neutrophil function was seen to decrease at the 2-month, 4-month and 6-month assessments, compared with the pre-training point: these may comprise at least some of the long-term training effects.

Extrusion-based three-dimensional (3D) food printing (3DFP) enhances the customization of 3D-printed foods by using multiple food pastes. Post-printing processes like baking are usually necessary and significantly impact the stability of the 3D-printed foods. This study aimed to produce multi-material 3D-printed foods using nixtamalized corn dough and chickpea paste (CP) in extrusion-based 3DFP and to study the effect of post-printing processes (water oven cooking and steam cooking) and the type of material used (single- or multi-material) on the final appearance, weight, size, and texture of the 3D-printed foods. Multi-material 3D-printed foods were successfully produced using extrusion-based 3DFP. Steam-cooked 3D-printed foods cooked uniformly and had a better appearance, as they did not develop surface cracks compared to water oven-cooked foods. Water-oven cooked foods experienced a greater weight loss of 35.6%, and higher height and length reduction of 1.5% and 8.4%, respectively. Steam-cooked multi-material 3D-printed foods were harder at 40% of strain, with force values of 66.9 and 46.3 N for water-oven cooked foods. Post-printing processes, as well as the presence of CP in the middle of the 3D-printed foods, influenced their final appearance, weight, size, and texture. This study offers interesting findings for the innovative design of chickpea- and corn-based multi-material 3D-printed foods.

Consumers are concerned about employing green processing technologies and natural ingredients in different manufacturing sectors to achieve a “clean label” standard for products and minimize the hazardous impact of chemical ingredients on human health and the environment. In this study, we investigated the effects of gelatinized starch dispersions (GSDs) prepared from six plant sources (indica and japonica rice, wheat, corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes) on the formulation and stability of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions. The effect of gelatinization temperature and time conditions of 85–90 °C for 20 min on the interfacial tension of the two phases was observed. Emulsification was performed using a primary homogenization condition of 10,000 rpm for 5 min, followed by high-pressure homogenization at 100 MPa for five cycles. The effects of higher oil weight fractions (15–25% w/w) and storage stability at different temperatures for four weeks were also evaluated. The interfacial tension of all starch GSDs with soybean oil decreased compared with the interfacial tension between soybean oil and water as a control. The largest interfacial tension reduction was observed for the GSD from indica rice. Microstructural analysis indicated that the GSDs stabilized the O/W emulsion by coating oil droplets. Emulsions formulated using a GSD from indica rice were stable during four weeks of storage with a volume mean diameter (d_4,3) of ~1 µm, minimal viscosity change, and a negative ζ-potential.

Lipids are often ingested via oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, where interfacial properties and droplet size influence their digestibility. In this study, a bimodal O/W emulsion, termed Food Emulsion Blend (FEB), was prepared by mixing two monodisperse emulsions of different droplet sizes and compositions. The influence of droplet size and emulsifier type on in vitro digestion was evaluated. Soybean oil was used as the dispersed phase, and monodisperse emulsions were prepared via premix membrane emulsification using membranes with pore sizes of 1, 10, and 50 µm. Two selected emulsions were mixed in equal proportions to form FEB. The emulsifiers included 1.0% (w/w) Tween 20 (TW) or 0.5% (w/w) Tween 20 and 0.5% (w/w) citrus pectin (TWCP). The $d_{\mathrm{4,3}}$ values of the emulsions stabilized by TW and TWCP ranged from 1.05 to 51.99 µm and from 1.19 to 46.94 µm, respectively. In vitro digestion revealed that all FEB samples retained bimodal size distributions post-gastric digestion. Free fatty acid release correlated strongly with the initial total droplet surface area for the TW- and TWCP-stabilized FEBs (R² > 0.8). These results suggest that FEB allows for the precise control of lipid release, offering potential applications in food formulation.