Effect of starch utilization on sensory quality of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys Molitrix) fish ball can

A variety of products made from fish meat is increasingly being produced in most countries. The availability of low cost ingredients, the use of suitable formulations and modern equipment has made it feasible to produce different products of high nutritious value to satisfy consumer demands. Starch is an ingredient used in most products in the food industry because of its physical characteristics. In the present study fish ball were prepared using starch from two different sources (wheat and potato) either individually or by mixing equal proportions of two sources of starch at a rate of 5, 10 and 15% to 80% ground meat of silver carp. A control group was also tested without adding starch. Results obtained indicate that flavor, odor and texture of the resulting product made with 10% starch were more acceptable as compared to the other trials. Fish ball made with the addition of 15% starch were lighter in color and sticky and loses its strength to form. No significant differences were observed in color, flavor, odor and texture of fish ball in trials containing 10% starch from one individual source (p>0.05) and the resulting product in these trials were rated higher in organoleptic tests as compared to those containing 5 and 15% starch. Among trials containing two sources of starch, mixed trials with potato and wheat (5% potato + 5% wheat) were rated higher in organoleptic tests as compared to the other trials(p<0.05)

A systematic review of the evidence for single stage and two stage revision of infected knee replacement

BACKGROUND: Periprosthetic infection about the knee is a devastating complication that may affect between 1% and 5% of knee replacement. With over 79 000 knee replacements being implanted each year in the UK, periprosthetic infection (PJI) is set to become an important burden of disease and cost to the healthcare economy. One of the important controversies in treatment of PJI is whether a single stage revision operation is superior to a two-stage procedure. This study sought to systematically evaluate the published evidence to determine which technique had lowest reinfection rates. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was undertaken using the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases with the aim to identify existing studies that present the outcomes of each surgical technique. Reinfection rate was the primary outcome measure. Studies of specific subsets of patients such as resistant organisms were excluded. RESULTS: 63 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. The majority of which (58) were reports of two-stage revision. Reinfection rated varied between 0% and 41% in two-stage studies, and 0% and 11% in single stage studies. No clinical trials were identified and the majority of studies were observational studies. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence for both one-stage and two-stage revision is largely of low quality. The evidence basis for two-stage revision is significantly larger, and further work into direct comparison between the two techniques should be undertaken as a priority

Genomic sequencing in clinical trials

Human genome sequencing is the process by which the exact order of nucleic acid base pairs in the 24 human chromosomes is determined. Since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, genomic sequencing is rapidly becoming a major part of our translational research efforts to understand and improve human health and disease. This article reviews the current and future directions of clinical research with respect to genomic sequencing, a technology that is just beginning to find its way into clinical trials both nationally and worldwide. We highlight the currently available types of genomic sequencing platforms, outline the advantages and disadvantages of each, and compare first- and next-generation techniques with respect to capabilities, quality, and cost. We describe the current geographical distributions and types of disease conditions in which these technologies are used, and how next-generation sequencing is strategically being incorporated into new and existing studies. Lastly, recent major breakthroughs and the ongoing challenges of using genomic sequencing in clinical research are discussed

Tumor Transcriptome Sequencing Reveals Allelic Expression Imbalances Associated with Copy Number Alterations

Due to growing throughput and shrinking cost, massively parallel sequencing is rapidly becoming an attractive alternative to microarrays for the genome-wide study of gene expression and copy number alterations in primary tumors. The sequencing of transcripts (RNA-Seq) should offer several advantages over microarray-based methods, including the ability to detect somatic mutations and accurately measure allele-specific expression. To investigate these advantages we have applied a novel, strand-specific RNA-Seq method to tumors and matched normal tissue from three patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas. Additionally, to better understand the genomic determinants of the gene expression changes observed, we have sequenced the tumor and normal genomes of one of these patients. We demonstrate here that our RNA-Seq method accurately measures allelic imbalance and that measurement on the genome-wide scale yields novel insights into cancer etiology. As expected, the set of genes differentially expressed in the tumors is enriched for cell adhesion and differentiation functions, but, unexpectedly, the set of allelically imbalanced genes is also enriched for these same cancer-related functions. By comparing the transcriptomic perturbations observed in one patient to his underlying normal and tumor genomes, we find that allelic imbalance in the tumor is associated with copy number mutations and that copy number mutations are, in turn, strongly associated with changes in transcript abundance. These results support a model in which allele-specific deletions and duplications drive allele-specific changes in gene expression in the developing tumor

Errors in RNA-Seq quantification affect genes of relevance to human disease

BACKGROUND: RNA-Seq has emerged as the standard for measuring gene expression and is an important technique often used in studies of human disease. Gene expression quantification involves comparison of the sequenced reads to a known genomic or transcriptomic reference. The accuracy of that quantification relies on there being enough unique information in the reads to enable bioinformatics tools to accurately assign the reads to the correct gene. RESULTS: We apply 12 common methods to estimate gene expression from RNA-Seq data and show that there are hundreds of genes whose expression is underestimated by one or more of those methods. Many of these genes have been implicated in human disease, and we describe their roles. We go on to propose a two-stage analysis of RNA-Seq data in which multi-mapped or ambiguous reads can instead be uniquely assigned to groups of genes. We apply this method to a recently published mouse cancer study, and demonstrate that we can extract relevant biological signal from data that would otherwise have been discarded. CONCLUSIONS: For hundreds of genes in the human genome, RNA-Seq is unable to measure expression accurately. These genes are enriched for gene families, and many of them have been implicated in human disease. We show that it is possible to use data that may otherwise have been discarded to measure group-level expression, and that such data contains biologically relevant information. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13059-015-0734-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Ionizing Radiation and Human Gender Proportion at Birth: A Concise Review of the Literature and A Complementary Analysis of Historical and Recent Data

Dear Editor, This letter considers an article by Scherb et al. entitled “Ionizing radiation and the human gender proportion at birth: A concise review of the literature and a complementary analysis of historical and recent data” published in Early Human Development (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2015.10.012) [1]. The authors of this challenging paper have reviewed the literature regarding the effect of exposure to ionizing radiation on gender ratio at birth. Scherb et al. have stated that above-thebackground levels of ionizing radiation may alter the gender ratio at birth: “We are of the strong opinion that gradually increasing the level of background radiation poses an increased genetic risk to humans and creature and that more research should be initiated in this respect. This has implications for the nuclear power industry, and emphasizes the importance of finding safe methods for processing and storing nuclear waste”. They also claimed that the data they presented confirm the existence of an impact of ionizing radiation on human secondary sex. This paper bears a very basic shortcoming. We know that at present, the level of natural background radiation varies on Earth at least two orders of magnitude [2]. Mortazavi et al. have previously published reports on the health effects of exposure to elevated levels of natural ionizing radiation in HBNRAs of Ramsar [2-6]. While radiation level in Ramsar is up to 260 mSv y−1 (the highest background radiation levels known among inhabited areas, up to 13 times higher than the recommended dose limit for radiation workers in Iran that is 20 mSv y−1), people living in high background radiation areas of Ramsar show no observable detrimental effect. It is worth mentioning that if a radiation dose of a few hundred mSv per year has adverse health effects and causes genetic abnormalities or an increased risk of cancer, it should be evident to the residents of these hot areas [6]. Moreover, the residents had a similar sex ratio as that of unexposed urban areas in the same province. Furthermore, Indian researchers have recently addressed the sex ratio at birth (SRB) in high background radiation areas of Kerala, India. These researchers reported that the SRB in the high background radiation areas of Kerala was around 1050 males for every 1000 females, and concluded that this ratio was comparable to the global average. In this light, they confirmed that their study did not indicate any impact of elevated levels of natural radiation on SRB [7]. Addressing the issue of occupational exposure, a study that was performed on 621 radiation workers (336 females and 285 males) who worked in hospitals/clinics, Mortazavi et al. could not find a link between parents’ exposure and the gender ratio of their children. In this study, the boy/girl ratios in children born to male and to female radiation workers were 1.10 and 1.03, respectively [8]. We hope that these comments will be useful in the better understanding of the challenging issue of ionizing radiation and the human gender proportion at birth. Best Regard

Increased Release of Mercury from Dental Amalgam Fillings due to Maternal Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields as a Possible Mechanism for the High Rates of Autism in the Offspring: Introducing a Hypothesis

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), factors such as growing electricity demand, ever-advancing technologies and changes in social behaviour have led to steadily increasing exposure to man-made electromagnetic fields. Dental amalgam fillings are among the major sources of exposure to elemental mercury vapour in the general population. Although it was previously believed that low levels are mercury (i.g. release of mercury from dental amalgam) is not hazardous, now numerous data indicate that even very low doses of mercury cause toxicity. There are some evidence indicating that perinatal exposure to mercury is significantly associated with an increased risk of developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Furthermore, mercury can decrease the levels of neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, noreprenephrine, and acetylcholine in the brain and cause neurological problems. On the other hand, a strong positive correlation between maternal and cord blood mercury levels is found in some studies. We have previously shown that exposure to MRI or microwave radiation emitted by common mobile phones can lead to increased release of mercury from dental amalgam fillings. Moreover, when we investigated the effects of MRI machines with stronger magnetic fields, our previous findings were confirmed. As a strong association between exposure to electromagnetic fields and mercury level has been found in our previous studies, our findings can lead us to this conclusion that maternal exposure to electromagnetic fields in mothers with dental amalgam fillings may cause elevated levels of mercury and trigger the increase in autism rates. Further studies are needed to have a better understanding of the possible role of the increased mercury level after exposure to electromagnetic fields and the rate of autism spectrum disorders in the offspring

Can Light Emitted from Smartphone Screens and Taking Selfies Cause Premature Aging and Wrinkles?

Since the early days of human life on the Earth, our skin has been exposed to different levels of light. Recently, due to inevitable consequences of modern life, humans are not exposed to adequate levels of natural light during the day but they are overexposed to relatively high levels of artificial light at night. Skin is a major target of oxidative stress and the link between aging and oxidative stress is well documented. Especially, extrinsic skin aging can be caused by oxidative stress. The widespread use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and the rapidly increasing use of smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers have led to a significant rise in the exposure of human eyes to short-wavelength visible light. Recent studies show that exposure of human skin cells to light emitted from electronic devices, even for exposures as short as 1 hour, may cause reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, apoptosis, and necrosis. The biological effects of exposure to short-wavelength visible light in blue region in humans and other living organisms were among our research priorities at the Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiation Protection Research Center (INIRPRC). Today, there is a growing concern over the safety of the light sources such as LEDs with peak emissions in the blue light range (400-490 nm). Recent studies aimed at investigating the effect of exposure to light emitted from electronic device on human skin cells, shows that even short exposures can increase the generation of reactive oxygen species. However, the biological effects of either long-term or repeated exposures are not fully known, yet. Furthermore, there are reports indicating that frequent exposure to visible light spectrum of the selfie flashes may cause skin damage and accelerated skin ageing. In this paper we have addressed the different aspects of potential effects of exposure to the light emitted from smartphones’ digital screens as well as smartphones’ photoflashes on premature aging of the human skin. Specifically, the effects of blue light on eyes and skin are discussed. Based on current knowledge, it can be suggested that changing the spectral output of LED-based smartphones’ flashes can be introduced as an effective method to reduce the adverse health effects associated with exposure to blue light