Survival and disinfection of SARS-Cov-2 in environment and contaminated surface

The detection of SARS-Cov-2 in the sewage and water resources has increased the awareness among the people about the possibility survival of SARS-Cov-2 in the environment and the potential to transmit into the human through food chain or water resources. Moreover, the surface contaminated by the virus need to be disinfected frequently by using an effective disinfectant, the current chapter discussed the efficiency of the most traditional treatment process of the sewage and wastewater, and their role in the elimination of the virus as well as the sterility assurance level concept. Moreover, the chemical disinfectant used currently and their temporary efficiency has been reviewed

Effect of Daily Chewing Soft Buds and Leaves of Catha edulis (Khat) on the Antioxidant Defense System and Oxidative Stress Markers in Blood

Catha edulis (Khat) is one of the major economic, social and health problems in Yemen. This paper aimed to study the effect of Khat on the oxidative status of Khat chewers by measuring the levels of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant as well as lipid peroxidation. The results exhibited significant reduction in erythrocytes superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC: 1.15.1.1), and catalase (CAT, EC: 1.11.1.6) in Khat chewers, in addition to elevation of serum glutathione-S-transferase (GST, EC: 2.5.1.18). Furthermore, non-enzymatic antioxidants glutathione (GSH) and vitamin C were significantly reduced (p < 0.001; p < 0.015), whereas malondialdehyde (MDA) was significantly elevated (p < 0.001). The depletion of GSH and vitamin C along with MDA elevation in Khat chewers compared with control reflects the obvious oxidative status, a result of enormous reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, leading to membrane damage. ROS possibly induced by active components of Khat or by pesticides added to the Khat tree. In addition, the reduction of SOD and CAT is indicative to cellular proteins damage which occurred by ROS. As well, the elevation of GST may due to a leakage of cellular GST to blood stream; this implies that GST active site was not affected. This study concludes that daily chewing Khat for long period certainly induce ROS production, leading to oxidative toxicity. Both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants are involved in the protection against this toxicity. People who habitually chew Khat for long term will be susceptible to the oxidative toxicity; therefore, they recommended giving up of Khat chewing

INFLUENCE OF KHAT ON THE LEVEL OF CLINICAL BIOMARKERS IN BLOOD OF KHAT CHEWERS

<p>Describe the effect of khat chewing on the biochemical and clinical markers in blood </p

Towards rapidly quantifying and visualizing starch content of sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] based on NIR spectral and image data fusion

This study aimed to achieve the rapid quantification and visualization of the starch content in sweet potato via near-infrared (NIR) spectral and image data fusion. The hyperspectral images of the sweet potato samples containing 900-1700 nm spectral information within every pixel were collected. The spectra were preprocessed, analyzed and the 18 informative wavelengths were finally extracted to relate to the measured starch content using the multiple linear regression (MLR) algorithm, producing a good quantitative prediction accuracy with a correlation coefficient of prediction (rP) of 0.970 and a root-mean-square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.874 g/100 g by an external validation using a set of dependent samples. The MLR model was further verified in terms of soundness and predictive validity via F-test and t-test, and then transferred to each pixel of the original two dimensional images with the help of a developed algorithm, generating color distribution maps to achieve the vivid visualization of the starch distribution. The study demonstrated that the fusion of the NIR spectral and image data provided a good strategy for the rapidly and nondestructively monitoring the starch content of sweet potato. This technique can be applied to industrial use in the future.The authors acknowledge that this work was financially supported by Henan Province Science and Technology Project (No. 222102110113), Cooperation Project of Henan Institute of Science and Technology (No. 2021410707000060), High Talents Project of Henan Institute of Science and Technology (No. 2015015)

Nanoencapsulation of Mandarin Essential Oil: Fabrication, Characterization, and Storage Stability

This study evaluates the combined efficiency of whey protein isolate (WPI) with maltodextrin (MD) and gum arabic (GA), as a delivery system for encapsulating Citrus reticulata essential oil (CEO). The wall materials blended at different rates were produced to obtain seven formulations of nanocapsules (NCEO), namely NCEO-GA, NCEO-MD, NCEO-WPI, NCEO-GA/MD, NCEO-GA/WPI, NCEO-MD/WPI, and NCEO-GA/MD/WPI. The interaction between CEO and WPI was simulated by molecular docking. Findings showed that the physicochemical characteristics and storage stability of formulations containing WPI were considerably improved. The NCEO-GA/MD/WPI formulation demonstrated the optimum values of encapsulation efficiency (92.08%), highest glass transition temperature (79.11 °C), high crystallinity (45.58%), high thermal stability (mass loss at 100 °C < 5%), and also had the highest antioxidant activity and lowest peroxide value after storage. This study demonstrated that combining WPI with MD and GA, as wall material encapsulation, can produce nanocapsules with superior properties to those created using polysaccharides individually

Coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) in early stages of the pandemic; overview

The novel coronavirus (SARS-COV-2) Pandemic has been traced in China late 2019 and then transmitted into more than 165 countries. A total of 49 papers have been published in 20 journals during the last January and current February. These papers tried to explain the source of virus, the transmission route, genomic map and the similarity to previous viruses as well as the pathogenesis, symptoms and treatment methods. The huge numbers of the articles which were published on SARS-COV-2 make confusing for the readers. In this paper a systematic analysis was conducted for the published articles. The findings of these papers were summarized. Moreover, the chapter aimed to highlight the responses of scientists and Journals for the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. This chapter reviewed 25 peer viewed articles while hundreds article still in the preprint. It was appeared that the Lancet journal given an early alarm for SARS-COV-2. The first paper suggested Baricitinib as potential treatment for SARS-COV-2 acute respiratory disease was published on 3 February. In 16 January 2020, the genomic characteristics of the virus was published, followed by several papers on the diagnostic of the virus, pathogenicity and symptoms was more clear on 29 January. The Nature Journal was the fist which given an alarm for the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. In conclusion source of SARS-COV-2, treatment methods, as well as vaccines, pathogenicity of the virus in the patient with other virus infections, transmission to fetus in the pregnant women still need more investigation

Effect of Daily Chewing Soft Buds and Leaves of Catha edulis (Khat) on the Antioxidant Defense System and Oxidative Stress Markers in Blood

<p>Describe the effect of khat chewing on the level of oxidative biomarkers on blood</p

Fabrication and characterization of chitosan/gelatin films loaded with microcapsules of pulicaria jaubertii extract

This study aimed to evaluate the influence of incorporating two concentrations of microcapsules containing Pulicaria jaubertii extract (MPJE) on the physicochemical, microstructure, and bioactivities properties of films based on chitosan (CH), gelatin (GEL), and CH50:GEL50 for possible use as active food packaging in the future. The MPJE treatment was compatible with the CH and/or GEL film without affecting chemical structures. Physico-mechanical results revealed that the CH50:GEL50 film showed optimal properties. The films blended with MPJE considerably improved in glass transition temperature and thermal stability. The films treated with MPJE presented high barrier property toward UV and visible light. Compared with that of the control films, the microstructure of the films loaded with MPJE had a rougher surface with homogeneous microcapsules, which increased with increasing MPJE concentration. Furthermore, mixing MPJE with CH and/or GEL led to the for�mation of high bioactive films with lower moisture content than the control films, suggesting that MPJE can be utilized to preserve lipid-rich foods