Compound distribution, structural analysis and nanomechanical properties of nanofibers loaded with high-oleic palm oil nanoemulsions for packaging application

The effect of the HOPO concentration on the morphology, fiber diameter, oil load and distribution, protein structure, protein-oil colocalization, and nanomechanical properties of the NFs were evaluated. We obtained smooth and defect-free NFs with diameters in range of 77–94 nm. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy was used as a reliable method to confirm oil load and protein structure after electrospinning. β-turn, β-sheet, α-helix, and triple helical structures were quantified. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to analyze colocalization, and results revealed a high distribution of NE droplets along the NFs and high oil-protein colocalization (overlap coefficient of ~ 0.63). The nanomechanical properties of the NE-loaded NFs demonstrated that at higher HOPO concentrations, the elastic modulus decreased. Likewise, homogeneity and synergy between compounds were observed. The adhesion properties of NE-loaded NFs were associated with their sticky surface, which was attributed to presence of HOPO. The NE-loaded NFs presented suitable physical properties for edible packaging.Fil: Ricaurte, Leidy. Universidad de la Sabana; ColombiaFil: Perea Flores, María de Jesús. INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO NACIONAL (IPN);Fil: Méndez Méndez, Juan Vicente. INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO NACIONAL (IPN);Fil: Santagapita, Patricio Roman. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono; ArgentinaFil: Quintanilla Carvajal, María Ximena. Universidad de la Sabana; Colombi

Bioaccessibility assay, antioxidant activity and consumer-oriented sensory analysis of Beta vulgaris by-product encapsulated in Ca(II)-alginate beads for different foods

Bioaccessibility analysis and antioxidant activity along in vitro digestion and a consumer-oriented sensory analysis were conducted in three potential functional foods based on Ca(II)-alginate beads containing bioactive compounds extracted from beet stems. Ca(II)-alginate beads per se, and two selected products (cookies and turkish delights supplemented with the beads) were prepared. Regarding the beads, among the attributes rated by consumers, visual appreciation predominates, being color in the just-as-right (JAR) category and in the like preference. Instead, both flavor and sweet taste were attributes highly penalized and should be improved in beads to be accepted as food per se. A higher percentage of customers preferred cookies and turkish delights instead of only beads, considering global satisfaction. Regarding in vitro digestion, there was a significant content of phenolic compounds in the products with beads, showing a bioaccessibility greater than 80% (for cookies) and 26% (for turkish delights). Also, the antioxidant capacity measured by ABTS ranged between 50 and 109% for cookies and turkish delights, being lower when measured by FRAP (between 20 and 30%, respectively). Thus, including the beads with beet stem extract in both products leads to a significant increase in the content of phenolic compounds and in the antioxidant capacity compared to their counterparts, protecting the compound during oral and gastric phases. These results allow the generation of improved Ca(II)-alginate systems with promising functional properties for the development of ingredients and functional foods.Fil: Aguirre Calvo, Tatiana Rocio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Industrias; ArgentinaFil: Sosa, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios. - Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios.; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Bromatología; ArgentinaFil: López, Tamara Anahí. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios. - Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia de Los Alimentos de Entre Rios.; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Bromatología; ArgentinaFil: Quintanilla Carvajal, María Ximena. Universidad de la Sabana; ColombiaFil: Perullini, Ana Mercedes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; ArgentinaFil: Santagapita, Patricio Roman. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono; Argentin

Diminished Expression of Fat and Dachsous PCP Proteins Impaired Centriole Planar Polarization in Drosophila

Proper ciliary basal body positioning within a cell is key for cilia functioning. Centriole and basal body positioning depends on signaling pathways such as the planar cell polarity pathway (PCP) governed by Frizzled (Fz-PCP). There have been described two PCP pathways controlled by different protein complexes, the Frizzled-PCP and the Fat-PCP pathway. Centriole planar polarization in non-dividing cells is a dynamic process that depends on the Fz-PCP pathway to properly occur during development from flies to humans. However, the function of the Ft-PCP pathway in centrioles polarization is elusive. Here, we present a descriptive initial analysis of centrioles polarization in Fat-PCP loss of function (LOF) conditions. We found that Fat (Ft) and Dachsous (Ds) LOF showed a marked centrioles polarization defect similar to what we have previously reported in Fz-PCP alterations. Altogether, our data suggest that centriole planar polarization in Drosophila wings depends on both Ft-PCP and Fz-PCP pathways. Further analyses in single and double mutant conditions will be required to address the functional connection between PCP and centriole polarization in flies

Severity of SARS-COV-2 infection and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers: a meta-analysis

Background: The mechanism of entry of SARS-COV-2 into the human host cell is through the ACE2 receptor. During the pandemic, a hypothesis has been proposed that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) could be risk factors for the development of severe SARS-COV-2 infection. The objective of the study was to conduct a meta-analysis of the association between ACEI or ARB use and SARS-COV-2 infection severity or mortality. Material and methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Google scholar and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for observational studies published between December 2019 and August 4, 2020 Studies were included if they contained data on ACEI or ARB use and SARS-COV-2 infection severity or mortality. Effect statistics were pooled using random-effects models. The quality of included studies was assessed with the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS). Data on study design, study location, year of publication, number of participants, sex, age at baseline, outcome definition, exposure definition, effect estimates and 95% CIs were extracted. Results: Twenty-six studies (21 cohort studies and 5 case-control studies) were identified for inclusion, combining to a total sample of 361467 participants. Mean age was 61.48 (SD 8.26) years and 51.63 % were men. The mean NOS score of included studies was 7.85 (range: 7–9). Results suggested that ACEI or ARB use did not increase the risk of severe disease or mortality from SARS-COV-2 infection (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.75–1.02, p > 0.05). Conclusions: At present, the evidence available does not support the hypothesis of increased SARS-COV-2 risk withACEI or ARB drugs

Effects of probiotics on cognitive and emotional functions in healthy older adults: Protocol for a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled crossover trial

Aging is a process that includes changes in cognitive and emotional functions,as well as changes in the diversity and integrity of gut microbiota. Probiotictreatments have recently been studied as a potential new therapeutic approachto alleviate a wide range of problems in other populations; however, clinicalstudies in older adults remain insufficient and limited. Thus, the aim of thisproject is to evaluate the efficacy of a multispecies probiotic formulation as atherapeutic strategy for attenuating the emotional and cognitive decline asso-ciated with aging in adults over the age of 55. This is a double‐blind randomizedplacebo‐controlled crossover trial involving at least 32 older adults andcomparing two conditions: (a) probiotic, providing a multispecies probiotic for10 weeks (Lactobacillus rhamnosusandBifidobacterium lactis); and (b) placebo,receiving a harmless substance (potato starch). Despite the increasing use ofprobiotics for the treatment of cognitive and emotional problems, no study hasyet focused on this group, to the best of our knowledge. Therapeutic strategiesof the kind outlined in this protocol will help to shed light on the current state ofknowledge about this topic, as well as promote health programs tailored to thispopulation, which would encourage active aging and healthy lifestyles. Not onlydo we expect improvements in the emotional dimension in terms of anxiety,stress, depression, and sleep quality, we also expect improvements in the cog-nitive dimension in terms of attention,memory, and decreased impulsivity

Vibrational energies of PH3 calculated variationally at the complete basis set limit

The potential energy surface for the electronic ground state of PH3 was calculated at the CCSD(T) level using aug-cc-pV(Q+d)Z and aug-cc-pVQZ basis sets for P and H, respectively, with scalar relativistic corrections included. A parametrized function was fitted through these ab initio points, and one parameter of this function was empirically adjusted. This analytical PES was employed in variational calculations of vibrational energies with the newly developed program TROVE. The convergence of the calculated vibrational energies with increasing vibrational basis set size was improved by means of an extrapolation scheme analogous to the complete basis set limit schemes used in ab initio electronic structure calculations. The resulting theoretical energy values are in excellent agreement with the available experimentally derived values

Synthesis, structure and luminescence of Er3+-doped Y3Ga5O12 nano-garnets

A novel Y3(1-x)Er3xGa5O12 nanocrystalline garnet has been synthesized by a sol-gel technique and a complete structural, morphological, vibrational, and optical characterization has been carried out in order to correlate the local structure of the Er3+ ions with their optical properties. The synthesized nanocrystals are found in a single-phase garnet structure with an average grain size of around 60 nm. The good crystalline quality of the garnet structure is confirmed by FTIR and Raman measurements, since the phonon modes of the nano-garnet are similar to those found in the single crystal garnet. Under blue laser excitation, intense green and red visible and 1.5 mu m infrared luminescences are observed, whose relative intensities are very sensitive to the Er3+ concentration. The dynamics of these emissions under pulsed laser excitations are analyzed in the framework of different energy transfer interactions. Intense visible upconverted luminescence can be clearly observed by the naked eye for all synthesized Er3+-doped Y3Ga5O12 nano-garnets under a cw 790 nm laser excitation. The power dependency and the dynamics of the upconverted luminescence confirm the existence of different two-photon upconversion processes for the green and red emissions that strongly depend on the Er3+ concentration, showing the potential of these nano-garnets as excellent candidates for developing new optical devices.This work has been partially supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion of Spain (MICCIN) under The National Program of Materials (MAT2010-21270-C04-02; -03; -04), The Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Program (MALTA CSD2007-0045), and The National Infrastructure Program, by Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain (MINECO) within The Indo-Spanish Joint Programme of Cooperation in Science and Technology (PRI-PIBIN-2011-1153/DST-INT-Spain-P-38-11), and by the EU-FEDER funds (UCAN08-4E-008). S.F. Leon-Luis and V. Monteseguro wish to thank MICINN for the FPI grants (BES-2008-003353 and BES-2011-044596). Dr V. Venkatramu is grateful to DAE-BRNS, Government of India for the award of DAE Research Award for Young Scientists (no. 2010/20/34/5/BRNS/2223).Venkatramu, V.; León-Luis, SF.; Rodriguez-Mendoza, UR.; Monteseguro, V.; Manjón, FJ.; Lozano-Gorrín, AD.; Valiente, R.... (2012). Synthesis, structure and luminescence of Er3+-doped Y3Ga5O12 nano-garnets. Journal of Materials Chemistry. 22:13788-13799. doi:10.1039/c2jm31386cS13788137992

Lasers and optics: Looking towards third generation gravitational wave detectors

Third generation terrestrial interferometric gravitational wave detectors will likely require significant advances in laser and optical technologies to reduce two of the main limiting noise sources: thermal noise due to mirror coatings and quantum noise arising from a combination of shot noise and radiation pressure noise. Increases in laser power and possible changes of the operational wavelength require new high power laser sources and new electro-optic modulators and Faraday isolators. Squeezed light can be used to further reduce the quantum noise while nano-structured optical components can be used to reduce or eliminate mirror coating thermal noise as well as to implement all-reflective interferometer configurations to avoid thermal effects in mirror substrates. This paper is intended to give an overview on the current state-of-the-art and future trends in these areas of ongoing research and development.NSF/PHY0555453NSF/PHY0757968NSF/PHY0653582DFG/SFB/407DFG/SFB/TR7DFG/EXC/QUES

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions