Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Clin Neurophysiol 2019 Apr 13;130(6):1008-1016. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.

Objectives: Goal-directed movements are essential for voluntary motor control. The inability to execute precise goal-directed movements after stroke can impair the ability to perform voluntary functions, learn new skills, and hinder rehabilitation. However, little is known about how the accuracy of single-joint, goal-directed ankle movements relates to multi-joint, lower limb function in stroke. Read More

J Pharm Biomed Anal 2019 Apr 12;171:171-179. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

School of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210023, China; Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization, and National and Local Collaborative Engineering Center of Chinese Medicinal Resources Industrialization and Formulae Innovative Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, 210023, China.

Energy synthesis in aerobic organisms relies on two major metabolic pathways, i.e. tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and glycolysis, the metabolites of which are highly affected by many diseases. Read More

Brain Cogn 2019 Apr 17;132:129-137. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ONT, Canada.

Schizophrenia is characterized by psychosis and, in most cases, cognitive impairment. It is unclear, however, whether these elements of the disorder represent distinct or related disease processes. Accordingly, this study investigated 3-way interactions between group, cognition and cortical thickness in cognitively-matched patients with schizophrenia and healthy control groups. Read More

Phys Ther Sport 2019 Apr 17;38:16. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

PERFORM Centre, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Concordia University, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Ultramicroscopy 2019 Mar 15;202:100-106. Epub 2019 Mar 15.

Science and Math Cluster, Singapore University of Technology and Design, 8 Somapah Road, S487372, Singapore.

Advancements in computational tools have driven increasingly automated, simulation-centric approaches in the design and optimization of spectroscopic electron-optical systems. These augmented methodologies accelerate the optimization process, and can yield better-performing instruments. While classical gradient-based methods had been explored, modern alternatives such as genetic algorithms have rarely been applied. Read More

J Hazard Mater 2019 Apr 2;373:835-843. Epub 2019 Apr 2.

State Key Laboratory of Explosion Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, China.

A novel environmental-friendly unpacking powder for fireworks which has no sulfur, no magnesium, no aluminum or their alloys has been prepared in this study: potassium perchlorate (75%), potassium hydrogen terephthalate (13%), micronano porous silicon (9%), carbon (2%), ferrocene (1%). The PM2.5 and PM10 were collected by the ambient air particulate sampler, and the gas product was tested with a smoke analyzer and gas chromatograph to investigate its environmental-friendly performance. Read More

Comput Biol Med 2019 Apr 8;108:142-149. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

Bone Biology Division, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia; Discipline of Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Australia. Electronic address:

Background: The welding process releases potentially hazardous gases and fumes, mainly composed of metallic oxides, fluorides and silicates. Long term welding fume (WF) inhalation is a recognized health issue that carries a risk of developing chronic health problems, particularly respiratory system diseases (RSDs). Aside from general airway irritation, WF exposure may drive direct cellular responses in the respiratory system which increase risk of RSD, but these are not well understood. Read More

Comput Biol Med 2019 Apr 8;108:133-141. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

Department of Computational and System Biology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA; UPMC-Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, 15232, PA, USA. Electronic address:

Single cell segmentation is a critical and challenging step in cell imaging analysis. Traditional processing methods require time and labor to manually fine-tune parameters and lack parameter transferability between different situations. Recently, deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) treat segmentation as a pixel-wise classification problem and have become a general and efficient method for image segmentation. Read More

Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2019 Mar 28;179:437-444. Epub 2019 Mar 28.

Applied Chemistry Department, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Ichchhanath, Surat, 395 007, Gujarat, India. Electronic address:

This work investigates the use of quaternary ammonium based Gemini surfactants (GS) to examine the solubilization and stabilization of a poorly water soluble anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac (Df). Here we demonstrate the effect of pH on the suspension profile of Df release where it exhibits maximum solubility and absorbance at pH = 10. Interaction process of such cationic GS with Df have been systematically characterized using tensiometry and UV-vis spectroscopy techniques from pre-micellar to post-micellar regions. Read More

Gait Posture 2019 Apr 14;71:32-37. Epub 2019 Apr 14.

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.

Background: Essential Tremor is characterized by an action tremor of the upper extremities, which may or may not be accompanied by a head, voice, leg or trunk tremor. Problems with gait and balance have also been identified in persons with Essential Tremor. Therefore, understanding gait performance is an important area of focus for clinicians and researchers. Read More

J Magn Reson 2019 Apr 11;303:67-74. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

School of Geosciences in China University of Petroleum, Qingdao 266580, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Mineral Resources, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266071, PR China.

Compared with two-dimensional (2D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique like correlations among the transversal relaxation time (T), the longitudinal relaxation time (T), and the diffusion coefficient correlation (D), three-dimensional (3D) NMR technique is superior with the complete measurement of T, T, and D simultaneously. It can solve the problem of overlaps in 2D correlation map and is helpful to characterize relaxation components in unconventional resources such as tight gas and oil shale. However, the existed 3D NMR technique is restricted due to the loss of short relaxation information and the inversion inaccuracy that caused by the incomplete measurement of the diffusion editing window. Read More

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc 2019 Mar 29;218:271-280. Epub 2019 Mar 29.

Pharmaceutical Informatics Institute, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China; Tianjin State Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, China. Electronic address:

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with chemometrics was used to analyze the main active ingredients including chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, luteoloside, baicalin, ursodesoxycholic acid, and chenodeoxycholic acid in the Tanreqing injection. In this paper, first, two hundred samples collected in the product line were divided into the calibration set and prediction set, and the reference values were determined by the High Performance Liquid Chromatography- Diode Array Detector/Evaporative Light Scattering Detector (HPLC-DAD/ELSD) method. Partial least squares (PLS) analysis was implemented as a linear method for models calibrated with different preprocessing means. Read More

Atherosclerosis 2019 Mar 18;285:49-54. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Aragón (IIS Aragón), GIIS-012, Zaragoza, 50009, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), CB/06/07/1036, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Zaragoza, 50009, Spain; Fundación Española para el Estudio y Terapéutica de la Enfermedad de Gaucher y Otras Lisosomales (FEETEG), Zaragoza, 50008, Spain.

Background And Aims: Lysosomal acid lipase deficiency (LALD) leads to the accumulation of cholesteryl esters and/or triglycerides (TG) in lysosomes due to the lack of the enzyme codified by the LIPA gene. The most common symptoms are dyslipidaemia and hypertransaminasemia, together with manifestations common to other lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs), including visceromegalies and elevated plasma biomarkers. Alteration of the lipid-liver profile (LLP) has been widely applied as a criterion for LALD screening, but the usefulness of biomarkers has not yet been explored. Read More

Bioresour Technol 2019 Apr 13;285:121349. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

P. D. Patel Institute of Applied Sciences, Charotar University of Science and Technology CHARUSAT Campus, Changa - 388421, Gujarat, India. Electronic address:

This work studied eco-electrogenic treatment of real dyestuff wastewater along with characterization of electrode-enriched microbial community structures in Fimbristylis dichotoma planted closed-circuit constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC) system. The CW-MFC-2 (experimental system) achieved 82.2 ± 1. Read More

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2019 Apr 17;178:178-187. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, USA; Department of Chemistry, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, USA. Electronic address:

Read-across has become a primary approach to fill data gaps for chemical safety assessments. Chemical similarity based on structure, reactivity, and physic-chemical property information is a traditional approach applied for read-across toxicity studies. However, toxicity mechanisms are usually complicated in a biological system, so only using chemical similarity to perform the read-across for new compounds was not satisfactory for most toxicity endpoints, especially when the chemically similar compounds show dissimilar toxicities. Read More

Biosens Bioelectron 2019 Mar 9;135:111-119. Epub 2019 Mar 9.

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Theoretical Organic Chemistry and Functional Molecule of Ministry of Education, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan, Hunan 411201, PR China. Electronic address:

The detection of Cu ion, one of the metal ions substantial in cerebral physiology, is critical in studying brain activities and understanding brain functions. However, repetitive measurements of Cu in the progress of physiological and pathological events is still challenging, because lack of the platform for repetitive on-line detection-regeneration cycle. Herein we report the design of a regenerated electrochemical biosensor combined with the in vivo microdialysis system. Read More

Bioelectrochemistry 2019 Apr 11;128:186-192. Epub 2019 Apr 11.

Department of Biotechnology, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630 003, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address:

The development of biofilms by microorganisms is conventionally attributed to microbially induced corrosion on stainless steel surfaces and leads to severe consequences in industrial and environmental settings. Since bacterial biofilm formation is regulated by the signal mediated quorum sensing (QS) system, targeting biofilms through QS inhibitors will possibly control biologically induced corrosion on the metal surface. In this study, biofilm formation on 316L stainless steel (SS 316L) immersed in a natural pond water system was effectively inhibited in the presence of the QS inhibitor methyl eugenol, as evidenced through epifluorescence microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. Read More

Phytomedicine 2018 Dec 7;59:152776. Epub 2018 Dec 7.

School of Traditional Chinese Material, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, China. Electronic address:

Background And Aims: Chinese patent medicine Zhixiong Capsule (ZXC) has been used in clinical treatment against blood stasis-induced dizziness and headache for many years in China.

Hypothesis/purpose: Recent clinical observations demonstrated a good efficacy of ZXC against atherosclerotic plaque formation in carotid arteries. The aims of this study were to verify the plaque-preventing efficacy of ZXC in animals and to investigate the underlying mechanisms. Read More

Phytomedicine 2018 Nov 14;59:152756. Epub 2018 Nov 14.

Department of Biotechnology and Animal Science, National Ilan University, Ilan, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address:

Background: According to Compendium of Materia Medica, Gastrodia elata (GE) Blume as a top grade and frequently prescribed herbal medicine has been used in treating dizziness, headaches, and epilepsy, indicating a neuroprotective effect. Because GE is capable of suppressing a hyperactive liver and thus calming endogenous wind, and because Huntington's disease (HD) can be classified as a phenomenon of disturbed liver wind, it is suggested that GE might be beneficial in treating HD. However, although current studies support GE for the prevention of diverse neurodegenerations such as HD, its detailed mechanisms remain elusive. Read More

World Neurosurg 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Neurosurgery, University of Virginia, Box 800212, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA 22908. Electronic address:

Object: Despite the development of four grading scales of angiographic outcome after flow diversion for cerebral aneurysms, none have been widely adopted in the neurosurgical literature nor have any been validated in an independent dataset. We evaluated the reported grading scales for their ability to predict aneurysm occlusion at follow up.

Methods: Four reported grading scales were applied in a retrospective analysis of our prospectively maintained institutional database of patients with intracranial aneurysms treated with flow diverting stents. Read More

J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci 2019 Apr 6;1117:66-76. Epub 2019 Apr 6.

EPIGET - Epidemiology, Epigenetics, and Toxicology Lab, Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan and Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, via S. Barnaba, 8, 20122 Milan, Italy. Electronic address:

Introduction: Mercapturic acids are urinary metabolites of occupational and environmental toxicants. The aim of this work was to develop and validate an analytical assay for the determination of several urinary mercapturic acids to be used as biomarkers of exposure.

Method: An isotope dilution tandem mass spectrometric method, coupled with reversed-phase liquid chromatography, was developed for the analysis of mercapturic acids derived from several compounds, including those of benzene, toluene, 1,3-butadiene, styrene, acrylonitrile, 4-chloronitrobenzene, acrylamide, acrolein, propylene oxide, N,N-dimethylformamide, crotonaldehyde, ethylene oxide, and methylating and ethylating agents. Read More

Acta Biomater 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Unit of Dental Physical Sciences, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom.

The title of this article could sound a bit curious to some readers since a layer of apatite - and not calcium carbonate - is well-known to form on the surface of bioactive glasses upon immersion in simulated body fluids. However, calcium carbonate (commonly reported as calcite crystals) can form on the surface of bioactive glasses as well, instead of or in competition with hydroxyapatite, during in vitro tests. Major factors that govern calcium carbonate formation are a high concentration of Ca ions in the testing solution - and, in this regard, glass composition/texture and type of medium play key roles - along with the volume of solution used during in vitro tests. Read More

Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

University of Bern, Vetsuisse Faculty, Centre for Fish and Wildlife Health, Länggassstrasse 122, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.

Freshwater fish are threatened by the cumulative impact of multiple stressors. The purpose of this study was to unravel the molecular and organism level reactions of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, to the combined impact of two such stressors that occur in the natural habitat of salmonids. Fish were infected with either the myxozoan parasite, Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, which causes proliferative kidney disease (PKD), or exposed to ethinylestradiol (EE2) an estrogenic endocrine disrupting compound, or to a combination of both (PKD × EE2). Read More

Chemosphere 2019 Apr 12;227:514-521. Epub 2019 Apr 12.

State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resources and Environment, School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China; Key Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.

Volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons (VCHs) are often found as a type of persistent and ubiquitous contaminant in groundwater. The feasibility, characteristics and microbial mechanism of acclimation of biodiversity-rich inoculation source for bioelectrochemical stimulated VCH dechlorination remain poorly understood. Here, the superior bioelectrochemical catalytic activities were observed for tetrachloroethylene (0. Read More

Chemosphere 2019 Apr 13;227:505-513. Epub 2019 Apr 13.

College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China.

The existence of Cr(VI) and antibiotics in the environment can form the joint contaminant which can be hazardous to the ecosystem. To deal with this, we have explored a plausible method to remove the Cr(VI) and tetracycline (TC) from water by visible light photocatalysis. In this study, a series of reduced graphene oxide@ZnAlTi layered double oxides (rGO@LDO) composites with different doping ratio of rGO were successfully synthesized, which were applied in photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) and oxidation of TC. Read More

Bone 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Radiology, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China. Electronic address:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in bone mineral density (BMD) and hip structure between femoral neck and trochanteric fractures in elderly Chinese individuals using quantitative computed tomography (QCT). A total of 625 Chinese patients (mean age 75.8 years) who sustained low-energy hip fractures (female: 293 femoral neck, 175 trochanteric; male: 82 femoral neck, 75 trochanteric) were recruited. Read More

Parasitol Int 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, Phytokou str., 38446, N. Ionia, Magnesia, Greece. Electronic address:

In the present study, the larvicidal activity of ageing aqueous suspensions of spinosad against larvae of Culex pipiens biotype molestus, as well as their effect on the oviposition preferences of adult gravid females were evaluated in laboratory bioassays. Spinosad was applied at its label dose and the aqueous stock suspensions were stored for various ageing intervals up to 38 days. Untreated distilled water and diflubenzuron served as negative and positive control, respectively. Read More

J Pain Symptom Manage 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Division of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL; National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (NIHR CLAHRC) Greater Manchester.

Context: The goal of advance care planning (ACP) is to help ensure that the care people receive during periods of serious illness is consistent with their preferences and values. There is a lack of clear understanding about how patients and their informal carers feel ACP discussions should be conducted.

Objectives: To synthesise literature reviews pertaining to patients' and informal carers' perspectives on ACP discussions. Read More

Free Radic Biol Med 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria; Christian Doppler Laboratory for the Biotechnology of Skin Aging, Vienna, Austria.

Dermatological research is a major beneficiary of the rapidly developing advances in lipid analytic technology and of bioinformatic tools which help to decipher and interpret the accumulating big lipid data. At its interface with the environment, the epidermis develops a blend of lipids that constitutes the epidermal lipid barrier, essential for the protection from water loss and entry of dangerous noxae. Apart from their structural role in the barrier, novel intra- and inter-cellular signaling functions of lipids and their oxidation products have been uncovered in most cutaneous cell types over the last decades, and the discovery rate has been boosted by the advent of high resolution and -throughput mass spectrometric techniques. Read More

Exp Gerontol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Institute of Ecomedicine, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria. Electronic address:

Background: Population aging is one of the greatest socio-economic challenges of the 21st century, as aging is a well-known risk factor for the development of chronic diseases and functional disabilities. A sedentary life-style promotes the progression of chronic diseases and impaired mobility in older people. Therefore, physical activity is essential for healthy aging. Read More

Mol Cell Probes 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

College of Animal Medicine, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China. Electronic address:

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is an important pathogen causing severe watery diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and death in sucking piglets. Attenuated vaccines have been used widely in sows in order to protect piglets through passive lactogenic immunity. Rapid and sensitive detection methods for differentiating attenuated vaccine strains from virulent ones are essential and practical in PEDV prevention and control. Read More

Neuropsychologia 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, China. Electronic address:

Recent research has shown enhanced brain activity in responses to pain expression of same-race than other-race faces. However, due to the stimuli used in electctrophysiological (EEG) research (i.e. Read More

J Control Release 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA. Electronic address:

The tumor environment has been shown to employ several immunosuppressive mechanisms to evade cancer treatments. While immunotherapies actively reverse such mechanisms, and polarize the immune system against malignant cells, combination of immunotherapy with certain chemotherapeutics leads to increased efficacy compared to each treatment alone. At low doses, chemotherapy demonstrates several immunogenic effects that can favorably potentiate immunotherapies. Read More

J Virol Methods 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Influenza Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA, 30329, USA. Electronic address:

Influenza A virus is a negative-sense RNA virus with a segmented genome consisting of eight RNA segments. Avian influenza A virus (AIV) primarily infects avian hosts and sporadically infects mammals, which can lead to adaptation to new species. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of emerging AIV genomes extracted from respiratory samples collected on sequential days from animal models and clinical patients enables analysis of the emergence of evolutionary variants within the virus population over time. Read More

Int J Biol Macromol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Nanotechnology Research Center, Uremia University, Uremia, Iran.

Growth factors are necessary for proper and efficient wound closure and tissue regeneration. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is one of the key signaling molecules in stimulating epithelial cell motility, making it a required factor for re-epithelialization. Increased EGF expression is likely to be a strong prognostic and predictive feature in multiple tumor types and determination of EGF may product remarkable diagnosis benefits. Read More

Int J Biol Macromol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Chemistry group, Pardis College, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Islamic Republic of Iran.

In the current work, novel eco-friendly hydrogel nanocomposite biosorbents (ef-HNCs) made up from tragacanth gum and modified CaCO nanoparticles (CC NPs) were applied for the adsorption of methylene blue dye (MBD). A simple, fast, and safe method regarding green chemistry was used to prepare the ef-HNC, with the aid of ultrasound waves. The ef-HNCs were successfully characterized using several spectroscopic, microscopic, and analytical methods. Read More

Int J Biol Macromol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Food Science & Biotechnology, Gachon University, Seongnam 13120, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

Amylosucrase (AS) is a glycosyltransferase that produces linear α-1,4 glucans using sucrose as the sole substrate. In this study, for various applications, α-glucan-coated starch (α-GCS) was produced by AS (20 U/L) from Neisseria polysaccharea to improve the physicochemical properties of raw normal corn starch (NCS) by applying different reaction conditions (i.e. Read More

Int J Biol Macromol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Chemistry, University College in Al-Jamoum, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

A novel plant peroxidase was isolated from the stem of Arabian balsam (Commiphora gileadensis) and purified using ammonium sulfate, followed by ion exchange chromatography (DEAE-Sepharose) and gel filtration (Sephacryl S-200). The newly isolated peroxidase was characterized as having a specific activity of 9503.3 unit/mg of protein after 20. Read More

Int J Biol Macromol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

School of Basic Medical Sciences & Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou 310053, China. Electronic address:

Dendrobium devonianum has been used as herbal medicines and nutraceutical products since ancient time in China. However, its chemical composition and pharmacological mechanisms are not fully known. In present studies, by chemical purification and characteristic identification, we discovered a novel polysaccharide from D. Read More

Int J Biol Macromol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), Sector-81 (Knowledge City), Mohali 140306, Punjab, India. Electronic address:

The present study aimed to enhance the shelf life of tomatoes at pink-red stage through pectin (P), corn flour (CF) and beetroot powder (B) based coatings. PCF11 coating was resulted in significant enhancement of shelf life and quality retention of tomato in terms of physiological weight loss (PWL), decay per cent, ripening index, respiration rate, hue angle, firmness and DPPH antioxidant activity. Lower amounts of glucose and fructose quantified through HPLC indicated lesser cell wall components degradation in tomatoes coated with P and PCF11. Read More

Int J Biol Macromol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan; Advanced Membrane Materials Research Center, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 106, Taiwan; R&D Center for Membrane Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chungli, Taoyuan 320, Taiwan.

Injectable thermo-responsive hydrogels have been studied for various biomedical applications including; drug delivery, cell encapsulation, and tissue repairing. There are various natural and synthetic polymers which exhibit homogenous injectable solution at ambient temperature and form a gel in human body temperature. Polysaccharide, polypeptide and other biological macromolecule based hydrogels have been getting immense attention in biomedical application due to their low immunogenicity, abundance in nature, high biocompatibility and biodegradability. Read More

J Microbiol Methods 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Senior Healthcare, BK21 Plus Program, Graduate School, Eulji University, 77 Gyeryong-ro, 771 beon-gil, Jung-gu, Deajeon 34824, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, Eulji University, School of Medicine, 77 Gyeryong-ro, 771 beon-gil, Jung-gu, Deajeon 34824, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

Determination of the metagenome has become an important component of forensic identification, which requires efficient environmental sampling techniques. Therefore, in this study, we compared the efficiency of sample collection using swabbing with cotton swabs and three types of medical swabs (S7, S22, S24) along with three different solutions: phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), 1% Tween 20 + 1% glycerol in PBS (TG), and GS commercial solution (Noble Bio, Hwaseong, Republic of Korea). Combinations of the three solutions with the three types of swabs were tested at different volumes (cotton swab, S7: 0, 30, 50, 70 μL; S22, S24: 0, 70, 100, 130 μL). Read More

J Allergy Clin Immunol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Center on the Early Life Origins of Disease, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA; Division of General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.

Background: The prevalence of IgE-mediated food allergy (FA) is rising worldwide but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood.

Objective: To examine the role of maternal lipidomic profiles in offspring risk of FA development; and to investigate the potential modification effects by timing of first solid food introduction.

Methods: This report included 1,068 mother-child dyads from the Boston Birth Cohort. Read More

J Theor Biol 2019 Apr 17. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Department of Mathematics, City University of London, London EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom.

We introduce a general theoretical description of a combination of defences acting sequentially at different stages in the predatory sequence in order to make predictions about how animal prey should best allocate investment across different defensive stages. We predict that defensive investment will often be concentrated at stages early in the interaction between a predator individual and the prey (especially if investment is concentrated in only one defence, then it will be in the first defence). Key to making this prediction is the assumption that there is a cost to a prey when it has a defence tested by an enemy, for example because this incurs costs of deployment or tested costs as a defence is exposed to the enemies; and the assumption that the investment functions are the same among defences. Read More

Water Environ Res 2019 Apr 20. Epub 2019 Apr 20.

School of Chemistry and Biological Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha, 410114, China.

Ionic polymeric flocculants, as useful and widely used technology, have been applied for heavy metal pollution control. However, although molecular weight is an important indicator, it is not comprehensive indicator for evaluating flocculation efficiencies of ionic flocculants. Herein, Specific Charge Density (SCD), defined as charge density of unit molecular weight, is a new indicator to evaluate the performance of ionic polymer flocculants. Read More

Water Environ Res 2019 Apr 20. Epub 2019 Apr 20.

Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering, University of São Paulo State (FEB-UNESP), 14-01 "Engenheiro Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube" Avenue, Bauru, São Paulo, 17033-360, Brazil.

The scarcity of natural resources supports the perspective of reusing treated effluents, mainly in agriculture, where the reduction in the demand of drinking water and the provision of alternative sources for nutrients are important. However, the process of disinfection, essential to the protection of human health, generates deleterious byproducts to both humans and the environment. This research aimed to evaluate the use of ozone as a disinfectant for wastewater treated by anaerobic/aerobic baffled reactor for later agricultural reuse. Read More

J Clin Psychol 2019 Apr 20. Epub 2019 Apr 20.

Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy/International Institute for the Advanced Study of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health, Babeş-Bolyai University, No 37 Republicii Street, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Objective: Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is considered the "golden standard" psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) but, at this point, we have little information about differences among various CBT approaches.

Method: We conducted a randomized controlled trial to compare three CBT protocols for GAD: (a) Cognitive Therapy/Borkovec's treatment package; (b) Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, and (c) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Acceptance-based behavioral therapy. A number of 75 patients diagnosed with GAD, aged between 20 and 51 (m = 27. Read More

Allergy 2019 Apr 20. Epub 2019 Apr 20.

Department of Respiratory Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centres, (AUMC), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

More than a decade has passed since the finalisation of the Human Genome Project. Omics technologies made a huge leap from trendy and very expensive to routinely executed and relatively cheap assays. Simultaneously, we understood that omics is not a panacea for every problem in the area of human health and personalized medicine. Read More

J Biochem 2019 Apr 20. Epub 2019 Apr 20.

School of Life Science, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.

Vinegar soaked black soybean is a traditional Chinese food widely used for the treatment of hypertension. While its pharmacodynamic substance wasn't fully unveiled. It contained abundant glutelin, thus the purpose of this study was to obtain potent antihypertensive peptides from vinegar soaked black soybean. Read More

Clin Pharmacol Ther 2019 Apr 20. Epub 2019 Apr 20.

Centre for Applied Pharmacokinetic Research, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.

The past 2 decades have witnessed transformative changes in our approach to drug-drug interactions (DDIs) from scientific research to clinical practice. Collaborative cooperation across the sectors of academia, pharmaceutical industry, providers of translational research tools and services, global regulatory agencies, and healthcare providers has created and galvanized a science-informed and patient-centered approach. Multidisciplinary innovations in mechanistic assessment of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME), population pharmacology and pharmacogenetics, physiologically based modeling, and regulatory science have enabled a profound shift in mindset from risk aversion to informative prescribing guidance for optimal risk management. Read More