Documenting the Recovery of Vascular Services in European Centres Following the Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Peak: Results from a Multicentre Collaborative Study

Objective: To document the recovery of vascular services in Europe following the first COVID-19 pandemic peak. Methods: An online structured vascular service survey with repeated data entry between 23 March and 9 August 2020 was carried out. Unit level data were collected using repeated questionnaires addressing modifications to vascular services during the first peak (March – May 2020, “period 1”), and then again between May and June (“period 2”) and June and July 2020 (“period 3”). The duration of each period was similar. From 2 June, as reductions in cases began to be reported, centres were first asked if they were in a region still affected by rising cases, or if they had passed the peak of the first wave. These centres were asked additional questions about adaptations made to their standard pathways to permit elective surgery to resume. Results: The impact of the pandemic continued to be felt well after countries’ first peak was thought to have passed in 2020. Aneurysm screening had not returned to normal in 21.7% of centres. Carotid surgery was still offered on a case by case basis in 33.8% of centres, and only 52.9% of centres had returned to their normal aneurysm threshold for surgery. Half of centres (49.4%) believed their management of lower limb ischaemia continued to be negatively affected by the pandemic. Reduced operating theatre capacity continued in 45.5% of centres. Twenty per cent of responding centres documented a backlog of at least 20 aortic repairs. At least one negative swab and 14 days of isolation were the most common strategies used for permitting safe elective surgery to recommence. Conclusion: Centres reported a broad return of services approaching pre-pandemic “normal” by July 2020. Many introduced protocols to manage peri-operative COVID-19 risk. Backlogs in cases were reported for all major vascular surgeries

Development, nutritional and sensory attributes of nutritious bread prepared by using combination of wheat, soy and rice

A study was conducted to develop nutritious unleavened bread (chapati) using partially defatted salt treated soy dhal, wheat and rice flour. Different salt treatments viz. sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride and sodium tripolyphosphate were given which significantly (P<0.05) reduced the cooking time of soybean. The organoleptic evaluation of chapatis was conducted by scoring on a 9-point hedonic scale for various sensory parameters, i.e. colour, appearance, flavour, texture, taste and overall acceptability, which indicated that the developed chapati was acceptable to human palate. The protein and total soluble sugar contents of the developed chapati were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those of the unprocessed control. However, fat, ash and crude fiber contents varied nonsignificantly. Processing treatments, i.e. mixing and roasting involved in chapati making reduced the phytic acid (19.1%) and polyphenols (52.92%) contents significantly (P<0.05) over the unprocessed composite flour. As a result, in vitro protein and starch digestibility of chapati also improved significantly to the extent of 6.89 and 26.6 percent, respectively

Effect of probiotic fermentation on carbohydrate and mineral profile of an indigenously developed food blend

An indigenous food mixture was developed by mixing rice flour, whey, sprouted green gram paste and tomato pulp (2:1:1:1, w/w) and was coded as RWGT. The mixture was autoclaved (1.5 kg cm-2, 15 min, 121 °C), cooled and inoculated with 2% liquid culture (containing 106cells ml-1 broth). Two types of fermentations were carried out, single culture fermentation [L. casei, L. plantarum (37 °C, 24 h)] and sequential culture fermentation [S. boulardii (25 °C, 24 h)] + L. casei (37 °C, 24 h); S. boulardii (25 °C, 24 h) + L. plantarum (37 °C, 24 h)]. Single culture fermentations caused significant (P<0.05) reduction in the total soluble sugars (51-54%), non-reducing sugars (73-78%) and starch content (41-43%). Sequential culture fermentations decreased the total available carbohydrates by 62-64%. All the fermentations significantly (P<0.05) improved the HCl-extractability of minerals viz. iron (54-67%), calcium (22-32%), sodium (25-30%) and potassium (17-24%)

Dietary non-heme iron bioavailability among children (5-8 years) in a rural, high anemia prevalent area in North India: comparison of algorithms.

Non-heme iron bioavailability of diet consumed by children (ages 5 to 8) in rural area of India was estimated by comparison of algorithms. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted among 232 children and consisted of a 24-hour recall on 2 nonconsecutive days. Four algorithms were chosen to estimate the non-heme iron bioavailability. Daily average non-heme iron bioavailability as calculated by different algorithms was low (between 3.2% and 4.6%). Correlations of bioavailable non-heme iron among different algorithms were strong, ranging from rs = 0.67 to rs = 0.85 (p = .01