Effects of agave fructans as carrier agents on the encapsulation of blue corn anthocyanins using spray-drying were evaluated. Blue corn extract was mixed with 6%, 8%, 10%, and 12% (
/
) of agave ...fructans in duplicate and dried at 150 °C. The extract showed good contents of anthocyanins, polyphenols, and antioxidant activity. The increase of agave fructans in the encapsulated powders caused a significant increase (
< 0.05) in the humidity, water activity (a
), pH, bulk density, water solubility index (WSI), and color
* values. On the contrary, the agave fructan addition decreased the hygroscopicity, water absorption index (WAI), antioxidant activity, total anthocyanin, total polyphenol, and individual anthocyanin contents. The encapsulation of blue corn extract with 6% agave fructans (
/
) resulted in good physical, thermal, morphological, and high antioxidant properties. The results suggest that the use of agave fructans as wall material represents advantages in the conservation of anthocyanins and other bioactive compounds from blue corn extract during their encapsulation. The application of blue corn anthocyanin encapsulated powders as a food ingredient is promising for food pigmentation, representing additional advantages for their contribution as a soluble fiber that can benefit the health of consumers.
Abstract
Objectives
To determine cardiovascular (CV) mortality and incidence of the first CV event (CVE) in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases (CIRD) after 5 years of follow-up.
...Methods
This is an analysis of the CARdiovascular in rheMAatology (CARMA) study after 5 years of follow-up. It includes patients with RA (n = 775), AS (n = 738) and PsA (n = 721), and individuals without CIRD (n = 677) attending outpatient rheumatology clinics from 67 public hospitals in Spain. Descriptive analyses were performed for the CV mortality at 5 years. The Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) function at 5 years was calculated to determine the expected risk of CV mortality. Poisson models were used to estimate the incidence rates of the first CVE. Hazard ratios of the risk factors involved in the development of the first CVE were evaluated using the Weibull proportional hazard model.
Results
Overall, 2382 subjects completed the follow-up visit at 5 years. Fifteen patients died due to CVE. CV deaths observed in the CIRD cohort were lower than that predicted by SCORE risk charts. The highest incidence rate of CVE 7.39 cases per 1000 person-years (95% CI 4.63, 11.18) was found in PsA patients. However, after adjusting for age, sex and CV risk factors, AS was the inflammatory disease more commonly associated with CVE at 5 years hazard ratio 4.60 (P =0.02), compared with those without CIRD.
Conclusions
Cardiovascular mortality in patients with CIRD at 5 years of follow-up is lower than estimated. Patients with AS have a higher risk of developing a first CVE after 5 years of follow-up.
•Ultrasound treatment increased the extraction of water soluble carbohydrates from agave.•Ultrasound treatment at low temperatures resulted in significant fructan extraction.•Thermal and ultrasound ...treatment caused agave cell-wall disruption.•Mass transfer parameters were increased mainly by the sonication treatment.•A general model to predict the fructans ultrasound-assisted extraction was developed.
The effect of ultrasound power and temperature on the extraction of carbohydrates from agave was evaluated. Extraction kinetics of fructans (F), total carbohydrates (TC) and reducing sugars (RS) were obtained at different ultrasound powers (28–49mW/mL) and temperatures (20–40°C). The mass transfer coefficients of F, TC and RS were calculated and a model using the production functions of Cobb–Douglas was developed. Microstructural analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of ultrasound and temperature on carbohydrates extraction. Ultrasound and temperature had impact on F, TC and RS extractions. After 5min, no increases in carbohydrates content were observed, showing an asymptotic tendency. Results showed a strong sonication effect in carbohydrate extraction at any extraction temperature. The maximum F, TC and RS contents were 7.2, 7.79 and 0.54g/100gd.m., respectively, at 49mW/mL and 40°C. The fructans volumetric mass transfer coefficients ranged from 0.0585±4.2×10−4 to 0.0834±12.51×10−4s−1 (R2=0.86–0.92). An overall model was developed based on the Cobb–Douglas function, which was adjusted adequately to estimate the fructans extraction assisted with ultrasound (R2=0.954). Tissue structural changes were present due to cell-wall modifications and breakdowns of sonicated agave samples, which have enhanced the carbohydrates extraction.
Epidemiology supports the important role of nutrition in prostate cancer (PCa) prevention. Pomegranate juice (PJ) exerts protective effects against PCa, mainly attributed to PJ ellagitannins (ETs). ...Our aim was to assess whether ETs or their metabolites ellagic acid and urolithins reach the human prostate upon consumption of ET-rich foods and to evaluate the effect on the expression of three proliferation biomarkers. Sixty-three patients with BPH or PCa were divided into controls and consumers of walnuts (35 g walnuts/day) or pomegranate (200 mL PJ/day) for 3 days before surgery. Independently of the ETs source, the main metabolite detected was urolithin A glucuronide, (3,8-dihydroxy-6H-dibenzob,dpyran-6-one glucuronide) (up to 2 ng/g) together with the traces of urolithin B glucuronide, (3-hydroxy-6H-dibenzob,dpyran-6-one glucuronide) and dimethyl ellagic acid. The small number of prostates containing metabolites was likely caused by clearance of the compounds during the fasting. This was corroborated in a parallel rat study and thus the presence of higher quantities of metabolites at earlier time points cannot be discarded. No apparent changes in the expression of CDKN1A, MKi-67 or c-Myc were found after consumption of the walnuts or PJ. Our results suggest that urolithin glucuronides and dimethyl ellagic acid may be the molecules responsible for the beneficial effects of PJ against PCa.
The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) in ischaemic stroke patients followed for 2 yrs. Stroke patients with an apnoea-hypopnoea ...index ≥ 20 events·h⁻¹ were randomised to early nCPAP (n = 71; 3-6 days after stroke onset) or conventional treatment (n = 69). The Barthel Index, Canadian Scale, Rankin Scale and Short Form-36 were measured at baseline, and at 1, 3, 12 and 24 months. The percentage of patients with neurological improvement 1 month after stroke was significantly higher in the nCPAP group (Rankin scale 90.9 versus 56.3% (p < 0.01); Canadian scale 88.2 versus 72.7% (p < 0.05)). The mean time until the appearance of cardiovascular events was longer in the nCPAP group (14.9 versus 7.9 months; p = 0.044), although cardiovascular event-free survival after 24 months was similar in both groups. The cardiovascular mortality rate was 0% in the nCPAP group and 4.3% in the control group (p = 0.161). Early use of nCPAP seems to accelerate neurological recovery and to delay the appearance of cardiovascular events, although an improvement in patients' survival or quality of life was not shown.
Context.
The accurate classification of hundreds of thousands of galaxies observed in modern deep surveys is imperative if we want to understand the universe and its evolution.
Aims.
Here, we report ...the use of machine learning techniques to classify early- and late-type galaxies in the OTELO and COSMOS databases using optical and infrared photometry and available shape parameters: either the Sérsic index or the concentration index.
Methods.
We used three classification methods for the OTELO database: (1)
u
−
r
color separation, (2) linear discriminant analysis using
u
−
r
and a shape parameter classification, and (3) a deep neural network using the
r
magnitude, several colors, and a shape parameter. We analyzed the performance of each method by sample bootstrapping and tested the performance of our neural network architecture using COSMOS data.
Results.
The accuracy achieved by the deep neural network is greater than that of the other classification methods, and it can also operate with missing data. Our neural network architecture is able to classify both OTELO and COSMOS datasets regardless of small differences in the photometric bands used in each catalog.
Conclusions.
In this study we show that the use of deep neural networks is a robust method to mine the cataloged data.
Arboviral diseases transmitted by Aedes species mosquitoes pose an increasing public health challenge in tropical regions. Wolbachia-mediated population suppression (Wolbachia suppression) is a ...vector control method used to reduce Aedes mosquito populations by introducing male mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia, a naturally occurring endosymbiotic bacterium. When Wolbachia-infected male mosquitoes mate with female wild mosquitoes, the resulting eggs will not hatch. Public support is vital to the successful implementation and sustainability of vector control interventions. Communities Organized to Prevent Arboviruses (COPA) is a cohort study to determine the incidence of arboviral disease in Ponce, Puerto Rico and evaluate vector control methods. Focus groups were conducted with residents of COPA communities to gather their opinion on vector control methods; during 2018-2019, adult COPA participants were interviewed regarding their views on Wolbachia suppression; and a follow-up questionnaire was conducted among a subset of participants and non-participants residing in COPA communities. We analyzed factors associated with support for this method. Among 1,528 participants in the baseline survey, median age was 37 years and 63% were female. A total of 1,032 (68%) respondents supported Wolbachia suppression. Respondents with an income of $40,000 or more were 1.34 times as likely 95% CI: 1.03, 1.37 to support Wolbachia suppression than those who earned less than $40,000 annually. Respondents who reported repellant use were 1.19 times as likely to support Wolbachia suppression 95% CI: 1.03, 1.37. A follow-up survey in 2020 showed that most COPA participants (86%) and non-participants living in COPA communities (84%) supported Wolbachia suppression during and after an educational campaign. The most frequent questions regarding this method were related to its impact on human and animal health, and the environment. Continuous community engagement and education efforts before and during the implementation of novel vector control interventions are necessary to increase and maintain community support.
Whether the use of high-flow nasal oxygen in adult patients with COVID-19 associated acute respiratory failure improves clinically relevant outcomes remains unclear. We thus sought to assess the ...effect of high-flow nasal oxygen on ventilator-free days, compared to early initiation of invasive mechanical ventilation, on adult patients with COVID-19.
We conducted a multicentre cohort study using a prospectively collected database of patients with COVID-19 associated acute respiratory failure admitted to 36 Spanish and Andorran intensive care units (ICUs). Main exposure was the use of high-flow nasal oxygen (conservative group), while early invasive mechanical ventilation (within the first day of ICU admission; early intubation group) served as the comparator. The primary outcome was ventilator-free days at 28 days. ICU length of stay and all-cause in-hospital mortality served as secondary outcomes. We used propensity score matching to adjust for measured confounding.
Out of 468 eligible patients, a total of 122 matched patients were included in the present analysis (61 for each group). When compared to early intubation, the use of high-flow nasal oxygen was associated with an increase in ventilator-free days (mean difference: 8.0 days; 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.4 to 11.7 days) and a reduction in ICU length of stay (mean difference: - 8.2 days; 95% CI - 12.7 to - 3.6 days). No difference was observed in all-cause in-hospital mortality between groups (odds ratio: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.25 to 1.64).
The use of high-flow nasal oxygen upon ICU admission in adult patients with COVID-19 related acute hypoxemic respiratory failure may lead to an increase in ventilator-free days and a reduction in ICU length of stay, when compared to early initiation of invasive mechanical ventilation. Future studies should confirm our findings.
Comparative studies of colorectal cancer (CRC) according to the age of onset have found differences between early-onset CRC (EOCRC) and late-onset CRC (LOCRC). Using this as a starting point, we ...wished to determine whether intermediate-onset CRC (IOCRC) might also be considered as an independent group within CRC. We performed a retrospective comparative study of the clinicopathological and familial features, as well as of the symptoms and their duration, of a total of 272 subjects diagnosed with CRC classified into three groups according to the age-of-onset (98 EOCRC, 83 IOCRC and 91 LOCRC). The results show that from a clinicopathological point of view, IOCRC shared certain features with EOCRC (gender, prognosis), and with LOCRC (multiple primary CRCs), whereas it also had characteristics that were specific for IOCRC (mean number of associated polyps). A gradual progression was observed from EOCRC to LOCRC from a greater family aggregation to sporadic cases, in parallel with a change of Lynch Syndrome cases to the sporadic microsatellite instability pathway, with the IOCRC being a boundary group that is more related to EOCRC. With respect to symptoms, duration and correlation with stages, IOCRC appeared more similar to EOCRC. Clinically, IOCRC behaves as a transitional group between EOCRC and LOCRC, with features in common with both groups, but also with IOCRC-specific features. Excluding cases with familial cancer history, the awareness for EOCRC diagnosis should be extended to IOCRC.
Current guidelines recommend against systematic screening or treating asymptomatic bacteriuria (AB) among kidney transplant (KT) recipients, although the evidence regarding episodes occurring early ...after transplantation or in the presence of anatomical abnormalities is inconclusive. Oral fosfomycin may constitute a good option for the treatment of post-transplant AB, particularly due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) uropathogens. Available clinical evidence supporting its use in this specific setting, however, remains scarce. We performed a retrospective study in 14 Spanish institutions from January 2005 to December 2017. Overall, 137 episodes of AB diagnosed in 133 KT recipients treated with oral fosfomycin (calcium and trometamol salts) with a test-of-cure urine culture within the first 30 days were included. Median time from transplantation to diagnosis was 3.1 months (interquartile range IQR: 1.1 - 10.5). Most episodes (96.4% 132/137) were caused by gram-negative bacteria (GNB), and 56.9% (78/137) were categorized as MDR (extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing
20.4% and carbapenem-resistant GNB 2.9%). Rate of microbiological failure at month 1 was 40.1% (95% confidence interval 95%CI: 31.9 - 48.9) for the whole cohort and 42.3% (95%CI: 31.2 - 54.0) for episodes due to MDR pathogens. Previous urinary tract infection (odds ratio OR: 2.42; 95%CI: 1.11 - 5.29;
-value = 0.027) and use of fosfomycin as salvage therapy (OR: 8.31; 95%CI: 1.67 - 41.35;
-value = 0.010) were predictors of microbiological failure. No severe treatment-related adverse event were detected. Oral fosfomycin appears to be a suitable and safe alternative for the treatment (if indicated) of AB after KT, including those episodes due to MDR uropathogens.
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