Development and Characterization of Potato Starch–Pectin-Based Active Films Enriched With Juniper Berry Essential Oil for Food Packaging Applications

The increasing demand for sustainable food packaging has driven the development of films based on biopolymers. However, enhancing their functional properties remains a challenge. In the current study, potato starch–pectin (PSP) composite films were fabricated and enriched with juniper berry essential oil (JBEO) to improve their physicochemical properties. The effects of incorporating different concentrations of JBEO (0.1%–1% v/v) on various properties of PSP-based films were evaluated, including surface color, transparency, barrier properties, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal analysis (TGA and DTA), antioxidant activity, and antimicrobial effectiveness. Increasing the level of JBEO led to a significant decrease in the moisture content, film transparency, and mechanical attributes, while an increase in thickness, water permeability, and film elongation was observed. SEM analysis also revealed morphological properties such as some spherical, bubble-like configuration and cracks on the surface due to an increase in JBEO concentration. TGA and DTA revealed lower weight loss in the initial cycles due to the addition of JBEO, and the thermal stability of the films improved. The antioxidant assays revealed a concentration-dependent increase in the radical scavenging capacity of the films from 11.31% to 17.28% for DPPH and from 3.06% to 25.53% for ABTS. Moreover, significant antibacterial and antifungal activity of the bioactive films was observed against P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, and C. albicans. These findings suggest that JBEO enhances the functional properties of PSP films, making them suitable for active food packaging applications

Regulatory Effects of Betonica macrantha Extract, Known as Mountain Tea, on miRNA Expression and Its Pharmacokinetic Properties

The aim of this study is to investigate the anticancer potential of Betonica macrantha extract on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, its regulatory effects on miRNA expression, the content analysis of its phytochemical components, and the roles of these compounds in the regulation of miRNA expression through pathways, as well as to examine its pharmacokinetic profiles. The B. macrantha plant was extracted with methanol. The obtained extracts were analyzed for phytochemical components using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-DAD) techniques. Biological activity was assessed using the MTT assay on the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line, while miRNA expression was measured by RT-PCR. Pharmacokinetic properties were calculated using ADMETSAR3 software, and molecular interactions were investigated through AutoDock Vina simulations. GC–MS analysis of B. macrantha extract identified 42 volatile compounds, with 1S-α-pinene, humulene, and caryophyllene being the most abundant. HPLC-DAD analysis detected 18 bioactive compounds, including catechin, oleuropein, and rutin. The extract inhibited the viability of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner, with an IC50 value of 0.8 mg/mL. Furthermore, upregulation of miR-19, miR-20a, miR-126, and miR-200c miRNAs was observed in MDA-MB-231 cells, while these miRNAs were downregulated in healthy cells. ADMET analysis revealed that α-pinene, caryophyllene, and catechin exhibited high bioavailability, absorption, and distribution properties, while oleuropein and rutin showed limited absorption and bioavailability. Molecular docking studies demonstrated the potential binding interactions of these compounds with key target proteins involved in cancer progression. Consequently, B. macrantha presents significant potential as a valuable natural source for cancer therapy through its anticancer activity, modulation of miRNA expression, and interaction with cancer-associated proteins

Identifying risk factors for cancer-specific early death in patients with advanced endometrial cancer: A preliminary predictive model based on SEER data

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors associated with cancer-specific early death in patients with advanced endometrial cancer and to develop a preliminary nomogram prediction model based on these factors, with an emphasis on the potential implications for clinical practice. METHODS: Patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database in the United States from 2018 to 2021 were included in the study. The study data was randomly divided into a training cohort and a validation cohort at a ratio of 7:3. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed in the training cohort to screen for risk factors for cancer-specific early mortality in advanced endometrial cancer patients, and a preliminary nomogram prediction model was further constructed. The results of the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration analysis, and clinical decision curve analysis (DCA) were presented for transparency. RESULTS: Significant risk factors for cancer-specific early death were identified, including tumor size (≥101 mm, OR = 2.11, P < 0.001), non-endometrioid histology (OR = 3.11, P < 0.001), high tumor grade (G3, OR = 2.68, P = 0.007), advanced tumor stages (T3-T4, OR = 1.84, P = 0.004), and metastatic stage (M1, OR = 2.05, P < 0.001), as well as the presence of liver metastases (OR = 2.21, P = 0.005) and brain metastases (OR = 8.08, P < 0.001). Protective factors that were significantly associated with a reduced risk of early death included hysterectomy (OR = 0.13, P = 0.012), radical surgery (OR = 0.21, P < 0.001), radiation therapy (OR = 0.40, P < 0.001), and chemotherapy (OR = 0.31, P < 0.001). A preliminary nomogram model was demonstrated adequate predictive performance with AUC values of 0.89 (95% CI 0.87 to 0.91) in the training cohort and 0.88 (95% CI 0.84 to 0.91) in the validation cohort. The model’s predictive performance was further supported by the calibration and DCA analyses, suggesting its potential clinical utility. CONCLUSION: This study identified key risk factors for early cancer-specific mortality in patients with advanced endometrial cancer. The preliminary nomogram model holds promise for predicting early death risk and could be valuable in clinical practice. Future work may explore its performance with additional data to ensure broad applicability

Impact of acetylsalicylic acid on perioperative bleeding complications in deceased donor kidney transplantation

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec> <jats:title>Purpose</jats:title> <jats:p>The objective of this study was to evaluate the perioperative outcomes and complications associated with the use of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) in deceased donor kidney transplantation (KTX), with a particular focus on bleeding events.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>We retrospectively analyzed 157 kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) who underwent KTX at Charité Berlin, Department for Urology, between February 2014 and December 2017. Patients were divided into two groups: patients with ASA in their preoperative medication (Group A, <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 59) and patients without ASA use (Group B, <jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 98). Data on demographic information, medical conditions, surgical details, and postoperative outcomes were analyzed. Complications were classified using the Clavien-Dindo classification. Statistical analyses included t-tests, chi-square tests, and multivariate logistic regression.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>Group A had significantly older donors (59.7 ± 12.9 years vs. 52.0 ± 14.1 years, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> < 0.001) and a higher incidence of coronary artery disease (42.4% vs. 3.1%, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.001). There were no significant differences in perioperative hemoglobin loss and perioperative bleeding events between the groups, but a tendency towards higher rates of intraoperative bleeding (15.3% vs. 8.2%, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.17) and postoperative transfusions (22% vs. 13.3%, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.15) in Group A. Mortality was higher in Group A (18.6% vs. 4.1%, <jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.003), with one death attributed to a cardiac event. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed significantly inferior overall survival for Group A (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.02), but no significant difference in graft survival (<jats:italic>p</jats:italic> = 0.18).</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title> <jats:p>ASA use is associated with a trend towards increased intraoperative bleeding and postoperative blood transfusion but does not significantly increase major postoperative bleeding complications. Careful perioperative monitoring of patients with ASA is recommended.</jats:p> </jats:sec&gt

Institutional Design of Forest Landscape Restoration in Central Togo: Informing Policy-making through Q Methodology Analysis

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is a promising tool for restoring ecological functionality and improving human well-being in degraded landscapes. The success of FLR efforts depends on the interests, perceptions, and actions of local communities, extension services, Non-Governmental Organizations, and policymakers. While much research focuses on the direct ecological and economic impacts of FLR, limited attention has been given to how stakeholder perceptions influence the design and implementation of restoration efforts. Understanding these perspectives is crucial for shaping effective policy interventions and ensuring long-term FLR success. This study uses Q methodology to examine stakeholder viewpoints on key considerations and priorities for designing and implementing FLR in Tchamba Prefecture, Togo. The analysis reveals three distinct perspectives: (1) Incentive-Driven Restoration, emphasizing financial incentives and private-sector partnerships as essential for FLR success; (2) Comprehensive and Collaborative Restoration, advocating for an inclusive, multidisciplinary approach that integrates community participation and long-term monitoring; and (3) Incentive-Driven Community Restoration, highlighting the importance of economic incentives in fostering local engagement. Across all perspectives, stakeholders strongly agreed on the importance of biodiversity conservation, stakeholder involvement, and conflict resolution in land use. The findings underscore the need to tailor FLR policies to local contexts and stakeholder preferences, suggesting that flexible, participatory approaches can enhance sustainability and effectiveness. This study contributes to developing inclusive, adaptive restoration policies and highlights the need to integrate behavioural insights into policy-making to foster long-term stakeholder engagement

Agricultural diversification across spatial levels - a contribution to resilience and sustainability?

Decades of efficiency-oriented agricultural intensification have raised sustainability and resilience concerns. Diversification aims to address these issues but varies across time, space and system levels, which hinders an assessment of success of diversification and makes transfer to other regions difficult. We classified diversification measures from field to landscape through a systematic review of 142 papers on intensive agricultural systems in temperate climates. Most measures were at field and farm levels, with fewer at landscape level. Since biodiversity requires provision and maintenance at the landscape level rather than just at the field or farm level, the limited emphasis on landscape-level diversification measures highlights a significant knowledge gap. We further analyzed the impact of diversification on sustainability (integration of environmental, economic, social targets) and resilience capacities (robustness, adaptation, transformation). We show that specific diversification levels were linked to specific sustainability targets and resilience capacities. Environmental aspects are mainly addressed at the field level, economic aspects at the farm level, and social aspects, which are less frequently addressed, are also primarily tackled at the farm level. Resilience is often equated with robustness towards economic (farm) stability. Adaptation relates to climate change and economic instability, while transformation, though rarely addressed directly, emphasizes societal change. Our findings suggest that the concepts of resilience and sustainability are interconnected: resilience can be understood as a property of a system, while sustainability is the overarching target. In literature, transformation relates to societal changes for better integrating social, economic and environmental targets. In contrast, robustness and adaptation address environmental or economic aspects with less linkage to integration of sustainability as a whole. While agricultural diversification is often associated with improved resilience and sustainability, most studies on diversification remain vague about the causal linkage to those concepts. Literature on diversification often focuses only on individual aspects of sustainability or resilience, which undermines both concepts, as it is the holistic consideration of all aspects together that makes a system sustainable or resilient. Our research highlights that diversification at all spatial levels is necessary to achieve resilient and sustainable systems, as each level of diversification addresses distinct sustainability goals or resilience capacities

A scalable and modular reservoir implementation for large-scale integrated hydrologic simulations

<jats:p>Abstract. Recent advancements in integrated hydrologic modeling have enabled increasingly high-fidelity models of the complete terrestrial hydrologic cycle. These advances are critical for our ability to understand and predict watershed dynamics, especially in a changing climate. However, many of the most physically rigorous models have been designed to focus on natural processes and do not incorporate the effect of human-built structures such as dams. By not accounting for these impacts, our models are limited both in their accuracy and in the scope of the topics they are able to investigate. Here, we present the first implementation of dams and reservoirs in ParFlow, an integrated hydrologic model. Through a series of idealized and real-world test cases, we demonstrate that our implementation (1) functions as intended, (2) maintains important qualities such as mass conservation, (3) works in a real domain, and (4) is computationally efficient and can be scaled to large domains with thousands of reservoirs. Our results have the potential to improve the accuracy of current ParFlow models and enable us to ask new questions regarding conjunctive management of ground and surface water in systems with reservoirs. </jats:p&gt

Effectiveness and tolerability of lactic acid vaginal gel compared to oral metronidazole in the treatment of acute symptomatic bacterial vaginosis: a multicenter, randomized-controlled, head-to-head pilot study

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p>Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a prevalent vaginal condition among reproductive-age women, characterized by off-white, thin vaginal discharge with a fishy odor. It increases susceptibility to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). BV involves a shift in vaginal microbiota, with reduced lactobacilli and increased anaerobic bacteria. Standard treatment with oral metronidazole has been shown to have a limited long-term efficacy, possibly due to biofilm persistence. Alternative treatments, such as lactic acid vaginal gel, aim to restore vaginal pH and lactobacilli. This pilot study compares the efficacy and tolerability of lactic acid gel to standard oral metronidazole for acute BV treatment in non-pregnant women.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>A total of 32 women with acute BV were recruited and assigned to either the treatment group (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 16) where they applied a lactic acid vaginal gel for 12 days, or the control group (<jats:italic>n</jats:italic> = 16) which received 500 mg oral metronidazole twice daily for seven days. A number of objective and subjective parameters including the Amsel score, the Nugent score and a subjective symptom score were recorded at day 0, three weeks, three months, and six months after the study start.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>In the short-term, lactic acid vaginal gel showed inferior clinical (Amsel criteria) and microbiological (Nugent score) cure rates compared to metronidazole. However, it performed equally well regarding subjective symptom improvement and BV recurrence prevention after up to six months.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title> <jats:p>Lactic acid vaginal gel was generally very well tolerated and showed mixed but promising results as a stand-alone treatment for acute BV.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Trial registration number</jats:title> <jats:p>NCT02042287 (22.01.2014).</jats:p> </jats:sec&gt

The influence of proteolytic enzymes on the change of lysozyme properties

This research examines the enzymatic modification of lysozyme, a glycosidic hydrolase that has restricted effectiveness against Gram-negative bacteria, in order to produce bioactive peptide fractions with improved antibacterial and physicochemical characteristics. Utilizing chicken egg lysozyme, modifications were performed in controlled settings with proteolytic enzymes, mainly pepsin, and experiments with a pepsin-trypsin ratio. The modification methods sought to improve the hydrophobic nature of lysozyme’s surface, create oligomeric and peptide forms, and decrease immunogenicity. Findings showed that raising pepsin concentration enhanced the creation of peptide fractions, increasing surface hydrophobicity while reducing hydrolytic and antioxidant activities. Increased hydrophobicity and reduced enzyme activity were linked to enhanced antibacterial effectiveness, particularly against Gram-negative bacteria, a characteristic absent in natural lysozyme. Additionally, the research noted a decrease in immunoreactivity as pepsin concentrations increased, achieving the lowest antibody response in optimized formulations. This enzymatic method offers an economical way to create lysozyme derivatives that hold considerable promise for wider applications, particularly in scenarios where lower immunoreactivity and a prolonged antibacterial spectrum are needed

Does trait impulsivity differentiate impulsive from non-impulsive suicide attempts?

BACKGROUND: Suicide poses a major public health concern, with impulsive suicide and suicide attempts representing a particularly difficult subset of cases for effective suicide prevention. The relationship between impulsive suicidal behavior (ISB) and impulsivity as a trait, which can be assessed by specific questionnaires, is still unclear. This study, therefore aimed to investigate this association by comparing the degree of trait impulsivity as well as clinical and demographic variables in individuals with ISB to those with non-impulsive suicidal behavior (NISB). METHODS: We included 130 adult inpatients admitted to a psychiatric ward of three psychiatric hospitals in Thuringia, Germany after a suicide attempt. Three distinct criteria were applied to define ISB, considering time- and planning-related aspects, as well as prior suicidal attempts using the Suicide Intent Scale and a structured clinical interview. Trait impulsivity was assessed using the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation- Seeking (UPPS) Impulsive Behavior Scale. RESULTS: No significant differences in the four UPPS impulsivity components controlling for multiple clinical and suicide specific variables were observed between the ISB and NISB groups across all three criteria as well as in clinical and demographic variables. CONCLUSION: These findings underscore the complexity of the relationship between ISB and the various facets of impulsivity. They further highlight the need to improve standardized assessment methods to better identify individuals at risk for ISB and to develop effective intervention strategies to prevent such individuals from engaging in suicidal behavior during acute crises