Quality characteristics and oxidative stabilityof chicken kavurma formulated with chicken abdominal fat as beef fat replacer

Kavurma is a traditional cooked ready-to-eat meat product that mainly produce in Middle East countries. In kavurma formulation, main ingredients are beef/mutton meat, beef/mutton fat and salt. In this regard, fat has high influence on product’s general characteristics. Due to increasing demand on poultry products, food industry working on novel formulations include chicken meat and chicken abdominal fat. Chicken abdominal fat is an important by-product of chicken meat industry and rich in mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. For this reason, chicken abdominal fat could be used to improve healthier products. In this study, effects of using chicken abdominal fat (CAF) in chicken kavurma formulation as partial beef fat (BF) replacer on pH, color, textural and sensorial quality and oxidative stability during cold storage (4°C) for 3 months was studied. For this purpose, one control (C: 100% BF) sample and four modified samples, P1 (87.5% BF+12.5% CAF), P2 (75% BF+25% CAF), P3 (62.5% BF+37.5% CAF) and P4 (50% BF+50% CAF), were produced. Proximate composition and texture profile analysis of samples were determined after production whereas pH, lipid oxidation parameters, color and sensory properties of samples were performed on days 0, 30, 60 and 90. Using CAF in kavurma formulations more than 25% resulted higher pH drop during storage, and resulted lower taste and general acceptability scores compared to C samples at the end of storage. P2, P3 and P4 samples had lower TBARS value compared to C during storage period probably result of antioxidative antioxidative ingredients in chicken fed. As expected, due to the semi liquid characteristic of CAF, using this fat type resulted softer products. To sum up, using CAF as BF replacer resulted lower TBARS compared to C, but it had some negative influence on sensory and quality characteristics at high ratio

Backward Reachability Analysis of Neural Feedback Loops: Techniques for Linear and Nonlinear Systems

As neural networks (NNs) become more prevalent in safety-critical applications such as control of vehicles, there is a growing need to certify that systems with NN components are safe. This paper presents a set of backward reachability approaches for safety certification of neural feedback loops (NFLs), i.e., closed-loop systems with NN control policies. While backward reachability strategies have been developed for systems without NN components, the nonlinearities in NN activation functions and general noninvertibility of NN weight matrices make backward reachability for NFLs a challenging problem. To avoid the difficulties associated with propagating sets backward through NNs, we introduce a framework that leverages standard forward NN analysis tools to efficiently find over-approximations to backprojection (BP) sets, i.e., sets of states for which an NN policy will lead a system to a given target set. We present frameworks for calculating BP over approximations for both linear and nonlinear systems with control policies represented by feedforward NNs and propose computationally efficient strategies. We use numerical results from a variety of models to showcase the proposed algorithms, including a demonstration of safety certification for a 6D system.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures. Journal extension of arXiv:2204.0831

TREATMENT ALTERNATIVES FOR MICROPOLLUTANT REMOVAL IN WASTEWATER

Present of micropollutants in aquatic environments has become an alarming environmental problem for both living creatures and environment. Micropollutants, also called as emerging contaminants arise from natural substances and increasing variety of anthropogenic events. Micropollutants consist of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, steroid hormones, industrial chemicals, pesticides, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and other recently seen compounds. These emerging contaminants are commonly found in very low concentration in different water bodies ranging from a few ng/L to several μg/L.     Many existing Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in all over the world are not especially designed for removing micropollutants. Low concentration and diversity of micropollutants complicate the dedection and analysis procedures during the treatment processes. Furthermore, entering micropollutants to the WWTPs continuously and stable structure of many micropollutants make difficult to eliminate these emerging compounds sufficiently. Therefore, many micropollutants of unknown concentration pass to aquatic environment from WWTPs. The occurence of micropollutants with a significant levels in aquatic environments disrupt the aquatic ecosystems with a number of adverse effects including short-term and long-term toxicity such as endocrine disrupting effects. Besides the known negative effects of micropollutants there are great number of micropollutants whose effects on living organisms are still unknown. As a result, removing these compounds is of a great importance both to protect environmental ecosystem and human health. Considering that the conventional methods are insufficient for removing the micropollutants other alternative treatment methods including coagulation–flocculation, activated carbon adsorption (powdered activated carbon and granular activated carbon), advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), membrane processes and membrane bioreactor can be applied for better removal.In this study, alternative treatments methods and removal efficiencies of each treatment methods on different micropollutants were investigated and all alternative treatment methods were compared between each other in terms of micropollutant removal rates

Dual-Energy CT Material Decomposition:The Value in the Detection of Lymph Node Metastasis from Breast Cancer

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a dual-energy computed tomography (DECT)-based material decomposition algorithm for iodine quantification and fat fraction analysis to detect lymph node metastases in breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: 30 female patients (mean age, 63.12 ± 14.2 years) diagnosed with breast cancer who underwent pre-operative chest DECT were included. To establish a reference standard, the study correlated histologic repots after lymphadenectomy or confirming metastasis in previous/follow-up examinations. Iodine concentration and fat fraction were determined through region-of-interest measurements on venous DECT iodine maps. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was conducted to identify the optimal threshold for differentiating between metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes. Results: A total of 168 lymph nodes were evaluated, divided into axillary (metastatic: 46, normal: 101) and intramammary (metastatic: 10, normal: 11). DECT-based fat fraction values exhibited significant differences between metastatic (9.56 ± 6.20%) and non-metastatic lymph nodes (41.52 ± 19.97%) (p &lt; 0.0001). Absolute iodine concentrations showed no significant differences (2.25 ± 0.97 mg/mL vs. 2.08 ± 0.97 mg/mL) (p = 0.7999). The optimal fat fraction threshold for diagnosing metastatic lymph nodes was determined to be 17.75%, offering a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 94%. Conclusions: DECT fat fraction analysis emerges as a promising method for identifying metastatic lymph nodes, overcoming the morpho-volumetric limitations of conventional CT regarding lymph node assessment. This innovative approach holds potential for improving pre-operative lymph node evaluation in breast cancer patients, offering enhanced diagnostic accuracy.</p

Efficacy, safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of a novel human immune globulin subcutaneous, 20%: a Phase 2/3 study in Europe in patients with primary immunodeficiencies

A highly concentrated (20%) immunoglobulin (Ig)G preparation for subcutaneous administration (IGSC 20%), would offer a new option for antibody replacement therapy in patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDD). The efficacy, safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of IGSC 20% were evaluated in a prospective trial in Europe in 49 patients with PIDD aged 2-67 years. Over a median of 358 days, patients received 2349 IGSC 20% infusions at monthly doses equivalent to those administered for previous intravenous or subcutaneous IgG treatment. The rate of validated acute bacterial infections (VASBIs) was significantly lower than 1 per year (0.022/patient-year, P /= 8 g/l. There was no serious adverse event (AE) deemed related to IGSC 20% treatment; related non-serious AEs occurred at a rate of 0.101 event/infusion. The incidence of local related AEs was 0.069 event/infusion (0.036 event/infusion, when excluding a 13-year-old patient who reported 79 of 162 total related local AEs). The incidence of related systemic AEs was 0.032 event/infusion. Most related AEs were mild, none were severe. For 64.6% of patients and in 94.8% of IGSC 20% infusions, no local related AE occurred. The median infusion duration was 0.95 (range = 0.3-4.1) h using mainly one to two administration sites [median = 2 sites (range = 1-5)]. Almost all infusions (99.8%) were administered without interruption/stopping or rate reduction. These results demonstrate that IGSC 20% provides an effective and well-tolerated therapy for patients previously on intravenous or subcutaneous treatment, without the need for dose adjustment

Dual-Energy CT Material Decomposition:The Value in the Detection of Lymph Node Metastasis from Breast Cancer

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a dual-energy computed tomography (DECT)-based material decomposition algorithm for iodine quantification and fat fraction analysis to detect lymph node metastases in breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: 30 female patients (mean age, 63.12 ± 14.2 years) diagnosed with breast cancer who underwent pre-operative chest DECT were included. To establish a reference standard, the study correlated histologic repots after lymphadenectomy or confirming metastasis in previous/follow-up examinations. Iodine concentration and fat fraction were determined through region-of-interest measurements on venous DECT iodine maps. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was conducted to identify the optimal threshold for differentiating between metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes. Results: A total of 168 lymph nodes were evaluated, divided into axillary (metastatic: 46, normal: 101) and intramammary (metastatic: 10, normal: 11). DECT-based fat fraction values exhibited significant differences between metastatic (9.56 ± 6.20%) and non-metastatic lymph nodes (41.52 ± 19.97%) (p &lt; 0.0001). Absolute iodine concentrations showed no significant differences (2.25 ± 0.97 mg/mL vs. 2.08 ± 0.97 mg/mL) (p = 0.7999). The optimal fat fraction threshold for diagnosing metastatic lymph nodes was determined to be 17.75%, offering a sensitivity of 98% and a specificity of 94%. Conclusions: DECT fat fraction analysis emerges as a promising method for identifying metastatic lymph nodes, overcoming the morpho-volumetric limitations of conventional CT regarding lymph node assessment. This innovative approach holds potential for improving pre-operative lymph node evaluation in breast cancer patients, offering enhanced diagnostic accuracy.</p

Ab-initio structural, elastic, and vibrational properties of carbon nanotubes

A study based on ab initio calculations is presented on the estructural, elastic, and vibrational properties of single-wall carbon nanotubes with different radii and chiralities. We use SIESTA, an implementation of pseudopotential-density-functional theory which allows calculations on systems with a large number of atoms per cell. Different quantities like bond distances, Young moduli, Poisson ratio and the frequencies of different phonon branches are monitored versus tube radius. The validity of expectations based on graphite is explored down to small radii, where some deviations appear related to the curvature effects. For the phonon spectra, the results are compared with the predictions of the simple zone-folding approximation. Except for the known defficiencies of this approximation in the low-frequency vibrational regions, it offers quite accurate results, even for relatively small radii.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B (11 Nov. 98

Serum Adipocyte Fatty Acid–Binding Protein Levels Are Associated With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

OBJECTIVE—Adipocyte fatty acid–binding protein (A-FABP) is a major cytoplasmic protein in adipocytes and macrophages and is closely associated with metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Here, we investigated whether A-FABP was associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in type 2 diabetes

Value of minimum intensity projections for chest CT in COVID-19 patients

Purpose: To investigate whether minimum intensity projection (MinIP) reconstructions enable more accurate depiction of pulmonary ground-glass opacity (GGO) compared to standard transverse sections and multiplanar reformat (MPR) series in patients with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Method: In this multinational study, chest CT scans of 185 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Diagnostic accuracy, diagnostic confidence, image quality regarding the assessment of GGO, as well as subjective time-efficiency of MinIP and standard MPR series were analyzed based on the assessment of six radiologists. In addition, the suitability for COVID-19 evaluation, image quality regarding GGO and subjective time-efficiency in clinical routine was assessed by five clinicians. Results: The reference standard revealed a total of 149 CT scans with pulmonary GGO. MinIP reconstructions yielded significantly higher sensitivity (99.9 % vs 95.6 %), specificity (95.8 % vs 86.1 %) and accuracy (99.1 % vs 93.8 %) for assessing of GGO compared with standard MPR series. MinIP reconstructions achieved significantly higher ratings by radiologists concerning diagnostic confidence (medians, 5.00 vs 4.00), image quality (medians, 4.00 vs 4.00), contrast between GGO and unaffected lung parenchyma (medians, 5.00 vs 4.00) as well as subjective time-efficiency (medians, 5.00 vs 4.00) compared with MPR-series (all P &lt;.001). Clinicians preferred MinIP reconstructions for COVID-19 assessment (medians, 5.00 vs 3.00), image quality regarding GGO (medians, 5.00 vs 3.00) and subjective time-efficiency in clinical routine (medians, 5.00 vs 3.00). Conclusions: MinIP reconstructions improve the assessment of COVID-19 in chest CT compared to standard images and may be suitable for routine application