Summary
Camellia sinensis var. shan is a special tea variety in Vietnam that is in high demand, especially its fermented products. This study compared the total polyphenol content (TPC), antioxidant ...activity, cytotoxicity, and microbiome of a green Shan tea and a five‐year‐old fermented Shan tea. Folin–Ciocalteu, DPPH and SRB assays were used for TPC, antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity evaluation. The isolated microbes were morphologically and molecularly identified. The TPC (126.59 mg g−1) and antioxidant activity (IC50 of 284.82 μg mL−1) of the green tea were significantly higher than those of the fermented tea. However, the latter showed a significantly higher cytotoxicity against liver cancer cells (inhibiting 73.84% cells at 1 mg mL−1). Notably, the green tea had a negligible number of microbes, but the fermented tea had a much richer microbiome with Aspergillus restrictus (4.7 × 104 CFU g−1), A. ruber (1.76 × 103 CFU g−1), A. pseudoglaucus (1.32 × 103 CFU g−1), A. cibarius (8.8 × 102 CFU g−1), Bacillus cereus (1.13 × 104 CFU g−1), Peribacillus frigoritolerans (4.0 × 102 CFU g−1) and B. amyloliquefaciens (2.0 × 102 CFU g−1) present. These microbes are either harmless or beneficial, except for B. cereus (can cause food poisoning at >106 CFU g−1). The fermented tea would appear to have some advantages over the green tea. However, the presence and density of B. cereus should be monitored.
The fermented tea would appear to have some advantages over the green tea. However, the presence and density of B. cereus should be monitored.
We examined factors associated with health literacy among elders with and without suspected COVID-19 symptoms (S-COVID-19-S).
A cross-sectional study was conducted at outpatient departments of nine ...hospitals and health centers 14 February-2 March 2020. Self-administered questionnaires were used to assess patient characteristics, health literacy, clinical information, health-related behaviors, and depression. A sample of 928 participants aged 60-85 years were analyzed.
The proportion of people with S-COVID-19-S and depression were 48.3 and 13.4%, respectively. The determinants of health literacy in groups with and without S-COVID-19-S were age, gender, education, ability to pay for medication, and social status. In people with S-COVID-19-S, one-score increment of health literacy was associated with 8% higher healthy eating likelihood (odds ratio, OR, 1.08; 95% confidence interval, 95%CI, 1.04, 1.13;
< 0.001), 4% higher physical activity likelihood (OR, 1.04; 95%CI, 1.01, 1.08,
= 0.023), and 9% lower depression likelihood (OR, 0.90; 95%CI, 0.87, 0.94;
< 0.001). These associations were not found in people without S-COVID-19-S.
The older people with higher health literacy were less likely to have depression and had healthier behaviors in the group with S-COVD-19-S. Potential health literacy interventions are suggested to promote healthy behaviors and improve mental health outcomes to lessen the pandemic's damage in this age group.
To design safe and electrochemically stable electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries, this study describes the synthesis and the utilization of new deep eutectic solvents (DESs) based on the mixture of ...2,2,2-trifluoroacetamide (TFA) with a lithium salt (LiTFSI, lithium bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonylimide). These prepared DESs were characterized in terms of thermal properties, ionic conductivity, viscosity, and electrochemical properties. Based on the appearance of the product and DSC measurements, it appears that this system is liquid at room temperature for LiTFSI mole fraction ranging from 0.25 to 0.5. At χLiTFSI = 0.25, DESs exhibited favorable electrolyte properties, such as thermal stability (up to 148 °C), relatively low viscosity (42.2 mPa.s at 30 °C), high ionic conductivity (1.5 mS.cm–1 at 30 °C), and quite large electrochemical stability window up to 4.9–5.3 V. With these interesting properties, selected DES was diluted with slight amount of ethylene carbonate (EC). Different amounts of EC (x = 0–30 %wt) were used to form hybrid electrolytes for battery testing with high voltage LiMn2O4 cathode and Li anode. The addition of the EC solvent into DES expectedly aims at enhancing the battery cycling performance at room temperature due to reducing the viscosity. Preliminary results tests clearly show that LiTFSI-based DES can be successfully introduced as an electrolyte in the lithium-ion batteries cell with a LiMn2O4 cathode material. Among all of the studied electrolytes, DES (LiTFSI: TFA = 4:1 + 10 %wt EC) is the most promising. The EC-based system exhibited a good specific capacity of 102 mAh.g–1 at C/10 with the theoretical capacity of 148 mAh.g–1 and a good cycling behavior maintaining at 84% after 50 cycles.
The working principle of the electrochemical softening process was studied at the laboratory scale in order to get a better understanding and to optimize the construction and the efficiency of ...industrial electrolysers. For this purpose pure calco carbonic synthetic waters with well defined hardness or distribution water from Paris were used. By using a local pH sensor, it was shown that the increase of the pH in the very vicinity of the cathode induces the precipitation of the calcium carbonate on the plate, in a first step under the effect of the oxygen reduction, and after that by water reduction associated with hydrogen evolution. The local pH can reach values greater than 10. The morphology and the crystal form (calcite, vaterite and/or aragonite) of the deposits were identified by scanning or transmission electron microscopy and by X ray diffraction. It was shown that, at the beginning of the treatment, vaterite and calcite crystals form a compact layer. In galvanostatic conditions, the decrease of the active area by deposition of the insulating scale leads to an increase of the local current density and then, to the transition towards the electrolytic water reduction regime. Adendritic growth of the calcium carbonate forming a porous layer through which hydrogen diffuses easily is observed.
An investigation carried out on a model scale electrolyser showed the influence of various operating parameters such as current intensity, time of treatment etc. on the efficiency of the device. This electrochemical process is also able to eliminate partially various other species like magnesium.
The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a new regional anaesthesia technique that provides analgesia after abdominal surgery. It involves injection of local anaesthetic into the plane between ...the transversus abdominis and the internal oblique muscles. The TAP block can be performed using a landmark technique through the lumbar triangle or with ultrasound guidance. The goal of this anatomical study with dye injection into the TAP and subsequent cadaver dissections was to establish the likely spread of local anaesthesia in vivo and the segmental nerve involvement resulting from ultrasound-guided TAP block.
An ultrasound-guided injection of aniline dye into the TAP was performed for each hemi-abdominal wall of 10 unembalmed human cadavers and this was followed by dissection to determine the extent of dye spread and nerve involvement in the dye injection.
After excluding one pilot specimen and one with advanced tissue decomposition, 16 hemi-abdominal walls were successfully injected and dissected. The lower thoracic nerves (T10–T12) and first lumbar nerve (L1) were found emerging from posterior to anterior between the costal margin and the iliac crest. Segmental nerves T10, T11, T12, and L1 were involved in the dye in 50%, 100%, 100%, and 93% of cases, respectively.
This anatomical study shows that an ultrasound-guided TAP injection cephalad to the iliac crest is likely to involve the T10–L1 nerve roots, and implies that the technique may be limited to use in lower abdominal surgery.
and
produced significant amounts of water-insoluble melanins, and our previous study successfully enhanced their water solubility by arginine modification. This research aimed to investigate the ...anti-ultraviolet, antibacterial, and biofilm eradication activities of both the melanins and arginine-modified melanin (melanin derivatives) from these two fungi against an acne-causing bacterium (
). Apart from these, the cytotoxicity of the melanins and melanin derivatives on human skin cells was also evaluated. Melanin derivatives of both two fungi showed significantly higher antibacterial and biofilm eradication activities compared with their original forms. Specifically, the MIC
values of the melanin derivatives (1,000 μg/mL) are the same as those of erythromycin. Regarding biofilm eradication capacity, the MBEC
value of
melanin derivative (250 μg/mL) was just half of both erythromycin and
melanin derivative. However, it required a 2-fold higher concentration of melanin derivatives than erythromycin to inhibit 90% of the bacterial population and eradicate 90% of their biofilm. Regarding anti-ultraviolet activity, blending melanins or melanin derivatives with a moisturizer/sunscreen enhanced their UV light absorption and the sun protection factor (SPF) values. In addition, melanins showed better effects than their derivatives, and those of
were better than
. Remarkably, adding
melanin (10%) to a Nivea pure cream could turn this cream into a broad-spectrum sunscreen, with its SPF value and critical wavelength increasing from 7.74 and 338.67 to 14.02 and 377.0, respectively. In addition, adding melanin or a melanin derivative of
to an Olay sunscreen enhanced the SPF and the critical wavelength of the sunscreen from 17.25 and 371.67 to 23.82 and 374 and 23.38 and 372, respectively. Notably, melanins and melanin derivatives showed no toxicity in human fibroblasts. The obtained data suggest that arginine modification significantly enhanced the antibacterial and biofilm eradication activities of melanins from
and
. However, this is not the case when it comes to their anti-ultraviolet activities. In addition, melanin and melanin derivatives from
are potential candidates for anti-acne sunscreen products and are worth further investigation.
Repeated bolus injections are associated with higher costs and poor compliance and can hinder the implementation of global immunization campaigns. Here, we report the development and preclinical ...testing of patches of transdermal core-shell microneedles-which were fabricated by the micromoulding and alignment of vaccine cores and shells made from poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) with varying degradability kinetics-for the preprogrammed burst release of vaccine payloads over a period of a few days to more than a month from a single administration. In rats, microneedles loaded with a clinically available vaccine (Prevnar-13) against the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae induced immune responses that were similar to immune responses observed after multiple subcutaneous bolus injections, and led to immune protection against a lethal bacterial dose. Microneedle patches delivering preprogrammed doses may offer an alternative strategy to prophylactic and therapeutic protocols that require multiple injections.
Purpose
Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are potential diagnostic biomarkers for breast cancer (BC). The application of miRNA panels could improve the performance of screening tests. Here, we ...integrated bioinformatic tools and meta-analyses to select circulating miRNAs with high diagnostic accuracy and combined these markers to develop diagnostic panels for BC.
Methods
Analyses across databases were performed to identify potential BC-related circulating miRNAs. Next, a comprehensive meta-analysis was conducted for each miRNA following the PRISMA guidelines. An electronic and manual search for relevant literature was carried out by two reviewers through PubMed, ScienceDirect, Biomed Central, and Google Scholar. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the QUADAS-2, and the statistical analyses were performed using R software 4.1.1. Finally, the accurate biomarkers confirmed through meta-analyses were combined into diagnostic models for BC.
Results
Twenty-seven circulating miRNAs were identified as BC-related by bioinformatic tools. After screening, only 10 miRNAs presented in 45 studies were eligible for meta-analyses. By assessing pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio, 8 miRNAs (miR-21, miR-30b, miR-125b, miR-145, miR221 miR-222, and miR-335) were revealed as promising BC diagnostic biomarkers. Two panels constructed from these miRNAs showed excellent diagnostic accuracy for BC, with areas under the SROC curve of 0.917 and 0.944.
Conclusion
We identified 8 potential circulating miRNAs and 2 diagnostic models that are useful for diagnosing BC. However, the established miRNA panels have not been tested in any experimental studies and thus should be validated in large case–control studies for clinical use.
Piezoelectric materials, a type of “smart” material that generates electricity while deforming and vice versa, have been used extensively for many important implantable medical devices such as ...sensors, transducers, and actuators. However, commonly utilized piezoelectric materials are either toxic or nondegradable. Thus, implanted devices employing these materials raise a significant concern in terms of safety issues and often require an invasive removal surgery, which can damage directly interfaced tissues/organs. Here, we present a strategy for materials processing, device assembly, and electronic integration to 1) create biodegradable and biocompatible piezoelectric PLLA poly(L-lactic acid) nanofibers with a highly controllable, efficient, and stable piezoelectric performance, and 2) demonstrate device applications of this nanomaterial, including a highly sensitive biodegradable pressure sensor for monitoring vital physiological pressures and a biodegradable ultrasonic transducer for blood–brain barrier opening that can be used to facilitate the delivery of drugs into the brain. These significant applications, which have not been achieved so far by conventional piezoelectric materials and bulk piezoelectric PLLA, demonstrate the PLLA nanofibers as a powerful material platform that offers a profound impact on various medical fields including drug delivery, tissue engineering, and implanted medical devices.
Pineapple is an economically significant plant and the third most important fruit crop in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. In this study, fermentation of pineapple juice with ...probiotic bacteria
and
strains as well as changes of some properties in the beverage during storage were investigated. All tested strains exhibited good growth properties on pineapple juice without supplementation of any nutrient compounds. After 24 h fermentation, the cell counts of lactobacilli passed the level of 5
10
cfu/ml, while the cell number of bifidobacteria reached a level of 10
cfu/ml. The highest volumetric productivity (3.5
10
cfu/ml
h) was observed in
299V. The ratios of lactic acids to acetic acids in the cases of
299V and
La5 were 5.37 and 9.91, respectively. In the case of
Bb-12, the concentrations of lactic acid and acetic acid were 6 mM and 23 mM in natural juices, and 15 and 21 mM in the case of supplementation with prebiotics at the 16
h of fermentation, respectively. Additionally, supplementation with prebiotics at the initiation of fermentation resulted 7 mM lactic acid and 23 mM acetic acid at the end of fermentation. Fructose was the most preferred sugar for both lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. Both total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity increased slightly during fermentation and dropped during the storage period. The microbial population did not change significantly during the first month of storage. After the storage period (2 months), the probiotic bacteria lost about 0.11 log cfu/ml viability after treatment with 0.3% pepsin for 135 min, and a further 0.1 log cfu/ml after treatment with 0.6% bile salts. These values were 10 times higher than data from the fresh fermented pineapple juice. Our results are very promising and may serve as a good base for developing probiotic pineapple juice.
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