Limonene, mainly found as a major component in
spp., has been proven to possess a valuable potential as sustainable replacement to synthetic pesticides and food preservatives. This review intends to ...give a clear overview of the principal emerging applications of limonene in the agri-food industry as antimicrobial, herbicidal and antioxidant agent. To successfully use limonene in a greener agri-food industry, its preservation had become a top concern for manufacturers. In order to elucidate the most efficient and sustainable manner to encapsulate limonene, the different techniques and materials tested up to the present are also reviewed. In general, encapsulation conserves and protects limonene from outside aggressions, but also allows its controlled release as well as enhances its low water solubility, which can be critical for the discussed applications. Other parameters such as scalability, low cost and availability of equipment will need to be taken into account. Further efforts would likely be oriented to the elucidation of encapsulating sustainable systems obtained by cost-efficient elaboration processes, which can deliver effective concentrations of limonene without affecting crops and food products.
Abstract
Motivation
Low back pain is responsible for more global disability than any other condition. Its incidence is closely related to intervertebral disc (IVD) failure, which is likely caused by ...an accumulation of microtrauma within the IVD. Crucial factors in microtrauma development are not entirely known yet, probably because their exploration in vivo or in vitro remains tremendously challenging. In silico modelling is, therefore, definitively appealing, and shall include approaches to integrate influences of multiple cell stimuli at the microscale. Accordingly, this study introduces a hybrid Agent-based (AB) model in IVD research and exploits network modelling solutions in systems biology to mimic the cellular behaviour of Nucleus Pulposus cells exposed to a 3D multifactorial biochemical environment, based on mathematical integrations of existing experimental knowledge. Cellular activity reflected by mRNA expression of Aggrecan, Collagen type I, Collagen type II, MMP-3 and ADAMTS were calculated for inflamed and non-inflamed cells. mRNA expression over long periods of time is additionally determined including cell viability estimations. Model predictions were eventually validated with independent experimental data.
Results
As it combines experimental data to simulate cell behaviour exposed to a multifactorial environment, the present methodology was able to reproduce cell death within 3 days under glucose deprivation and a 50% decrease in cell viability after 7 days in an acidic environment. Cellular mRNA expression under non-inflamed conditions simulated a quantifiable catabolic shift under an adverse cell environment, and model predictions of mRNA expression of inflamed cells provide new explanation possibilities for unexpected results achieved in experimental research.
Availabilityand implementation
The AB model as well as used mathematical functions were built with open source software. Final functions implemented in the AB model and complete AB model parameters are provided as Supplementary Material. Experimental input and validation data were provided through referenced, published papers. The code corresponding to the model can be shared upon request and shall be reused after proper training.
Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Aims
Endurance athletes develop cardiac remodeling to cope with increased cardiac output during exercise. This remodeling is both anatomical and functional and shows large interindividual ...variability. In this study, we quantify local geometric ventricular remodeling related to long-standing endurance training and assess its relationship with cardiovascular performance during exercise.
Methods
We extracted 3D models of the biventricular shape from end-diastolic cine magnetic resonance images acquired from a cohort of 89 triathlon athletes and 77 healthy sedentary subjects. Additionally, the athletes underwent cardio-pulmonary exercise testing, together with an echocardiographic study at baseline and few minutes after maximal exercise. We used statistical shape analysis to identify regional bi-ventricular shape differences between athletes and non-athletes.
Results
The ventricular shape was significantly different between athletes and controls (
p
< 1e−6). The observed regional remodeling in the right heart was mainly a shift of the right ventricle (RV) volume distribution towards the right ventricular infundibulum, increasing the overall right ventricular volume. In the left heart, there was an increment of left ventricular mass and a dilation of the left ventricle. Within athletes, the amount of such remodeling was independently associated to higher peak oxygen pulse (
p
< 0.001) and weakly with greater post-exercise RV free wall longitudinal strain (
p
= 0.03).
Conclusions
We were able to identify specific bi-ventricular regional remodeling induced by long-lasting endurance training. The amount of remodeling was associated with better cardiopulmonary performance during an exercise test.
Stress affects brain function, and may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Considerable empirical data for the neurobiology of PTSD has been derived from neuroimaging studies, although ...findings have proven inconsistent. We used an activation likelihood estimation analysis to explore differences in brain activity between adults with and without PTSD in response to affective stimuli. We separated studies by type of control group: trauma-exposed and trauma-naïve. This revealed distinct patterns of differences in functional activity. Compared to trauma-exposed controls, regions of the basal ganglia were differentially active in PTSD; whereas the comparison with trauma-naïve controls revealed differential involvement in the right anterior insula, precuneus, cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices known to be involved in emotional regulation. Changes in activity in the amygdala and parahippocampal cortex distinguished PTSD from both control groups. Results suggest that trauma has a measurable, enduring effect upon the functional dynamics of the brain, even in individuals who experience trauma but do not develop PTSD. These findings contribute to the understanding of whole-brain network activity following trauma, and its transition to clinical PTSD.
United States regulations require a history and physical (H&P) ≤30 days before planned procedures. We evaluated the impact of H&P update visits in colorectal surgery.
Preoperative H&P update visits ...conducted in colorectal clinics at our institution during 2019 were identified. Two independent reviewers assessed whether update visits identified interval changes to history, exam, or operative plan. Secondary outcomes included visit times, estimated travel times and distances.
For 132 visits, interval changes were identified in 39% of histories, but only 4.2% of exams and 6.8% of operative plans. When plans changed, visit goals could have been accomplished via telehealth in 77.8%. Median clinic and round-trip driving time were 61.5 and 62.2 min, respectively.
H&P update visits conducted to satisfy the 30-day regulation rarely result in clinically relevant changes yet impose time and travel burdens on patients. Regulations should be revised to provide flexibility in H&P update modalities.
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•Federal regulations require a history and physical within 30 days of surgery.•Patients therefore often return to clinic for a history and physical update visit.•In colorectal surgery, update visits rarely result in clinically relevant changes.•Update visits also impose time and travel burdens on patients and practices.•Regulations should be revised to provide flexibility in update timing and modality.
Focusing on high-value delivery of health care, we describe our implementation of telephone postoperative visits as alternatives to in-person follow-up after routine, low-risk surgery in an urban ...setting. Our pilot program assessed telephone postoperative visit feasibility as well as patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes.
We offered telephone postoperative visits to all clinically eligible, in-state patients scheduled for appropriate low-risk operations. An advanced practitioner conducted the telephone postoperative visit within 2 weeks of the operation and discharged patients from routine follow-up if recovery was satisfactory. We reviewed the medical records to identify encounters and adverse events in the 30-day postoperative period.
Telephone postoperative visits were opted for by 92/94 (98%) clinically eligible, in-state patients. Most patients cited convenience (55%), travel (34%), and time (22%) as their main motivations. The average patient opting in was 55 ± 16 years old (range 23–88, 8% > 65) and lived 22 ± 26 miles from our clinic (range 0.9–124). Of 50 patients completing telephone postoperative visits, 48 (96%, 2 were not asked) were satisfied with the telephone postoperative visit as their sole postoperative visit, 44 (88%) of whom required no additional follow-up. On average, telephone postoperative visits lasted 8.6 ± 3.9 minutes, compared with the 82.8 ± 33.4 minutes for preintervention, postoperative visit time. Adding travel times, we estimate each patient saved an average of 139–199 minutes or 94–96% of the time they would have spent coming to clinic. No instances of major morbidity or mortality were identified on chart review.
Many patients find telephone postoperative visits more convenient than in-clinic visits. Moreover, estimates of time saved are compelling. Amid changing regulations and reimbursement, our findings support the growing use of telehealth for postoperative care of routine, low risk operations.
The ionization degree, charge density, and conformation of weak polyelectrolytes can be adjusted through adjusting the pH and ionic strength stimuli. Such polymers thus offer a range of reversible ...interactions, including electrostatic complexation, H-bonding, and hydrophobic interactions, which position weak polyelectrolytes as key nano-units for the design of dynamic systems with precise structures, compositions, and responses to stimuli. The purpose of this review article is to discuss recent examples of nanoarchitectonic systems and applications that use weak polyelectrolytes as smart components. Surface platforms (electrodeposited films, brushes), multilayers (coatings and capsules), processed polyelectrolyte complexes (gels and membranes), and pharmaceutical vectors from both synthetic or natural-type weak polyelectrolytes are discussed. Finally, the increasing significance of block copolymers with weak polyion blocks is discussed with respect to the design of nanovectors by micellization and film/membrane nanopatterning via phase separation.
Terrestrial ecosystems in the humid tropics play a potentially important but presently ambiguous role in the global carbon cycle. Whereas global estimates of atmospheric CO2 exchange indicate that ...the tropics are near equilibrium or are a source with respect to carbon, ground-based estimates indicate that the amount of carbon that is being absorbed by mature rainforests is similar to or greater than that being released by tropical deforestation (about 1.6 Gt C yr-1). Estimates of the magnitude of carbon sequestration are uncertain, however, depending on whether they are derived from measurements of gas fluxes above forests or of biomass accumulation in vegetation and soils. It is also possible that methodological errors may overestimate rates of carbon uptake or that other loss processes have yet to be identified. Here we demonstrate that outgassing (evasion) of CO2 from rivers and wetlands of the central Amazon basin constitutes an important carbon loss process, equal to 1.2 +/- 0.3 Mg C ha-1 yr-1. This carbon probably originates from organic matter transported from upland and flooded forests, which is then respired and outgassed downstream. Extrapolated across the entire basin, this flux-at 0.5 Gt C yr-1-is an order of magnitude greater than fluvial export of organic carbon to the ocean. From these findings, we suggest that the overall carbon budget of rainforests, summed across terrestrial and aquatic environments, appears closer to being in balance than would be inferred from studies of uplands alone.
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