Evaluation of the impact of pre-treatment and extraction conditions on the polyphenolic profile and antioxidant activity of Belgium apple wood

This study describes the possibilities of valorising a waste stream that originates from apple wood by mapping the reducing capacity and phenolic profile from extracts derived from apple tree (Malus domestica). This study evaluated the efficiency of warm solvent extraction (WSE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) techniques for extracting antioxidant phenolic compounds from the bark and core wood of an apple tree cultivated in the north-eastern part of Belgium. Furthermore, the influence of the pre-treatment technique, namely, fresh, oven-dried, and freeze-dried samples, respectively, on the yield of polyphenols was studied. Fresh bark extract obtained by UAE—the most efficient extraction technique—employing acetone 60% v/v contains the highest levels of phenolic compounds as well as the highest antioxidant activity. High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis shows that phloridzin is the major compound of the identified polyphenol markers present in bark and core wood extracts. Based on the obtained results, it may be possible to produce a polyphenolic extract from apple wood at an industrial scale without extensive costs or altering the antioxidant properties. This study reveals the potential of apple tree wood residues valorisation through the recovery of phenolic compounds for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications.Annick Boeykens is a beneficiary of a PWO (‘Projectmatig Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek’) Grant, provided to Odisee by the Flem-ish Government, for the investigation project ‘Phenolic compounds in by-products’. Manuela M. Moreira (SFRH/BPD/97049/2013) wishes to acknowledge Fundo Social Europeu and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior for funding her postdoctoral fellowship by means of a POPH-QREN—Tipologia 4.1—Formação Avançada. The financial support from FCT/MEC through national funds and cofi-nanced by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020 through the project UID/QUI/50006/2013—POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265 and the project 6818—Transnational Cooperation, Agreement between Por-tugal (FCT) and Serbia (MSTD) are also acknowledged.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Valorization of apple tree wood residues by polyphenols extraction: Comparison between conventional and microwave-assisted extraction

For the first time, the characterization of antioxidant activity and phenolic profile of apple tree (Malus domestica) bark, core and roots was carried out. Phenolic compounds were extracted from the Belgium apple tree wood residues collected at two seasons, namely summer 2015 and winter 2016, using conventional (CE) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) techniques. For each extraction technique, the influence of the most important operational parameters, namely solvent composition, extraction time and temperature, on the total phenolic and flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity (DPPH-RSA) and ferric reducing activity power (FRAP) assays were optimized. The phenolic profile from the obtained extracts was also characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-PDA). Optimum conditions were: 20 mL ethanol:water 60:40 v/v, 20 min, 100 °C, sample weight 0.1 g for MAE and 20 mL ethanol:water 50:50 v/v, 2 h, 55 °C, sample weight 0.5 g for CE. Root extracts obtained by MAE (the most efficient technique) presented the highest phenolic (47.7 ± 0.9 mg gallic acid equivalents/g dry weight) and flavonoid (17.1 ± 0.8 mg epicatechin equivalents/g dry weight) content, and antioxidant activity (28.4 ± 2.0 mg trolox equivalents/g dry weight and 36.1 ± 2.7 mg ascorbic acid equivalents/g dry weight for DPPH-RSA and FRAP assays, respectively), followed by bark and core wood extracts. HPLC-PDA analysis revealed that phloridzin was the main contributor to the phenolic composition representing 52%–87% of the total amount of phenolic compounds quantified, while phenolic acids represents less than 10%. This study reveals the potential of apple tree wood residues valorization through the recovery of phenolic compounds for food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Endoscopic management of enteral tubes in adult patients - Part 1: definitions and indications. European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) guideline

Main recommendationsCellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

Endoscopic management of enteral tubes in adult patients - Part 2: peri- and post-procedural management. European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) guideline

Main recommendationsCellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

Hybrid PET- and MR-driven attenuation correction for enhanced ¹⁸F-NaF and ¹⁸F-FDG quantification in cardiovascular PET/MR imaging

Background: The standard MR Dixon-based attenuation correction (AC) method in positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance (PET/MR) imaging segments only the air, lung, fat and soft-tissues (4-class), thus neglecting the highly attenuating bone tissues and affecting quantification in bones and adjacent vessels. We sought to address this limitation by utilizing the distinctively high bone uptake rate constant Ki expected from ¹⁸F-Sodium Fluoride (¹⁸F-NaF) to segment bones from PET data and support 5-class hybrid PET/MR-driven AC for ¹⁸F-NaF and ¹⁸F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) PET/MR cardiovascular imaging. Methods: We introduce 5-class Ki/MR-AC for (i) ¹⁸F-NaF studies where the bones are segmented from Patlak Ki images and added as the 5th tissue class to the MR Dixon 4-class AC map. Furthermore, we propose two alternative dual-tracer protocols to permit 5-class Ki/MR-AC for (ii) ¹⁸F-FDG-only data, with a streamlined simultaneous administration of ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹⁸F-NaF at 4:1 ratio (R4:1), or (iii) for ¹⁸F-FDG-only or both ¹⁸F-FDG and ¹⁸F-NaF dual-tracer data, by administering ¹⁸F-NaF 90 minutes after an equal ¹⁸F-FDG dosage (R1:1). The Ki-driven bone segmentation was validated against computed tomography (CT)-based segmentation in rabbits, followed by PET/MR validation on 108 vertebral bone and carotid wall regions in 16 human volunteers with and without prior indication of carotid atherosclerosis disease (CAD). Results: In rabbits, we observed similar (< 1.2% mean difference) vertebral bone ¹⁸F-NaF SUVmean scores when applying 5-class AC with Ki-segmented bone (5-class Ki/CT-AC) vs CT-segmented bone (5-class CT-AC) tissue. Considering the PET data corrected with continuous CT-AC maps as gold-standard, the percentage SUVmean bias was reduced by 17.6% (¹⁸F-NaF) and 15.4% (R4:1) with 5-class Ki/CT-AC vs 4-class CT-AC. In humans without prior CAD indication, we reported 17.7% and 20% higher ¹⁸F-NaF target-to-background ratio (TBR) at carotid bifurcations wall and vertebral bones, respectively, with 5- vs 4-class AC. In the R4:1 human cohort, the mean ¹⁸F-FDG:¹⁸F-NaF TBR increased by 12.2% at carotid bifurcations wall and 19.9% at vertebral bones. For the R1:1 cohort of subjects without CAD indication, mean TBR increased by 15.3% (¹⁸F-FDG) and 15.5% (¹⁸F-NaF) at carotid bifurcations and 21.6% (¹⁸F-FDG) and 22.5% (¹⁸F-NaF) at vertebral bones. Similar TBR enhancements were observed when applying the proposed AC method to human subjects with prior CAD indication. Conclusions: Ki-driven bone segmentation and 5-class hybrid PET/MR-driven AC is feasible and can significantly enhance ¹⁸F-NaF and ¹⁸F-FDG contrast and quantification in bone tissues and carotid walls

VariantscanR: an R-package as a clinical tool for variant filtering of known phenotype-associated variants in domestic animals

Abstract Background Since the introduction of next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques, whole-exome sequencing (WES) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS) have not only revolutionized research, but also diagnostics. The gradual switch from single gene testing to WES and WGS required a different set of skills, given the amount and type of data generated, while the demand for standardization remained. However, most of the tools currently available are solely applicable for human analysis because they require access to specific databases and/or simply do not support other species. Additionally, a complicating factor in clinical genetics in animals is that genetic diversity is often dangerously low due to the breeding history. Combined, there is a clear need for an easy-to-use, flexible tool that allows standardized data processing and preferably, monitoring of genetic diversity as well. To fill these gaps, we developed the R-package variantscanR that allows an easy and straightforward identification and prioritization of known phenotype-associated variants identified in dogs and other domestic animals. Results The R-package variantscanR enables the filtering of variant call format (VCF) files for the presence of known phenotype-associated variants and allows for the estimation of genetic diversity using multi-sample VCF files. Next to this, additional functions are available for the quality control and processing of user-defined input files to make the workflow as easy and straightforward as possible. This user-friendly approach enables the standardisation of complex data analysis in clinical settings. Conclusion We developed an R-package for the identification of known phenotype-associated variants and calculation of genetic diversity

Valorization of apple tree wood residues by polyphenols extraction: Comparison between conventional and microwave-assisted extraction

status: publishe