How do different lighting conditions affect the vision and quality of life of people with glaucoma? A systematic review

This article is a systematic review of evidence regarding the impact of different lighting conditions on the vision and quality of life (QoL) of people with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). A systematic literature search was carried out using CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Embase, and Ovid Nursing Database for studies: published up to April 2019; including people diagnosed with POAG; and assessing visual function or QoL in response to changing lighting/luminance levels or glare. Two researchers independently screened studies for eligibility. Data were extracted from eligible studies regarding study design, participant characteristics, outcomes, and results. Quality of included studies was critically appraised. Of 8437 studies, 56 eligible studies were included. Studies investigated the effects of lighting on the following domains among people with POAG: QoL (18/56), psychophysical measures (16/56), functional vision (10/56), activities of daily living (10/56), and qualitative findings (2/56). POAG negatively affects low-luminance contrast sensitivity, glare symptoms, and dark adaptation time and extent. In vision-related QoL questionnaires, people with POAG report problems with lighting, glare, and dark adaptation more frequently than any other domain. These problems worsen with progressing visual field loss. Early-stage POAG patients experience significantly more difficulties in low-luminance or changing lighting conditions than age-matched controls (AMCs), challenging perceptions of early-stage POAG as asymptomatic. However, performance-based studies seldom show significant differences between POAG participants and AMCs on tasks simulating daily activities under non-optimal lighting conditions. Further research with larger samples is required to optimise ambient and task-oriented lighting that can support patients’ adaptation to POAG

Extraction of Biocompatible Collagen From Blue Shark Skins Through the Conventional Extraction Process Intensification Using Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents

ERC-2016-CoG 725034The disposal of large amounts of skin waste resulting from the blue shark fishing industry presents several industrial and environmental waste management concerns. In addition, these marine subproducts are interesting sources of collagen, a fibrous protein that shows high social and economic interest in a broad range of biomedical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications. However, blue shark wasted skins are a poorly explored matrix for this purpose, and conventional collagen recovery methodologies involve several pre-treatment steps, long extraction times and low temperatures. This work presents a new green and sustainable collagen extraction approach using a natural deep eutectic solvent composed of citric acid:xylitol:water at a 1:1:10 molar ratio, and the chemical characterization of the extracted collagen by discontinuous electrophoresis, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy and circular dichroism. The extracted material was a pure type I collagen, and the novel approach presented an extraction yield 2.5 times higher than the conventional one, without pre-treatment of raw material and reducing the procedure time from 96 to 1 h. Furthermore, the in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation, performed with a mouse fibroblasts cell line, has proven the biocompatibility of the extracted material. Overall, the obtained results demonstrate a simple, quick, cheap and environmentally sustainable process to obtain marine collagen with promising properties for biomedical and cosmetic applications.publishersversionpublishe

Fractionated extraction of polyphenols from mate tea leaves using a combination of hydrophobic/ hydrophilic NADES

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The AuthorsA new methodology for the selective extraction of antioxidants from mate tea leaves (and decaffeinated mate tea leaves), using different natural deep eutectic systems (NADES), is reported in this paper. A fractionated extraction was carried out and the optimization of the extraction conditions such as solid/liquid ratio, temperature, time, stirring and the use of ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) technology was performed. The results demonstrate that a sequential extraction using, in a first step, an hydrophobic system Men:Lau (2:1) and, in a second step, an hydrophilic lactic acid-based NADES, leads to two distinct extracts: the first one rich in pigments and the second one rich in polyphenols. NADES systems were able to extract 30% more of the polyphenolic components of the mate tea leaves matrices, when compared with traditional solvents/techniques. Moreover, it has been shown that the incorporation of the extract in the NADES, compared to the same extract in aqueous medium was beneficial for the stabilization of the antioxidants. It maintains their functionality at least for three months, reaching 41% more versus the extracts obtained by traditional solvents/techniques. The absence of caffeine in the extracts did not shown to have any effects on the stability results.publishersversionpublishe

Liquid chromatography–diode array detection–electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry/nuclear magnetic resonance analyses of the anti-hyperglycemic flavonoid extract of Genista tenera Structure elucidation of a flavonoid-C-glycoside

The anti-hyperglycemic flavonoid extract obtained from Genista tenera was first studied by liquid chromatography (LC)–diode array detection (DAD) which showed the presence of two major compounds. One of them was identified as genistein-7-O-glucoside. Luteolin-7-O-glucoside was detected as a minor constituent, while luteolin-7,3′-di-O-glucoside and rutin were found in trace amounts. LC–DAD–ESI–MS and NMR were used to confirm the structure of these compounds and allowed the elucidation of the structure of the unknown major compound, which is the flavonoid 5,7,4′-trihydroxyisoflavone-8-C-glucoside.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How do different lighting conditions affect the vision and quality of life of people with glaucoma? A systematic review

This article is a systematic review of evidence regarding the impact of different lighting conditions on the vision and quality of life (QoL) of people with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). A systematic literature search was carried out using CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, Embase, and Ovid Nursing Database for studies: published up to April 2019; including people diagnosed with POAG; and assessing visual function or QoL in response to changing lighting/luminance levels or glare. Two researchers independently screened studies for eligibility. Data were extracted from eligible studies regarding study design, participant characteristics, outcomes, and results. Quality of included studies was critically appraised. Of 8437 studies, 56 eligible studies were included. Studies investigated the effects of lighting on the following domains among people with POAG: QoL (18/56), psychophysical measures (16/56), functional vision (10/56), activities of daily living (10/56), and qualitative findings (2/56). POAG negatively affects low-luminance contrast sensitivity, glare symptoms, and dark adaptation time and extent. In vision-related QoL questionnaires, people with POAG report problems with lighting, glare, and dark adaptation more frequently than any other domain. These problems worsen with progressing visual field loss. Early-stage POAG patients experience significantly more difficulties in low-luminance or changing lighting conditions than age-matched controls (AMCs), challenging perceptions of early-stage POAG as asymptomatic. However, performance-based studies seldom show significant differences between POAG participants and AMCs on tasks simulating daily activities under non-optimal lighting conditions. Further research with larger samples is required to optimise ambient and task-oriented lighting that can support patients’ adaptation to POAG

Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of chitooligosaccharides upon lymphocytes

Two COS mixtures and a low molecular weight chitosan (LMWC) were tested for potential cytotoxicity and genotoxicity upon human lymphocytes. Genotoxicity was evaluated in vitro by cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus and alkaline comet assays, while cytotoxicity was assessed by flow cytometry analysis. Our results suggest that COS do not exhibit any genotoxicity upon human lymphocytes, independently of MW or concentration. However, above 0.07 mg/mL COS induced strong cytotoxic effects. According to the concentration used, such cytotoxicity will induce cell death, essentially by necrosis (>0.10 mg/mL) and/or apoptosis (<0.10 mg/mL). The level of necrosis/apoptosis induced by high COS concentrations, suggests a promising use as apoptosis inducers in specific cancer situations.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Evaluation of cardiovascular protective effect of different apple varieties - Correlation of response with composition

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Food Chemistry. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Food Chemistry, Vol. 135, Issue 4, 2012. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.07.067"Epidemiological evidence supports the concept that diets rich in fruits and vegetables promote health and attenuate or delay the onset of cardiovascular disease (CVD). In particular, a reduced risk of CVD has been associated with apple consumption, probably due to the cholesterol-lowering effect of the main bioactive compounds, namely fiber and polyphenols. In this work, the effect of diet supplementation with 20% of three Portuguese apple cultivars (Bravo de Esmolfe, Malápio Serra and Golden), containing distinct phenolic and fiber concentrations, on serum lipid profile and oxLDL of male Wistar rats fed a cholesterol-enriched diet (2%) was evaluated. After 30 days, only Bravo de Esmolfe apple was able to decrease significantly serum levels of triglycerides, total and LDL cholesterol concentrations (reductions of 27.2%, 21.0% and 20.4%, respectively, in relation to the cholesterol-enriched diet group, p<0.05) . The levels of oxLDL were also significantly improved with the consumption of this apple variety (reductions of 20.0% and 11.9%, in relation to the cholesterol-enriched diet group and control group, respectively, p>0.05) as well as with Malapio da Serra apple (reductions of 9.8% in relation to the cholesterol-enriched diet group, p<0.05). Correlation of the bioactive response with chemical composition showed that catechin, epicatechin, procyanidin B1 and -carotene are the major phytocompounds responsible for the cholesterol lowering ability of apples. The antioxidant potential may have also contributed to this beneficial effect.