The concept of a biorefinery that integrates processes and technologies for biomass conversion demands efficient utilization of all components. Hydrothermal processing is a potential clean technology ...to convert raw materials such as lignocellulosic materials and aquatic biomass into bioenergy and high added-value chemicals. In this technology, water at high temperatures and pressures is applied for hydrolysis, extraction and structural modification of materials. This review is focused on providing an updated overview on the fundamentals, modelling, separation and applications of the main components of lignocellulosic materials and conversion of aquatic biomass (macro- and micro- algae) into value-added products.
: Inflammation is a physiological response to aggression of pathogenic agents aimed at eliminating the aggressor agent and promoting healing. Excessive inflammation, however, may contribute to tissue ...damage and an alteration of arterial structure and function. Increased arterial stiffness is a well recognized cardiovascular risk factor independent of blood pressure levels and an intermediate endpoint for cardiovascular events. In the present review, we discuss immune-mediated mechanisms by which inflammation can influence arterial physiology and lead to vascular dysfunction such as atherosclerosis and arterial stiffening. We also show that acute inflammation predisposes the vasculature to arterial dysfunction and stiffening, and alteration of endothelial function and that chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis are accompanied by profound arterial dysfunction which is proportional to the severity of inflammation. Current findings suggest that treatment of inflammation by targeted drugs leads to regression of arterial dysfunction. There is hope that these treatments will improve outcomes for patients.
The efficacy of vitamin D3 supplementation in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains unclear.
To investigate the effect of a single high dose of vitamin D3 on hospital length of stay in patients ...with COVID-19.
This was a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted in 2 sites in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The study included 240 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who were moderately to severely ill at the time of enrollment from June 2, 2020, to August 27, 2020. The final follow-up was on October 7, 2020.
Patients were randomly assigned to receive a single oral dose of 200 000 IU of vitamin D3 (n = 120) or placebo (n = 120).
The primary outcome was length of stay, defined as the time from the date of randomization to hospital discharge. Prespecified secondary outcomes included mortality during hospitalization; the number of patients admitted to the intensive care unit; the number of patients who required mechanical ventilation and the duration of mechanical ventilation; and serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, total calcium, creatinine, and C-reactive protein.
Of 240 randomized patients, 237 were included in the primary analysis (mean SD age, 56.2 14.4 years; 104 43.9% women; mean SD baseline 25-hydroxyvitamin D level, 20.9 9.2 ng/mL). Median (interquartile range) length of stay was not significantly different between the vitamin D3 (7.0 4.0-10.0 days) and placebo groups (7.0 5.0-13.0 days) (log-rank P = .59; unadjusted hazard ratio for hospital discharge, 1.07 95% CI, 0.82-1.39; P = .62). The difference between the vitamin D3 group and the placebo group was not significant for in-hospital mortality (7.6% vs 5.1%; difference, 2.5% 95% CI, -4.1% to 9.2%; P = .43), admission to the intensive care unit (16.0% vs 21.2%; difference, -5.2% 95% CI, -15.1% to 4.7%; P = .30), or need for mechanical ventilation (7.6% vs 14.4%; difference, -6.8% 95% CI, -15.1% to 1.2%; P = .09). Mean serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D significantly increased after a single dose of vitamin D3 vs placebo (44.4 ng/mL vs 19.8 ng/mL; difference, 24.1 ng/mL 95% CI, 19.5-28.7; P < .001). There were no adverse events, but an episode of vomiting was associated with the intervention.
Among hospitalized patients with COVID-19, a single high dose of vitamin D3, compared with placebo, did not significantly reduce hospital length of stay. The findings do not support the use of a high dose of vitamin D3 for treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04449718.
The eye and the heart Flammer, Josef; Konieczka, Katarzyna; Bruno, Rosa M ...
European heart journal,
05/2013, Volume:
34, Issue:
17
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The vasculature of the eye and the heart share several common characteristics. The easily accessible vessels of the eye are therefore-to some extent-a window to the heart. There is interplay between ...cardiovascular functions and risk factors and the occurrence and progression of many eye diseases. In particular, arteriovenous nipping, narrowing of retinal arteries, and the dilatation of retinal veins are important signs of increased cardiovascular risk. The pressure in the dilated veins is often markedly increased due to a dysregulation of venous outflow from the eye. Besides such morphological criteria, functional alterations might be even more relevant and may play an important role in future diagnostics. Via neurovascular coupling, flickering light dilates capillaries and small arterioles, thus inducing endothelium-dependent, flow-mediated dilation of larger retinal vessels. Risk factors for arteriosclerosis, such as dyslipidaemia, diabetes, or systemic hypertension, are also risk factors for eye diseases such as retinal arterial or retinal vein occlusions, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, and increases in intraocular pressure (IOP). Functional alterations of blood flow are particularly relevant to the eye. The primary vascular dysregulation syndrome (PVD), which often includes systemic hypotension, is associated with disturbed autoregulation of ocular blood flow (OBF). Fluctuation of IOP on a high level or blood pressure on a low level leads to instable OBF and oxygen supply and therefore to oxidative stress, which is particularly involved in the pathogenesis of glaucomatous neuropathy. Vascular dysregulation also leads to a barrier dysfunction and thereby to small retinal haemorrhages.
Impairment of the arteries is a product of sustained exposure to various deleterious factors and progresses with time; a phenomenon inherent to vascular aging. Oxidative stress, inflammation, the ...accumulation of harmful agents in high cardiovascular risk conditions, changes to the extracellular matrix, and/or alterations of the epigenetic modification of molecules, are all vital pathophysiological processes proven to contribute to vascular aging, and also lead to changes in levels of associated circulating molecules. Many of these molecules are consequently recognized as markers of vascular impairment and accelerated vascular aging in clinical and research settings, however, for these molecules to be classified as biomarkers of vascular aging, further criteria must be met. In this paper, we conducted a scoping literature review identifying thirty of the most important, and eight less important, biomarkers of vascular aging. Herein, we overview a selection of the most important molecules connected with the above-mentioned pathological conditions and study their usefulness as circulating biomarkers of vascular aging.
Biofuels derived from microalgae biomass have received a great deal of attention owing to their high potentials as sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. Microalgae have a high capacity of CO2 ...fixation and depending on their growth conditions, they can accumulate different quantities of lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. Microalgal biomass can, therefore, represent a rich source of fermentable sugars for third generation bioethanol production. The utilization of microalgal carbohydrates for bioethanol production follows three main stages: i) pretreatment, ii) saccharification, and iii) fermentation. One of the most important stages is the pretreatment, which is carried out to increase the accessibility to intracellular sugars, and thus plays an important role in improving the overall efficiency of the bioethanol production process. Diverse types of pretreatments are currently used including chemical, thermal, mechanical, biological, and their combinations, which can promote cell disruption, facilitate extraction, and result in the modification the structure of carbohydrates as well as the production of fermentable sugars. In this review, the different pretreatments used on microalgae biomass for bioethanol production are presented and discussed. Moreover, the methods used for starch and total carbohydrates quantification in microalgae biomass are also briefly presented and compared.
This article is a comprehensive document on the diagnosis and management of fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) which was commissioned by the Working Group 'Hypertension and the Kidney' of the European ...Society of Hypertension (ESH) and the Society for Vascular Medicine (SVM). This document updates previous consensus documents/scientific statements on FMD published in 2014 with full harmonization of the position of European and US experts. In addition to practical consensus-based clinical recommendations, including a consensus protocol for catheter-based angiography and percutaneous angioplasty for renal FMD, the document also includes the first analysis of the European/International FMD Registry and provides updated data from the US Registry for FMD. Finally, it provides insights on ongoing research programs and proposes future research directions for understanding this multifaceted arterial disease.
Fatty acids are precursors of inflammatory oxylipins. In the context of COVID-19, an excessive production of pro-inflammatory cytokines is associated with disease severity. The objective was to ...investigate whether the baseline omega 3/omega 6 fatty acids ratio and the oxylipins were associated with inflammation and oxidative stress in unvaccinated patients with COVID-19, classified according to the severity of the disease during hospitalization. This Prospective population-based cohort study included 180 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The patients were classified into five groups according to the severity of their disease. Group 1 was the least severe and Group 5 was the most severe. Three specific types of fatty acids-eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and arachidonic acid (AA)-as well as their enzymatic and non-enzymatic oxylipins were determined using chromatography coupled mass spectrometry. There was no difference in the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids between the groups (p = 0.276). However, the EPA/AA ratio was lower in Group 4 compared to Group 1 (p = 0.015). This finding was associated with an increase in both C-Reactive Protein (p < 0.001) and Interleukin-6 (p = 0.002). Furthermore, the concentration of F
-Isoprostanes was higher in Group 4 than in Group 1 (p = 0.009), while no significant changes were observed for other oxylipins among groups. Multivariate analysis did not present any standard of biomarkers, suggesting the high complexity of factors involved in the disease severity. Our hypothesis was confirmed in terms of EPA/AA ratio. A higher EPA/AA ratio upon hospital admission was found to be associated with lower concentration of C-Reactive Protein and Interleukin-6, leading to a better prognosis of hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 patients. Importantly, this beneficial outcome was achieved without any form of supplementation. The trial also provides important information that can be further applied to reduce the severity of infections associated with an uncontrolled synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines.Trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04449718 -01/06/2020. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04449718.
Over the past 50 years it has become clear that physical inactivity is associated with chronic disease risk. For several rheumatic diseases, bed rest was traditionally advocated as the best ...treatment, but several levels of evidence support the imminent paradigm shift from the prescription of bed rest to physical activity in individuals with paediatric rheumatic diseases, in particular juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, juvenile fibromyalgia, and juvenile dermatomyositis. Increasing levels of physical activity can alleviate several symptoms experienced by patients with paediatric rheumatic diseases, such as low aerobic fitness, pain, fatigue, muscle weakness and poor health-related quality of life. Moreover, the propensity of patients with paediatric rheumatic diseases to be hypoactive - often due to social self-isolation, overprotection, and fear and/or ignorance on the part of parents, teachers and health practitioners - can be detrimental to general disease symptoms and function. In support of this rationale, a growing number of studies have demonstrated that the systemic benefits of exercise training clearly outweigh the risks in these diseases. In this sense, health professionals are advised to assess, track and fight against physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour on a routine basis, as they are invaluable health risk parameters in rheumatology.
Acute protein turnover studies suggest lower anabolic response after ingestion of plant vs. animal proteins. However, the effects of an exclusively plant-based protein diet on resistance ...training-induced adaptations are under investigation.
To investigate the effects of dietary protein source exclusively plant-based vs. mixed diet on changes in muscle mass and strength in healthy young men undertaking resistance training.
Nineteen young men who were habitual vegans (VEG 26 ± 5 years; 72.7 ± 7.1 kg, 22.9 ± 2.3 kg/m
) and nineteen young men who were omnivores (OMN 26 ± 4 years; 73.3 ± 7.8 kg, 23.6 ± 2.3 kg/m
) undertook a 12-week, twice weekly, supervised resistance training program. Habitual protein intake was assessed at baseline and adjusted to 1.6 g kg
day
via supplemental protein (soy for VEG or whey for OMN). Dietary intake was monitored every four weeks during the intervention. Leg lean mass, whole muscle, and muscle fiber cross-sectional area (CSA), as well as leg-press 1RM were assessed before (PRE) and after the intervention (POST).
Both groups showed significant (all p < 0.05) PRE-to-POST increases in leg lean mass (VEG: 1.2 ± 1.0 kg; OMN: 1.2 ± 0.8 kg), rectus femoris CSA (VEG: 1.0 ± 0.6 cm
; OMN: 0.9 ± 0.5 cm
), vastus lateralis CSA (VEG: 2.2 ± 1.1 cm
; OMN: 2.8 ± 1.0 cm
), vastus lateralis muscle fiber type I (VEG: 741 ± 323 µm
; OMN: 677 ± 617 µm
) and type II CSA (VEG: 921 ± 458 µm
; OMN: 844 ± 638 µm
), and leg-press 1RM (VEG: 97 ± 38 kg; OMN: 117 ± 35 kg), with no between-group differences for any of the variables (all p > 0.05).
A high-protein (~ 1.6 g kg
day
), exclusively plant-based diet (plant-based whole foods + soy protein isolate supplementation) is not different than a protein-matched mixed diet (mixed whole foods + whey protein supplementation) in supporting muscle strength and mass accrual, suggesting that protein source does not affect resistance training-induced adaptations in untrained young men consuming adequate amounts of protein.
NCT03907059. April 8, 2019. Retrospectively registered.
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