Cyanogenic Glycosides in Cassava

Cassava is a well-known cyanogenic plant, which contains the cyanogenic glycosides linamarin and lotaustralin, the former being the principal cyanogenic glycoside. The ability to detect and quantify cyanogenic glycosides, capable of generating cyanide, could contribute to prevention of acute and subacute cyanide poisoning from the consumption of improperly processed plants. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) can be used to detect and measure the amount of linamarin directly within the fresh cassava or cassava-related products with minimal sample preparation using antibodies as the key detector. However, there has been no antibody and ELISA developed for linamarin detection in foods, hence the need. The aim of the project was to generate polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) obtained by immunizing two New Zealand white rabbits with linamarin (hapten) conjugated to a carrier protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA) using cyanuric chloride as chemical linker to be used with the ELISA. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) development was attempted by immunizing four BALB/c mice with linamarin-CC-KLH and 3 BALB/c mice with linamarin-CC-BSA but failed to produce the desired antibodies. PAbs generated by both immunised rabbits were highly immunoreactive with antiserum titre of 1:100,000. The pAbs were able to establish positive inhibition assay towards free linamarin with high specificity and sensitivity (limit of detection of 0.0015 µg/ml and IC50 of 2.1 µg/ml). The optimised ELISA was able to determine the amount of linamarin in fresh cassava and processed products available in the UK market, ranging from 0.003 mg/kg to 43.08 mg/kg fresh and dry weight depending on the products. Levels of linamarin of some fresh cassava products are way beyond the safe limit of 10 mg/kg cyanide allowed in food, a potential health risk to consumers. In contrast, highly processed cassava products contained less than 1.0 mg/kg of linamarin, indicating the effectiveness of proper food processing and preparation in reducing the linamarin content in foods

Sorption kinetics of Zn (II) ion by thermally treated rice husk

Agricultural wastes such as orange peels, tea leave waste, rice husk and corn cobs have been widely studied as sorbents for heavy metal ion removal from various wastewaters. In order to understand their sorption mechanism, the adsorption kinetics is studied. This report describes the kinetics study of a thermally treated rice husk to adsorb Zn (II) ion from an aqueous solution. The adsorbent was obtained by heating the rice husk in a furnace at 500°C for two hours. Increase the contact period improved percentage of the removal of Zn (II) ion until an equilibrium was reached. The data obtained showed that the adsorption of Zn (II) ion by thermally treated rice husk obeyed pseudo-second order kinetics model, which is in agreement with chemisorption as the rate limiting mechanism

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries(1,2). However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world(3) and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health(4,5). However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol-which is a marker of cardiovascular riskchanged from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million-4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world.Peer reviewe

Wpływ wstępnej obróbki na strukturę celulozy bakteryjnej z Nata de Coco (Acetobacter xylinum)

This paper presents a structural analysis of various methods to produce bacterial cellulose (BC) from Nata de Coco (Acetobacter xylinum). BC sheet, BC chem and BC mech powders were successfully prepared using oven drying, chemical and mechanical treatment. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were used to analyze the structure of prepared BC. The structure of bacterial cellulose was compared with the structure of commercial microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and cotton fabric. The XRD results showed that the BC sheet sample had the highest degree of crystallinity (81.76%) compared to cotton cellulose (75.73%). The crystallite size of cotton was larger than the BC sheet, with the value of 6.83 ηm and 4.55 ηm, respectively. The peaks in the FTIR spectra of all BC were comparable to the commercial MCC and cotton fabrics. FESEM images showed that the prepared BC sheet, BC mech, and BC chem had an almost similar structure like commercial MCC and cotton fabric. It was concluded that simple preparation of BC could be implemented and used for further BC preparation as reinforcement in polymer composites, especially in food packaging.Niniejszy artykuł zawiera analizę struktury celulozy bakteryjnej (BC) wytworzonej z Nata de Coco (Acetobacter xylinum) różnymi metodami. Folia BC i proszki BC chem oraz BC mech zo -stały wytworzone poprzez suszenie w piecu, obróbkę chemiczną i mechaniczną. Do oceny struktury celulozy bakteryjnej stosowano dyfrakcję rentgenowską (XRD), spektroskopię Fouriera w podczerwieni (FTIR) i skaningową mikroskopię elektronową z emisją polową (FESEM). Strukturę celulozy bakteryjnej porównano ze strukturą handlowej celulozy mikrokrystalicznej (MCC) i tkaniny bawełnianej. Wyniki XRD wykazały, że najwyższy stopień krystaliczności miała próbka arkusza BC (81,76%) w porównaniu z celulozą bawełnianą (75,73%). Wielkość krystalitów bawełny była większa niż folii BC i wynosiła, odpowiednio, 6,83 ηm oraz 4,55 ηm. Piki widm FTIR wszystkich otrzymanych form celulozy bakteryjnej były porównywalne z komercyjnymi tkaninami bawełnianymi i z celulozy mikrokrystalicznej. Zdjęcia FESEM folii BC oraz proszków BC mech i BC chem również były podobne do komercyjnej MCC i tkaniny bawełnianej. Stwierdzono, że z wykorzystaniem prostych technik można otrzymać BC, która może być stosowana jako wzmocnienie w kompozytach polimerowych, w szczególności w opakowaniach do żywności

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium report, data summary of 50 countries for 2010-2015: Device-associated module

•We report INICC device-associated module data of 50 countries from 2010-2015.•We collected prospective data from 861,284 patients in 703 ICUs for 3,506,562 days.•DA-HAI rates and bacterial resistance were higher in the INICC ICUs than in CDC-NHSN's.•Device utilization ratio in the INICC ICUs was similar to CDC-NHSN's. Background: We report the results of International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2010-December 2015 in 703 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and Western Pacific. Methods: During the 6-year study period, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network (CDC-NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care-associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 861,284 patients hospitalized in INICC hospital ICUs for an aggregate of 3,506,562 days. Results: Although device use in INICC ICUs was similar to that reported from CDC-NHSN ICUs, DA-HAI rates were higher in the INICC ICUs: in the INICC medical-surgical ICUs, the pooled rate of central line-associated bloodstream infection, 4.1 per 1,000 central line-days, was nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.8 per 1,000 central line-days reported from comparable US ICUs, the overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher, 13.1 versus 0.9 per 1,000 ventilator-days, as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection, 5.07 versus 1.7 per 1,000 catheter-days. From blood cultures samples, frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (29.87% vs 10%) and to imipenem (44.3% vs 26.1%), and of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (73.2% vs 28.8%) and to imipenem (43.27% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC ICUs compared with CDC-NHSN ICUs. Conclusions: Although DA-HAIs in INICC ICU patients continue to be higher than the rates reported in CDC-NSHN ICUs representing the developed world, we have observed a significant trend toward the reduction of DA-HAI rates in INICC ICUs as shown in each international report. It is INICC's main goal to continue facilitating education, training, and basic and cost-effective tools and resources, such as standardized forms and an online platform, to tackle this problem effectively and systematically

Non-linear flow modes of identified particles in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 5.02 TeV

The $p_{\rm{T}}$-differential non-linear flow modes, $v_{4,22}$, $v_{5,32}$, $v_{6,33}$ and $v_{6,222}$ for $\pi^{\pm}$, $\rm{K}^{\pm}$ , $\rm{K}^{0}_{S}$ , p + $\overline{\rm{p}}$, $\Lambda$ + $\overline{\Lambda}$ and $\phi$-meson have been measured for the first time at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV in Pb-Pb collisions with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The results were obtained with a multi-particle technique, correlating the identified hadrons with reference charged particles from a different pseudorapidity region. These non-linear observables probe the contribution from the second and third order initial spatial anisotropy coefficients to higher flow harmonics. All the characteristic features observed in previous $p_{\rm{T}}$-differential anisotropic flow measurements for various particle species are also present in the non-linear flow modes, i.e. increase of magnitude with increasing centrality percentile, mass ordering at low $p_{\rm{T}}$ and particle type grouping in the intermediate $p_{\rm{T}}$ range. Hydrodynamical calculations (iEBE-VISHNU) that use different initial conditions and values of shear and bulk viscosity to entropy density ratios are confronted with the data at low transverse momenta. These calculations exhibit a better agreement with the anisotropic flow coefficients than the non-linear flow modes. These observations indicate that non-linear flow modes can provide additional discriminatory power in the study of initial conditions as well as new stringent constraints to hydrodynamical calculations.The p$_{T}$-differential non-linear flow modes, v$_{4,22}$, v$_{5,32}$, v$_{6,33}$ and v$_{6,222}$ for π$^{±}$, K$^{±}$, ${\mathrm{K}}_{\mathrm{S}}^0$ , p + $\overline{\mathrm{p}}$, Λ + $\overline{\Lambda}$ and ϕ-meson have been measured for the first time at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV in Pb-Pb collisions with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The results were obtained with a multi-particle technique, correlating the identified hadrons with reference charged particles from a different pseudorapidity region. These non-linear observables probe the contribution from the second and third order initial spatial anisotropy coefficients to higher flow harmonics. All the characteristic features observed in previous p$_{T}$-differential anisotropic flow measurements for various particle species are also present in the non-linear flow modes, i.e. increase of magnitude with increasing centrality percentile, mass ordering at low p$_{T}$ and particle type grouping in the intermediate p$_{T}$ range. Hydrodynamical calculations (iEBE-VISHNU) that use different initial conditions and values of shear and bulk viscosity to entropy density ratios are confronted with the data at low transverse momenta. These calculations exhibit a better agreement with the anisotropic flow coefficients than the non-linear flow modes. These observations indicate that non-linear flow modes can provide additional discriminatory power in the study of initial conditions as well as new stringent constraints to hydrodynamical calculations.[graphic not available: see fulltext]The $p_{\rm{T}}$-differential non-linear flow modes, $v_{4,22}$, $v_{5,32}$, $v_{6,33}$ and $v_{6,222}$ for $\pi^{\pm}$, $\rm{K}^{\pm}$ , $\rm{K}^{0}_{S}$ , p + $\overline{\rm{p}}$, $\Lambda$ + $\overline{\Lambda}$ and $\phi$-meson have been measured for the first time at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV in Pb-Pb collisions with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The results were obtained with a multi-particle technique, correlating the identified hadrons with reference charged particles from a different pseudorapidity region. These non-linear observables probe the contribution from the second and third order initial spatial anisotropy coefficients to higher flow harmonics. All the characteristic features observed in previous $p_{\rm{T}}$-differential anisotropic flow measurements for various particle species are also present in the non-linear flow modes, i.e. increase of magnitude with increasing centrality percentile, mass ordering at low $p_{\rm{T}}$ and particle type grouping in the intermediate $p_{\rm{T}}$ range. Hydrodynamical calculations (iEBE-VISHNU) that use different initial conditions and values of shear and bulk viscosity to entropy density ratios are confronted with the data at low transverse momenta. These calculations exhibit a better agreement with the anisotropic flow coefficients than the non-linear flow modes. These observations indicate that non-linear flow modes can provide additional discriminatory power in the study of initial conditions as well as new stringent constraints to hydrodynamical calculations

Multiplicity dependence of π, K, and p production in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

This paper presents the measurements of π±, K±, p and p¯ transverse momentum (pT) spectra as a function of charged-particle multiplicity density in proton-proton (pp) collisions at s√ = 13 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. Such study allows us to isolate the center-of-mass energy dependence of light-flavour particle production. The measurements reported here cover a pT range from 0.1 GeV/c to 20 GeV/c and are done in the rapidity interval |y|<0.5. The pT-differential particle ratios exhibit an evolution with multiplicity, similar to that observed in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV, which is qualitatively described by some of the hydrodynamical and pQCD-inspired models discussed in this paper. Furthermore, the pT-integrated hadron-to-pion yield ratios measured in pp collisions at two different center-of-mass energies are consistent when compared at similar multiplicities. This also extends to strange and multi-strange hadrons, suggesting that, at LHC energies, particle hadrochemistry scales with particle multiplicity the same way under different collision energies and colliding systems

J/ψ\psi production as a function of charged-particle multiplicity in p-Pb collisions at sNN = 8.16\sqrt{\textit{s}_{\rm NN}}~=~8.16 TeV

Inclusive J/ψ yields and average transverse momenta in p-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 8.16 TeV are measured as a function of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density with ALICE. The J/ψ mesons are reconstructed at forward (2.03 < y$_{cms}$< 3.53) and backward (−4.46 < y$_{cms}$< −2.96) center-of-mass rapidity in their dimuon decay channel while the charged-particle pseudorapidity density is measured around midrapidity. The J/ψ yields at forward and backward rapidity normalized to their respective average values increase with the normalized charged-particle pseudorapidity density, the former showing a weaker increase than the latter. The normalized average transverse momenta at forward and backward rapidity manifest a steady increase from low to high charged-particle pseudorapidity density with a saturation beyond the average value

Higher harmonic non-linear flow modes of charged hadrons in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN =5.02 TeV

Anisotropic flow coefficients, vn, non-linear flow mode coefficients, χn,mk, and correlations among different symmetry planes, ρn,mk are measured in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV. Results obtained with multi-particle correlations are reported for the transverse momentum interval 0.2<pT<5.0 GeV/c within the pseudorapidity interval 0.4<|η|<0.8 as a function of collision centrality. The vn coefficients and χn,mk and ρn,mk are presented up to the ninth and seventh harmonic order, respectively. Calculations suggest that the correlations measured in different symmetry planes and the non-linear flow mode coefficients are dependent on the shear and bulk viscosity to entropy ratios of the medium created in heavy-ion collisions. The comparison between these measurements and those at lower energies and calculations from hydrodynamic models places strong constraints on the initial conditions and transport properties of the system

Higher harmonic non-linear flow modes of charged hadrons in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}} = 5.02 TeV

International audienceAnisotropic flow coefficients, v$_{n}$, non-linear flow mode coefficients, χ$_{n,mk}$, and correlations among different symmetry planes, ρ$_{n,mk}$ are measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV. Results obtained with multi-particle correlations are reported for the transverse momentum interval 0.2 < p$_{T}$< 5.0 GeV/c within the pseudorapidity interval 0.4 < |η| < 0.8 as a function of collision centrality. The v$_{n}$ coefficients and χ$_{n,mk}$ and ρ$_{n,mk}$ are presented up to the ninth and seventh harmonic order, respectively. Calculations suggest that the correlations measured in different symmetry planes and the non-linear flow mode coefficients are dependent on the shear and bulk viscosity to entropy ratios of the medium created in heavy-ion collisions. The comparison between these measurements and those at lower energies and calculations from hydrodynamic models places strong constraints on the initial conditions and transport properties of the system.[graphic not available: see fulltext