Physico-chemical properties, fatty acid profile and nutrition in palm oil

The rapid expansion in world production of palm oil over the last three decades has attracted the attention of the oils and fats industry. Oil palm gives the highest yield of oil per unit of any crop. Palm oil is the major oil produced, with annual world production in excess of 50 million tonnes. Throughout the world, 90% of palm oil is used for edible purposes (e.g., margarine, deep fat frying, shortening, ice creams, and cocoa butter substitutes in chocolate); the remaining 10% is used for soap and oleo chemical manufacturing (fatty acids, methyl esters, fatty nitrogenous derivatives, surfactants and detergents). Two distinct oils are produced by oil palms (palm kernel oil and palm oil), both of which are important in world trade. Palm oil contains 50% saturated fatty acids. The saturated fatty acid to unsaturated fatty acid ratio of palm oil is close to unity and it contains a high amount of the antioxidants, β-carotene, and vitamin E. Palm oil contains a high proportion of palmitic acid as well as considerable quantities of oleic and linoleic acids. The physicochemical properties, fatty acid profile and nutrition in palm oils are reviewed

A Comparative Analysis of Clinical Characteristics and Laboratory Findings of COVID-19 between Intensive Care Unit and Non-Intensive Care Unit Pediatric Patients: A Multicenter, Retrospective, Observational Study from Iranian Network for Research in Viral

Introduction: To date, little is known about the clinical features of pediatric COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Objective: Herein, we aimed to describe the differences in demographic characteristics, laboratory findings, clinical presentations, and outcomes of Iranian pediatric COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU versus those in non-ICU settings. Methods: This multicenter investigation involved 15 general and pediatrics hospitals and included cases with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection based on positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) admitted to these centers between March and May 2020, during the initial peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. Results: Overall, 166 patients were included, 61 (36.7%) of whom required ICU admission. The highest number of admitted cases to ICU were in the age group of 1–5 years old. Malignancy and heart diseases were the most frequent underlying conditions. Dyspnea was the major symptom for ICU-admitted patients. There were significant decreases in PH, HCO3 and base excess, as well as increases in creatinine, creatine phosphokinase (CPK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and potassium levels between ICU-admitted and non-ICU patients. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), shock, and acute cardiac injury were the most common features among ICU-admitted patients. The mortality rate in the ICU-admitted patients was substantially higher than non-ICU cases (45.9% vs. 1.9%, respectively; p<0.001). Conclusions: Underlying diseases were the major risk factors for the increased ICU admissions and mortality rates in pediatric COVID-19 patients. There were few paraclinical parameters that could differentiate between pediatrics in terms of prognosis and serious outcomes of COVID-19. Healthcare providers should consider children as a high-risk group, especially those with underlying medical conditions

Expression of Bcl-2 and p53 protein in Stomach Cancer Patients and Association with Clinicopathological Factors

Introduction: Stomach cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Bcl-2 and p53 appear to be important biomarkers in patients with stomach cancer. In this study, we investigated the expression of Bcl-2 and p53 proteins and its association with clinicopathological factors in 67 Iranian stomach cancer patients over a 5-year period (2010-2015). Material and Methods: In this cross sectional study, the expression of the Bcl-2 and p53 protein was determined using immunohistochemistry, and the pathological features of tumors were evaluated. Results: The expression of Bcl-2 and p53 proteins was detected in 47% and 48% of the patients, respectively. Of the 67 patients, 39 patients had intestinal-type gastric adenocarcinoma, and 57 patients had grade І and ΙΙ. There was a statistically significant association between Bcl-2 and p53 expressions (P=0.04). Conclusions: There is an association between Bcl-2 and p53 protein expressions in patients with stomach cancer. Bcl-2 and p53 protein expressions are more frequent in high-grade tumors. Bcl-2 and p53 expression might play an important role in the early development and phenotypic differentiation of gastric carcinomas, but not so in tumor progression

Preparation and Characterization of Maltodextrin Microcapsules Containing Walnut Green Husk Extract

In recent years, the field of natural antimicrobial and antioxidant compounds is one of the main research topics in the food industry. Application of agricultural residues is mainly cheap, and available resources are receiving increased attention. Walnut green husk is one of the agricultural residues that is considered as natural compounds with biological properties because of phenolic compounds. In this study, maltodextrin 10% was used for microencapsulation of walnut green husk extract. At first, the extract was examined to consider extraction yield, total phenolic compounds, and antioxidant activation. The results showed the extraction yield of 81.43%, total phenolic compounds of 3997 [mg GAE/100 g], antioxidant activity [DPPH] of 84.85% for walnut green husk extract. Antioxidant activity is about 75%-81% and by DPPH. At the next stage, microencapsulation was done by spry-drying method. The microencapsulation efficiency was 72%-79%. The results of SEM tests confirmed this microencapsulation process. In addition, microencapsulated and free extract was more effective on gram-positive bacteria’s rather than the gram-negative ones. According to the study, walnut green husk can be used as a cheap antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds due to sufficient value of phenolic compounds

A review of pharmaceutical policies in response to economic crises and sanctions

An economic crisis has been defined as a situation in which the scale of a country’s economy becomes smaller in a period of time. Economic crises happen for various reasons, including economic sanctions. Economic crises in a country may affect national priorities for investment and expenditure and reduce available resources, and hence may affect the health care sector including access to medicines. We reviewed the pharmaceutical policies that the countries adopted in order to mitigate the potential negative effects on access to medicines. We reviewed published reports and articles after conducting a comprehensive search of the PubMed and the Google Scholar. After extracting relevant data from the identified articles, we used the World Health Organization (WHO) access to medicines framework as a guide for the categorization of the policies. We identified a total of 40 studies, of which 10 reported the national pharmaceutical policies adopted to reduce the negative impacts of economic crises on access to medicines in high-income and middle-income countries. We identified 89 policies adopted in the 11 countries and categorized them into 12 distinct policy directions. Most of the policies focused on financial aspects of the pharmaceutical sector. In some cases, countries adopted policies that potentially had negative effects on access to medicines. Only Italy had adopted policies encompassing all four accesses to medicine factors recommended by the WHO. While the countries have adopted many seemingly effective policies, little evidence exists on the effectiveness of these policies to improve access to medicines at a time of an economic crisis

Characterization of microcapsule containing walnut (Juglans regia L.) green husk extract as preventive antioxidant and antimicrobial agent

Background: Walnut green husk (WGH) extract has been known as potential preventive and therapeutic antioxidants and antimicrobials due to its high polyphenol content. In this study, preparation of spray dried WGH extract-loaded microcapsules by maltodextrin and its blending with two other natural biodegradable polymers, pectin, or alginate were investigated. Methods: In this study, encapsulation efficiency (EE), total phenol content (Folin–Ciocalteu reagent method), antioxidant (DPPH scavenging assay) and antimicrobial activities (agar well diffusion method) structural (SEM and FTIR studies), and release properties of WGH extract-loaded microcapsules were investigated. Results: High retention of phenolic content in microcapsules indicated the successful encapsulation of WGH extract. Addition of biopolymers to maltodextrin matrix has a positive effect on EE and other properties of microcapsules. The microcapsules prepared with mixture of maltodextrin and pectin had higher EE (79.35 ± 0.87%) and total phenolic (TP) content (56.83 ± 1.04 mg gallic acid equivalents [GAE]/100 g) in comparison to maltodextrin and alginate mixture (EE: 75.21 ± 0.24%, TP content: 54.33 ± 1.53 mg GAE/100 g) and maltodextrin only matrix (EE: 72.50 ± 1.00%, TP content: 50.67 ± 1.35 mg GAE/100 g). Extract-loaded microcapsules also showed nearly spherical structure, good antioxidant (with the percentage DPPH inhibition ranged from 75.17 ± 1.42% to 80.87 ± 2.29%), and antimicrobial properties (with mean inhibition diameter zone ranged from 7.76 ± 0.86 mm to 11.53 ± 0.45 mm). Fourier transform infrared analyses suggested the presence of extract on microcapsules. The in vitro extract release from microcapsules followed an anomalous non-Fickian diffusion mechanism with almost complete release. Conclusions: WGH extract microcapsules can be used as novel and economic bioactive phytochemical and therapeutic agents to prevent oxidation and microbial activity

COVID-19 in Pediatrics: Demographic, Clinical, Laboratory, and Radiological Characteristics of Infected Patients With SARS-CoV-2

The COVID-19 disease usually leads to mild infectious disease in children, but some develop serious complications. Here, we describe the characteristics of children with COVID-19 in northern Iran, the Golestan province. Ninety-one confirmed cases were enrolled in the study, aged 0–18 years. Demographic, clinical, comorbidity, laboratory, and radiological data were compared based on the disease severity (admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) or not) and disease outcome (recovered or deceased). Sixteen (17.5%) cases were hospitalized in ICU, and 8/91 (8.8%) deceased. Fever and cough were the most common clinical symptoms. Among all symptoms notified there were no significant differences between severe and milder cases, or between those who deceased and recovered. Failure to thrive (FTT), malignant disease and neurological disease were significantly more prevalent in severe cases as was frequently reported comorbidities. Laterality, ground-glass opacity, and lung consolidation were the most common findings in chest computed tomography. The data confirms that the COVID-19 disease has various presentations in children, and clinical, laboratory, and radiological findings may help predict the development of severe forms of COVID-19 among children