•Forty-two publications with analytical data on NCS have been identified.•NCS has nutritionally significant quantities of minerals and vitamins.•It presents antioxidant properties correlated with its ...phenolics content.•These results justify considering NCS a nutritional and functionally important food.
Non-centrifugal cane sugar (NCS) (panela, jaggery, kokuto, etc.) is a traditional sweetener of increasingly economic importance after a long process of displacement by refined sugar. By searching the analytical literature with the different local names of NCS (jaggery, gur, kokuto, panela, chancaca, piloncillo, rapadura, muscovado, unrefined sugar, black sugar) as key-words, this review identified the published data on its content of 7 proximate, 14 minerals, and 13 vitamins so to calculate its average and median values, as well as list its contents of potentially relevant functional components like phenolics, amino acids, complex sugars and others. The forty-two publications on chemical content and properties found to show that NCS has nutritionally and functionally significant quantities of minerals, vitamins and phenolics, among other constituents, as well as antioxidant capacities. This justifies its inclusion in food composition databases and in reviews of antioxidant properties and phenolic contents of foods. Higher awareness of the nutritional and functional properties of NCS could increase scientific, nutritional and health interest in this food.
The cerebral cortex is a cellularly complex structure comprising a rich diversity of neuronal and glial cell types. Cortical neurons can be broadly categorized into two classes-excitatory neurons ...that use the neurotransmitter glutamate, and inhibitory interneurons that use γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Previous developmental studies in rodents have led to a prevailing model in which excitatory neurons are born from progenitors located in the cortex, whereas cortical interneurons are born from a separate population of progenitors located outside the developing cortex in the ganglionic eminences
. However, the developmental potential of human cortical progenitors has not been thoroughly explored. Here we show that, in addition to excitatory neurons and glia, human cortical progenitors are also capable of producing GABAergic neurons with the transcriptional characteristics and morphologies of cortical interneurons. By developing a cellular barcoding tool called 'single-cell-RNA-sequencing-compatible tracer for identifying clonal relationships' (STICR), we were able to carry out clonal lineage tracing of 1,912 primary human cortical progenitors from six specimens, and to capture both the transcriptional identities and the clonal relationships of their progeny. A subpopulation of cortically born GABAergic neurons was transcriptionally similar to cortical interneurons born from the caudal ganglionic eminence, and these cells were frequently related to excitatory neurons and glia. Our results show that individual human cortical progenitors can generate both excitatory neurons and cortical interneurons, providing a new framework for understanding the origins of neuronal diversity in the human cortex.
Summary Background Artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum lengthens parasite clearance half-life during artemisinin monotherapy or artemisinin-based combination therapy. Absence of in-vitro ...and ex-vivo correlates of artemisinin resistance hinders study of this phenotype. We aimed to assess whether an in-vitro ring-stage survival assay (RSA) can identify culture-adapted P falciparum isolates from patients with slow-clearing or fast-clearing infections, to investigate the stage-dependent susceptibility of parasites to dihydroartemisinin in the in-vitro RSA, and to assess whether an ex-vivo RSA can identify artemisinin-resistant P falciparum infections. Methods We culture-adapted parasites from patients with long and short parasite clearance half-lives from a study done in Pursat, Cambodia, in 2010 (registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT00341003 ) and used novel in-vitro survival assays to explore the stage-dependent susceptibility of slow-clearing and fast-clearing parasites to dihydroartemisinin. In 2012, we implemented the RSA in prospective parasite clearance studies in Pursat, Preah Vihear, and Ratanakiri, Cambodia ( NCT01736319 ), to measure the ex-vivo responses of parasites from patients with malaria. Continuous variables were compared with the Mann-Whitney U test. Correlations were analysed with the Spearman correlation test. Findings In-vitro survival rates of culture-adapted parasites from 13 slow-clearing and 13 fast-clearing infections differed significantly when assays were done on 0–3 h ring-stage parasites (10·88% vs 0·23%; p=0·007). Ex-vivo survival rates significantly correlated with in-vivo parasite clearance half-lives (n=30, r =0·74, 95% CI 0·50–0·87; p<0·0001). Interpretation The in-vitro RSA of 0–3 h ring-stage parasites provides a platform for the molecular characterisation of artemisinin resistance. The ex-vivo RSA can be easily implemented where surveillance for artemisinin resistance is needed. Funding Institut Pasteur du Cambodge and the Intramural Research Program, NIAID, NIH.
Advances in computational science offer a principled pipeline for predictive modeling of cardiovascular flows and aspire to provide a valuable tool for monitoring, diagnostics and surgical planning. ...Such models can be nowadays deployed on large patient-specific topologies of systemic arterial networks and return detailed predictions on flow patterns, wall shear stresses, and pulse wave propagation. However, their success heavily relies on tedious pre-processing and calibration procedures that typically induce a significant computational cost, thus hampering their clinical applicability. In this work we put forth a machine learning framework that enables the seamless synthesis of non-invasive in-vivo measurement techniques and computational flow dynamics models derived from first physical principles. We illustrate this new paradigm by showing how one-dimensional models of pulsatile flow can be used to constrain the output of deep neural networks such that their predictions satisfy the conservation of mass and momentum principles. Once trained on noisy and scattered clinical data of flow and wall displacement, these networks can return physically consistent predictions for velocity, pressure and wall displacement pulse wave propagation, all without the need to employ conventional simulators. A simple post-processing of these outputs can also provide a relatively cheap and effective way for estimating Windkessel model parameters that are required for the calibration of traditional computational models. The effectiveness of the proposed techniques is demonstrated through a series of prototype benchmarks, as well as a realistic clinical case involving in-vivo measurements near the aorta/carotid bifurcation of a healthy human subject.
•We introduce physics-informed neural networks to solve conservation laws in graph topologies.•We show how non-dimensionalization and normalization can mitigate vanishing gradient pathologies.•For the first time, a physics-informed neural network is applied to real noisy clinical data.•Arterial pressure is predicted from MRI data of blood velocity and wall displacement.•Our model also allows for calibrating boundary conditions of conventional flow simulators.
The present economy is not sustainable with regard to its per capita material consumption. A dematerialization of the economy of industrialized countries can be achieved by a change in course, from ...an industrial economy built on throughput to a circular economy built on stock optimization, decoupling wealth and welfare from resource consumption while creating more work. The business models of a circular economy have been known since the mid-1970s and are now applied in a number of industrial sectors. This paper argues that a simple and convincing lever could accelerate the shift to a circular economy, and that this lever is the shift to a tax system based on the principles of sustainability: not taxing renewable resources including human labour-work-but taxing non-renewable resources instead is a powerful lever. Taxing materials and energies will promote low-carbon and low-resource solutions and a move towards a 'circular' regional economy as opposed to the 'linear' global economy requiring fuel-based transport for goods throughput. In addition to substantial improvements in material and energy efficiency, regional job creation and national greenhouse gas emission reductions, such a change will foster all activities based on 'caring', such as maintaining cultural heritage and natural wealth, health services, knowledge and know-how.
1. Root, stem and leaf traits are thought to be functionally coordinated to maximize the efficiency of acquiring and using limited resources. However, evidence is mixed for consistent whole-plant ...trait coordination among woody plants, and we lack a clear understanding of the adaptive value of root traits along soil resource gradients. If fine roots are the below-ground analogue to leaves, then low specific root length (SRL) and high tissue density should be common on infertile soil. Here, we test the prediction that root, stem and leaf traits and relative growth rate respond in unison with soil fertility gradients. 2. We measured fine root, stem and leaf traits and relative growth rate on individual seedlings of 66 tree species grown in controlled conditions. Our objectives were (i) to determine whether multiple root traits align with growth rate, leaf and stem traits and with each other and (ii) to quantify the relationships between community-weighted mean root traits and two strong soil fertility gradients that differed in spatial extent and community composition. 3. At the species level, fast growth rates were associated with low root and stem tissue density and high specific leaf area. SRL and root diameter were not clearly related to growth rate and loaded on a separate principal component from the plant economic spectmm. 4. At the community level, growth rate was positively related to soil fertility, and root tissue density (RTD) and branching were negatively related to soil fertility. SRL was negatively related and root diameter was positively related to soil fertility on the large-scale gradient that included ectomycorrhizal angiosperms. 5. Synthesis. Root, stem and leaf tissue traits of tree seedlings are coordinated and influence fitness along soil fertility gradients. RTD responds in unison with above-ground traits to soil fertility gradients; however, root traits are multidimensional because SRL is orthogonal to the plant economic spectrum. In contrast to leaves, trees are not constrained in the way they construct fine roots: plants can construct high or low SRL roots of any tissue density. High RTD is the most consistent below-ground trait that reflects adaptation to infertile soil.
Abstract
Objectives
Information and communication technology holds promise in terms of providing support and reducing isolation among older adults. We evaluated the impact of a specially designed ...computer system for older adults, the Personal Reminder Information and Social Management (PRISM) system.
Design, Setting, and Participants
The trial was a multisite randomized field trial conducted at 3 sites. PRISM was compared to a Binder condition wherein participants received a notebook that contained paper content similar to that contained in PRISM. The sample included 300 older adults at risk for social isolation who lived independently in the community (Mage = 76.15 years). Primary outcome measures included indices of social isolation, social support, loneliness, and well-being. Secondary outcome measures included indices of computer proficiency and attitudes toward technology. Data were collected at baseline and at 6 and 12 months post-randomization.
Results
The PRISM group reported significantly less loneliness and increased perceived social support and well-being at 6 months. There was a trend indicating a decline in social isolation. Group differences were not maintained at 12 months, but those in the PRISM condition still showed improvements from baseline. There was also an increase in computer self-efficacy, proficiency, and comfort with computers for PRISM participants at 6 and 12 months.
Discussion
The findings suggest that access to technology applications such as PRISM may enhance social connectivity and reduce loneliness among older adults and has the potential to change attitudes toward technology and increase technology self-efficacy.
Worldwide population aging and rapid diffusion of digital technology have converged to produce an age-related digital divide in the adoption of technology, as seen in use of the Internet and ...ownership of smartphones. Given the centrality of these technologies for full participation in modern society, reducing that gap is an important challenge for psychologists. We outline more and less malleable factors associated with the adoption of technology and argue that interventions that can change both the aging user and the design of products will be necessary. Adaptive technology systems that incorporate artificial intelligence and extended reality are promising new approaches to reducing the age-related digital divide.
Aging is one of the important challenges of modern society. Advanced adult age is associated with changes in many physiologic systems. Of particular interest is the musculoskeletal system because it ...directly contributes to mobility and functional independence. Skeletal muscle mass and strength decline with age. These changes are mostly due to a reduction in the number of muscle fibers and cellular and molecular changes that reduce the force-generation process. Bone mass and architecture are compromised and may result in fractures. Tendons and ligaments undergo significant biochemical alterations that directly compromise their biomechanical function.
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