mRNA Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine-Associated Myopericarditis in Adolescents: A Survey Study

In this survey study of institutions across the US, marked variability in evaluation, treatment, and follow-up of adolescents 12 through 18 years of age with mRNA coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine-associated myopericarditis was noted. Only one adolescent with life-threatening complications was reported, with no deaths at any of the participating institutions

Gluten free approach of biscuits preparation

Replacement of gluten is a challenging issue in preparation of the bakery products. The present work aimed to develop gluten-free biscuits by using gluten-free flours like rice, sorghum, and corn in different ratios (0, 25, 33.33, 50, and 100%). The quality of the prepared biscuits was analyzed based on different physical, chemical, and nutritional parameters. It was found that there was a significant (p < 0.05) effect of flour ratio on the chemical and nutritional properties of the biscuits. Sample with an equal ratio of different flours was found to be good in terms of total sugar, reducing sugar, protein content, fat content, moisture content, ash content, and some physical properties like spread ratio, volume, and densities. Sensory analysis was also performed and found that the biscuits are high in overall acceptability and a sample with an equal ratio of flours was found to be highly accepted. It can be suggested that whole wheat flour can plausibly be substituted by gluten-free soy, corn, and rice flour

Drying kinetics and activation energy for solar drying of ginger slices: Solar drying of ginger

Drying is one of the oldest and most important preservation method for food in which by reducing the water activity the shelf life can be increased. In the present investigation, fresh ginger was pretreated in calcium oxide solution at different concentrations. Solar drying at three temperature levels viz., 55, 65 and 75o C at loading densities of 0.147 g/cm2, 0.176 g/cm2, 0.206 g/cm2 respectively were used for the investigation. Results of study revealed that the total time required for ginger drying in solar dryer curtails with rise in drying air temperature and increased as loading density increased. The activation energy was observed to be 20.45 kJ mol-1, 29.06 kJ mol-1 and 17.6 kJ mol-1 for 0.147 g/cm2, 0.176 g/cm2 and 0.206 g/cm2 loading density respectively. Also, the diffusivity increased with increase in temperature from 45 to 65 oC

Diagnostic and prognostic role of MRI in spinal trauma, its comparison and correlation with clinical profile and neurological outcome, according to ASIA impairment scale

Aims and objectives: To evaluate the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a non-invasive diagnostic tool in patients with acute and chronic spinal trauma and to compare and correlate the MRI findings with those of patients′ clinical profile and neurological outcome according to ASIA impairment scale to assess prognostic and clinical value of MRI. Materials and Methods: Sixty two patients of spinal trauma formed the study group in a prospective fashion. The patients undergoing MR imaging and magnetic resonance images were analyzed and correlated with findings on neurological examination according to American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) impairment scale (AIS) at the time of MRI examination and subsequently at sub-acute interval to assess neurological outcome. Statistical Analysis : Sample profile was described in terms of 95% confidence limit and proportion. To describe strength of association between extent of spinal cord injury and outcome, odd′s ratio, bivariate and multi variant analysis, was used. Pearson′s chi square (χ) 2 statistics was applied to test the association between two categorical variables. Data were analyzed using statistical software package, STATA 9.2 and the difference was considered to be significant if ′P′ value was <0.05. Observation and Results: The cord edema without hemorrhage was the most common MR finding (41.5%). The others were sizable focus of hemorrhage within the cord (33%), epidural hematoma (5.0%), and normal cord (26%). Majority of MR findings correlated well with clinical profile of the patient according to ASIA impairment scale. This study demonstrated that patients with presence of sizable focus of haemorrhage had larger cord edema and more severe grade of initial ASIA impairment scale( AIS) with poor recovery at follow up (P=0.032).Improvement in upper extremity was more than lower extremity. Severe cord compression was also associated with poor neurological outcome; however it was not statistically significant (P=0.149). Conclusions: With this study the authors concluded that various MRI findings in acute spinal cord injury correlated well with the initial clinical findings and on follow-up according to ASIA impairment scale. MRI is useful for initial diagnosis of acute spinal cord injury and its prognostication for predicting neurological recovery

Citrus fruit: Classification, value addition, nutritional and medicinal values, and relation with pandemic and hidden hunger

Citrus fruits belong to the Rutaceae family, which comprises sweet oranges, sour and bitter oranges, mandarins, lemons, limes, grapefruit, pomelo, citrons, etc, and a wide range of hybrids and cybrids. The presence of vitamin and flavonoid enhance the nutritional and medicinal properties. Hesperidin, found in citrus fruits is one of the major flavonoids which binds with the active protein site of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS-CoV-2 (Corona Virus-2). Citrus also helps to boost immunity. Fruits cannot be kept for a longer period under normal conditions due to postharvest decay which causes heavy economic losses of up to 30% of the total production and can go up to 50% in underdeveloped countries. This post-harvest loss causes non-utilization and wastage of citrus and the world need nutritional security to prevent the pandemic and hidden hunger. So, it is required to process the fruit in the form of canned products, squash, juice, juice concentrate, puree, essential oil, pickle, vinegar, etc and enriched &amp; fortified products such as fortified vermicelli or cookies with orange peel powder can help to enhance immunity and prevent respiratory issues for utilization of citrus. The by-product obtained after processing can be used to extract the essential oil and pectin from the waste. This value addition, enrichment, and fortification help the citrus to reach the people for consumption and develop immunity. Hence, it could help to reduce the activity against the COVID virus; and help to resolve the issue of hidden hunger

Whey-carrot based functional beverage: Development and storage study

The current study was designed to prepare whey-carrot-based functional beverages and to study the effect on physicochemical properties during the 28-day storage period. Different ratios of whey and carrot juice were selected for the preparation of the six formulations, out of which based on the sensory acceptance only three were selected for further storage studies (sample 1 = 45:55, sample 2 = 50:50, and sample 3 = 55:45 of carrot juice to whey ratio). During 28 days of storage, the developed beverage samples revealed a significant increase in reducing sugars, total phenolic content, and acidity. The pH, sweetness, and acceptance percentage of the beverage were found to be decreased with the storage period. It was also found that there is no change in the properties of the beverage storage with and without the preservative. It was revealed that beverage with less proportion of carrot juice is more acceptable quality. The results also suggest that whey can be used with fruit and vegetable to create the whey-based beverage.Peer reviewe

Utilization of Food Waste for the Development of Composite Bread

The development of highly nutritious bakery products with optimum utilization of food waste is a major challenge for the food industry. The optimum utilization of food waste for the sustainable development goal of the country is important for the growth of the nation. The aim of the present work is to prepare value-added composite flour-mixed bread from waste fruit and vegetables. The composite flour was prepared in four formulations of peel and pomace with wheat flour (PPWF), as PPWF1, PPWF2, PPWF3, and PPWF4. Composite flour was blended with a mix of vegetable and fruit pomace powders and whole wheat flour. Indian gooseberry pomace powder, apple pomace powder, bottle gourd peel powder, and potato peel powder were used with whole wheat flour to make pomace and whole wheat flour compositions such as PPWF1, PPWF2, PPWF3, and PPWF4. Out of these four flours, PPWF3 contained a good amount of fiber 8.16%, crude protein 3.18%, total phenolic content 14.48%, moisture 9.5%, vitamin C 13.64 mg/100 g, and total phenolic compound 14.48 (mg/GAE/g), which are maximum and acceptable range values as compared to the other three composite flours and the control group flour. PPWF3 is used as a partial replacement ratio for wheat flour due to its high phenolic content, vitamin C content, and richness in fibers. This composite flour is used to make bread dough, and two samples, G1 and G2, are made, out of which G2 offers better nutritional, functional, and sensory evaluations in comparison with refined wheat bread, which is taken as a control group. Thus, such utilization of food waste in bread making can generate value from waste and improve the nutritional attributes of bread, which may improve an individual’s health

mRNA Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccine-Associated Myopericarditis in Adolescents: A Survey Study

In this survey study of institutions across the US, marked variability in evaluation, treatment, and follow-up of adolescents 12 through 18 years of age with mRNA coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine-associated myopericarditis was noted. Only one adolescent with life-threatening complications was reported, with no deaths at any of the participating institutions