Royal jelly (RJ) demand is growing every year and so is the market for functional foods in general. RJ is formed by different substances, mainly carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, but also ...vitamins, minerals, and phenolic or volatile compounds in lower proportion. Major royal jelly proteins (MRJP) are, together with 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), key substances of RJ due to their different biological properties. In particular, 10-HDA is a unique substance in this product. RJ has been historically employed as health enhancer and is still very relevant in China due to the traditional medicine and the apitherapy. Nowadays, it is mainly consumed as a functional food or is found in supplements and other formulations for its health-beneficial properties. Within these properites, anti-lipidemic, antioxidant, antiproliferative, antimicrobial, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antiaging, and estrogenic activities have been reported for RJ or its specific components. This manuscript is aimed at reviewing the current knowledge on RJ components, their assessment in terms of authenticity, their biological activities, and related health applications.
Bee venom (BV) is usually associated with pain since, when humans are stung by bees, local inflammation and even an allergic reaction can be produced. BV has been traditionally used in ancient ...medicine and in acupuncture. It consists of a mixture of substances, principally of proteins and peptides, including enzymes as well as other types of molecules in a very low concentration. Melittin and phospholipase A2 (PLA2) are the most abundant and studied compounds of BV. Literature of the main biological activities exerted by BV shows that most studies focuses on the comprehension and test of anti-inflammatory effects and its mechanisms of action. Other properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, neuroprotective or antitumor effects have also been assessed, both in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, human trials are necessary to confirm those clinical applications. However, notwithstanding the therapeutic potential of BV, there are certain problems regarding its safety and the possible appearance of adverse effects. On this perspective, new approaches have been developed to avoid these complications. This manuscript is aimed at reviewing the actual knowledge on BV components and its associated biological activities as well as the latest advances on this subject.
In the recent years, there has been increased interest in the exopolysaccharides (EPS) of microbial origin, especially the EPS produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). These EPS exhibit considerable ...structural and physico-chemical diversities with numerous potential applications. The biological and functional potentials of LAB EPS include antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-cancer, wound healing, immunomodulatory and prebiotic properties. With increased interest in natural and eco-friendly biomolecules as tools in the management of food quality and safety, biomolecules such as EPS of microbial origin are being evaluated. Although there are many reviews on the biological and functional properties of EPS, in this review we particularly focused on the anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-biofilm properties of the EPS of LAB origin. Modes and mechanisms of action by which EPS interacts with the pathogens (bacteria, bacterial biofilm, fungi, and virus) to inhibit or kill them are also discussed. The anti-microbial effects of EPS have the potential to play a vital role in food preservation as well as protection which can be exploited effectively. Interestingly EPS has beneficial effects on gut homeostasis through modulating gut microbiota, inhibiting pathogens, and preventing bacterial as well as viral infections. The role of LAB EPS in food safety and human health vis-à-vis their applications in food and pharmaceutical industries are discussed in this review. However, more studies are required for maximum utility of these bio-functional EPS potentials for food preservation, food safety and other health claims.
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This paper aims to offer a free software program, LINCE PLUS, suitable for systematic observational studies in sports and health, conducted in natural contexts such as training, education or ...psychology. Using one or several videos simultaneously, different parameters such as behaviors, decision-making or strategies can be analyzed. The software includes several functionalities for studies that researchers need to utilize throughout the observational study process. Collaborative work can be accomplished by using simultaneous videos and multiple observers. The results of all research conducted by LINCE PLUS are offered inside the application in real time, enabling common calculations or including specific analysis with R language without the need for any other external tool. Moreover, LINCE PLUS shows the results of each study with interactive charts or, if needed, it exports the data to specific data analysis software programs (e.g., SAS, Excel, Theme, GSEQ 5, Hoisan). We include examples of sports and health studies that have been conducted with LINCE PLUS to show the suitability of this software program.
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic, incurable autoimmune disease affecting millions of Americans in which the body stops producing insulin and blood glucose levels rise. The goal of intensive diabetes ...management is to lower average blood glucose through frequent adjustments to insulin protocol, diet, and behavior. Manual logs and medical device data are collected by patients, but these multiple sources are presented in disparate visualization designs to the clinician-making temporal inference difficult. We conducted a design study over 18 months with clinicians performing intensive diabetes management. We present a data abstraction and novel hierarchical task abstraction for this domain. We also contribute IDMVis: a visualization tool for temporal event sequences with multidimensional, interrelated data. IDMVis includes a novel technique for folding and aligning records by dual sentinel events and scaling the intermediate timeline. We validate our design decisions based on our domain abstractions, best practices, and through a qualitative evaluation with six clinicians. The results of this study indicate that IDMVis accurately reflects the workflow of clinicians. Using IDMVis, clinicians are able to identify issues of data quality such as missing or conflicting data, reconstruct patient records when data is missing, differentiate between days with different patterns, and promote educational interventions after identifying discrepancies.
Mobile health (mHealth) application concerns the use of wireless and mobile technologies to support the accomplishment of health objectives. With a doctor’s help, consumers may monitor their health ...metrics. This is exceptionally focal with the persistent torrent of the unstructured and structured data sets created on periodic intervals from the augmentation of mobile health applications in distinct healthcare systems and products universally. In this study, the leading principle was to examine the impact of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on the intentions to adopt Mobile Health application and elucidate with a extensive knowledge of machine learning techniques that might be applied to improve the expertise and knowledge of a mobile health application.12 measurements are based on perceived usefulness in the article, and 8 are based on perceived ease of use. Information was gathered from 200 respondents, of whom 102 used mobile health applications, considered them helpful, and preferred to use them again. The outcomes from the proposed machine learning prototypes have been shown to be quite accurate and effective. A comparison study was conducted based on accuracy values, and the findings indicate that Random Forest and Decision Tree models provide more accuracy than the other models. The research shows that Random Forest and Decision Tree models, which have 100% accuracy rate, produce the most accurate results. Therefore, the study is applicable to forecast accuracy and is valuable. for patients’ readiness to use mHealth applications and can be used to Contact doctors and get health information available at any time and from any location.
The advances in mobile technologies and applications are driving the transformation in health services delivery globally. Mobile phone penetration is increasing exponentially in low-and middle-income ...countries, hence using mobile phones for healthcare services could reach more people in resource-limited settings than the traditional forms of healthcare provision. The review presents recent literature on facilitators and barriers of implementing mHealth for disease screening and treatment support in low-and middle-income countries. We searched for relevant literature from the following electronic databases: MEDLINE; CINAHL with full text via EBSCOhost; Science Direct; PubMed; Google Scholar and Web of Science using the keywords for relevant studies. We searched for published studies from 2015 to August 2020 with no language limitations. A total of 721 articles identified, 125 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the qualitative synthesis. The review demonstrates relevant facilitators for the implementation of mHealth, which includes knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of stakeholders on the use of mHealth and the performance of mHealth for disease diagnosis in low and-middle-income countries. Barriers and challenges hindering the implementation of mHealth applications were also identified. We proposed a framework for improving the implementation of mHealth for disease screening and treatment support in low-and middle-income countries.
Mobile health applications; Disease screening; Disease diagnosis; Treatment support and low-and middle-income countries.
Marine microalgae and cyanobacteria are very rich in several chemical compounds and, therefore, they may be used in several biological applications related with health benefits, among others. This ...review brings the research up-to-date on the bioactive compounds produced by marine unicellular algae, directly or indirectly related to human health. It covers and goes through the most studied applications of substances such as PUFA, sterols, proteins and enzymes, vitamins and pigments, in areas so diverse as human and animal nutrition, therapeutics, and aquaculture. The great potential of marine microalgae and the biocoumpounds they produce are discussed in this review.
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