Summary
Recent advances in pruritus research have elucidated mediators and neuronal pathways involved in itch transmission, and this fast emerging knowledge may possibly be translated into new ...therapies in the near future. In the skin and peripheral nerves, potential mediator and receptor therapeutic targets include the H4 histamine receptor, protease‐activated receptor 2, serine proteases, cathepsin S, peripheral mu‐ and kappa‐opioid receptors, interleukin‐31, transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 and 3, fatty acid amide hydrolase, nerve growth factor and its receptor, acetylcholine, and the Mas‐related G protein‐coupled receptors. In the spinal cord, gastrin‐related peptide and its receptor, as well as substance P and its receptor neurokinin receptor‐1 serve as potential therapeutic targets. In the brain, reduction of itch perception and modulation of emotions may possibly be achieved through drugs acting on the anterior cingulate cortex. Clinically, management of pruritus should be instituted early and should address the skin pathology, peripheral neuropathy, central sensitization, and the cognito‐affective aspects of the disease.
Problems caused by power quality have great adverse economical impact on the utilities and customers. Current harmonics are one of the most common power quality problems and are usually resolved by ...the use of shunt passive or active filters. In this paper, a new control design using artificial neural networks is proposed to make the conventional shunt active filter adaptive. The proposed adaptive shunt active filter can compensate for harmonic currents, power factor and nonlinear load unbalance. A self-charging technique is also proposed to regulate the dc capacitor voltage at the desired level with the use of a PI controller. The design concept of the adaptive shunt active filter is verified through simulation studies and the results obtained are discussed.
Acne vulgaris is a common problem encountered by pregnant and lactating women. Unfortunately, in clinical practice, treatment is often not optimized as a result of the lack of safety data and unified ...recommendations on the use of the various anti-acne therapies. In this narrative review, current data on their safety is summarized. We recommend the use of topical medications as first-line treatment for acne vulgaris in pregnant and lactating women. These include antibiotics (erythromycin, clindamycin, metronidazole and dapsone), benzoyl peroxide, azelaic acid and salicylic acid. Oral agents and/or light-based therapy may be considered as second-line treatment. The former consists of oral macrolides (erythromycin and azithromycin), cephalexin or zinc compounds. Blue-violet or red light phototherapy may be used as monotherapy or in addition to topical and/or oral therapies. Hormonal therapy, antibiotics consisting of tetracyclines, co-trimoxazole and fluoroquinolones, and both oral and topical retinoids should be avoided.
The increase in energy and fertilizer consumption makes it necessary to develop sustainable alternatives for agriculture. Anaerobic digestion and digestates appeared to be suitable options. However, ...untreated digestates still have high water content and can increase greenhouse gas emissions during storage and land application. In this study, manure-derived digestate and solid fraction of digestate after separation were treated with a novel solar drying technology to reduce their water content, combined with acidification to reduce the gaseous emissions. The acidified digestate and acidified solid fraction of digestate recovered more nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen than their respective non-acidified products (1.5–1.3 times for TN; 14 times for TAN). Ammonia and methane emissions were reduced up to 94% and 72% respectively, compared to the non-acidified ones, while N2O increased more than 3 times. Dried digestate and dried acidified digestate can be labeled as NPK organic fertilizer regarding the European regulation, and the dried solid fraction and the improved dried acidified solid fraction can be labeled as N or P organic fertilizer. Moreover, plant tests showed that N concentrations in fresh lettuce leaves were within the EU limit with all products in all the cases. However, zinc concentration appeared to be a limitation in some of the products as their concentration exceeded the European legal limits.
•A solar drying greenhouse was used to produce organic fertilizers from digestate.•Acidification reduced up to 94% and 72% emissions for NH3 and CH4 respectively.•The resulting products were compared with the current fertilizer EU legislation.•Phytotoxicity of the resulting organic fertilizers was tested with lettuce pot trials.
Abstract
The application of microalgae in wastewater treatment has attracted the attention of researchers since a few decades ago. Palm oil industry is one of the lucrative main exporting industry in ...Malaysia which has drawn the attention of researchers in mitigating the polluting impacts caused by the palm oil mill effluent (POME) released from the oil palm processing. In this study, the growth of the green algae
Chlorella vulgaris
and
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
in the pre-treated POME was studied for 7 continuous days. The number of microalgae cells, chlorophylls and carotenoids contents were monitored throughout the cultivation period. The potential of both strains of microalgae as the water polisher for post-treatment of POME was investigated as well. The findings revealed that both microalgae showed lag phase at the beginning of cultivation and grew exponentially later. When monitoring the chlorophyll content, chlorophyll
a
and chlorophyll
b
played a role in photosynthesis when the microalgae detected environmental changes. The carotenoids in the microalgae acted as the accessory pigments which assisted in light harvesting under poor light condition and as the antioxidant protecting the cells when there was excess light.
C. vulgaris
was able to remove 98.1 % of phosphate and 53.1 % of ammoniacal nitrogen while
C. reinhardtii
removed 90.1 % and 37.3 %, respectively. This study indicated that two microalgae species have a high potential to be integrated in the post-treatment for POME.
Background/Objectives: Diets high in nuts reduce cholesterol, probably due to their favorable lipid profile and other bioactive substances. However, the physical form of the nut may be important as ...the cell wall of intact nuts may limit the hypocholesterolemic effect of nuts by reducing lipid bioavailability. Therefore, we investigated the effects on blood lipids of incorporating three different forms of hazelnuts (ground, sliced and whole) into the usual diet. Subjects/Methods: In a randomized crossover study with three phases, 48 mildly hypercholesterolemic participants were asked to consume 30 g of ground, sliced or whole hazelnuts for 4 weeks. Body weight, plasma total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triacylglycerol (TAG), apolipoprotein (apo) A1, apo B100 and α-tocopherol were measured at baseline and at the end of each dietary phase. Results: There were no significant differences in any outcome variable between the different forms of nuts (all P>=0.59). However, compared with baseline, mean values at the end of each hazelnut intervention were significantly higher for HDL-C (P=0.023) and α-tocopherol (P=0.005), and significantly lower for TC (P<0.001), LDL-C (P<0.001), TC:HDL-C ratio (P<0.001), apo B100 (P=0.002) and apo B100:apo A1 ratio (P<0.001), with no significant difference in body weight (P=0.813). Conclusions: The ingestion of three different forms of hazelnuts equally improved the lipoprotein profile and α-tocopherol concentrations in mildly hypercholesterolemic individuals. Hazelnuts can therefore be incorporated into the usual diet as a means of reducing cardiovascular disease risk.
Substituting sweeteners with non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) may aid in glycaemic control and body weight management. Limited studies have investigated energy compensation, glycaemic and insulinaemic ...responses to artificial and natural NNS.
This study compared the effects of consuming NNS (artificial versus natural) and sucrose (65 g) on energy intake, blood glucose and insulin responses.
Thirty healthy male subjects took part in this randomised, crossover study with four treatments: aspartame-, monk fruit-, stevia- and sucrose-sweetened beverages. On each test day, participants were asked to consume a standardised breakfast in the morning, and they were provided with test beverage as a preload in mid-morning and ad libitum lunch was provided an hour after test beverage consumption. Blood glucose and insulin concentrations were measured every 15 min within the first hour of preload consumption and every 30 min for the subsequent 2 h. Participants left the study site 3 h after preload consumption and completed a food diary for the rest of the day.
Ad libitum lunch intake was significantly higher for the NNS treatments compared with sucrose (P=0.010). The energy 'saved' from replacing sucrose with NNS was fully compensated for at subsequent meals; hence, no difference in total daily energy intake was found between the treatments (P=0.831). The sucrose-sweetened beverage led to large spikes in blood glucose and insulin responses within the first hour, whereas these responses were higher for all three NNS beverages following the test lunch. Thus, there were no differences in total area under the curve (AUC) for glucose (P=0.960) and insulin (P=0.216) over 3 h between the four test beverages.
The consumption of calorie-free beverages sweetened with artificial and natural NNS have minimal influences on total daily energy intake, postprandial glucose and insulin compared with a sucrose-sweetened beverage.
Background
Connexin 43 (Cx43) plays a central role in the inflammatory response and wound healing. Targeting Cx43 expression reduces inflammation in a variety of injuries. The expression pattern of ...Cx43 has not been described for many inflammatory skin diseases.
Objectives
To describe the expression patterns of Cx43 in eczema, psoriasis, Steven‐Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis.
Methods
Archival skin biopsies from patients with eczema, psoriasis, and Steven‐Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrosis were identified and examined, with sister sections stained for Cx43 and imaged by confocal microscopy. All samples were compared to age and site‐matched normal skin controls.
Results
Epidermal Cx43 is reduced in acute eczema, absent in regions of spongiosis, and is highly elevated in subacute and chronic eczema. In plaque psoriasis, Cx43 is overexpressed in areas with psoriasiform hyperplasia with a fish‐scale‐like appearance but is lost in regions surrounding neutrophil microabscesses. Cx43 staining is strong in the neutrophils within these microabscesses. In SJS/TEN, Cx43 expression is elevated in areas bordering normal tissue but is rapidly lost in areas of keratinocyte necrosis.
Conclusions
Dynamic changes in Cx43 levels are seen in inflammatory skin diseases and may represent future potential therapeutic targets.
Connexin 43 (Cx43) plays a central role in the inflammatory response and wound healing. Targeting Cx43 expression reduces inflammation in a variety of injuries. Here we examine the changes in Cx43 protein levels in the epidermis in eczema, psoriasis, Steven‐Johnson Syndrome/Toxic Epidermal necrolysis.
Summary
Acquired hypopigmentation disorders in adults can be classified on the basis of lesion extent, and can generally be divided into disorders with localized, widespread or generalized lesions. ...Clinical findings, comprising the degree of pigment loss (hypopigmentation and depigmentation) and associated morphological findings (e.g. epidermal changes, infiltration and induration), are used to further distinguish the disorders. Diagnosing the disorders is important because the underlying causes may be treatable and some of the disorders are associated with malignancies. A systemic approach is useful for this clinical condition, as the causes are heterogeneous and investigations are usually nondiagnostic.
PDF
