Recovery of Natural Antioxidants from Fruit Juice Industry Residuals by Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction and Response Surface Methodology

Fruit processing industries produce by-products that are good sources of natural antioxidants. These residuals are non-toxic and available in large quantities. A central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) were used to optimize experimental conditions. The processing variables were solvent type, solvent to solid ratio, ethanol concentration, temperature, and time. The responses were total phenolic content (TPC), scavenging activity of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, and yield. The optimal conditions were 70% ethanol— water mixture as a food grade solvent, temperature of 35 °C and extraction time 60 min for obtaining extracts with maximum of total phenolic content. Predicted values for total phenolic content in pear, apricot, and peach were 24.7, 19.3, and 10.4 mg gallic acid equivalents per 100 g fruit residual, respectively

Cross-Frequency Coupling Based Neuromodulation for Treating Neurological Disorders

Synchronous, rhythmic changes in the membrane polarization of neurons form oscillations in local field potentials. It is hypothesized that high-frequency brain oscillations reflect local cortical information processing, and low-frequency brain oscillations project information flow across larger cortical networks. This provides complex forms of information transmission due to interactions between oscillations at different frequency bands, which can be rendered with cross-frequency coupling (CFC) metrics. Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) is one of the most common representations of the CFC. PAC reflects the coupling of the phase of oscillations in a specific frequency band to the amplitude of oscillations in another frequency band. In a normal brain, PAC accompanies multi-item working memory in the hippocampus, and changes in PAC have been associated with diseases such as schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Alzheimer disease (AD), epilepsy, and Parkinson’s disease (PD). The purpose of this article is to explore CFC across the central nervous system and demonstrate its correlation to neurological disorders. Results from previously published studies are reviewed to explore the significant role of CFC in large neuronal network communication and its abnormal behavior in neurological disease. Specifically, the association of effective treatment in PD such as dopaminergic medication and deep brain stimulation with PAC changes is described. Lastly, CFC analysis of the electrocorticographic (ECoG) signals recorded from the motor cortex of a Parkinson’s disease patient and the parahippocampal gyrus of an epilepsy patient are demonstrated. This information taken together illuminates possible roles of CFC in the nervous system and its potential as a therapeutic target in disease states. This will require new neural interface technologies such as phase-dependent stimulation triggered by PAC changes, for the accurate recording, monitoring, and modulation of the CFC signal

Farm Science Reporter Vol. 6 No. 1

<p>(a) <i>Ev</i> as function of diameter ratio for different length ratios;(b) <i>Ev</i> as function of length ratio for different diameter ratios.</p

Case Report: “Spina Ventosa” Tuberculous Dactylitis in a 2 Year Old Boy - A Very Rare Disease

Tuberculous infection of metacarpals, metatarsals and phalanges is known as tuberculous dactylitis. There is a spindle shaped expansion of the short tubular bones due to tuberculous granuloma. Hence it is also known as spina ventosa. In our case, a two year old boy with a swelling in the metacarpal was provisionally diagnosed as enchondromata while the possibility of spina ventosa was kept in mind. He was posted for excision of the metacarpal followed by bone grafting. Histopathological examination report confirmed it as spina ventosa

Prevalence of Amblyopia in Iranian Children

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Amblyopia is one of the common eye diseases in children and the risk of vision loss is possible. Therefore, the aim of this study is systematic review and meta-analysis in order to align the studies on the prevalence of amblyopia in Iranian children. METHODS: In this systematic review and meta-analysis relevant articles in scientific databases including SID, Science Direct and Medline (PubMed) and Google Scholar in March 1999- February 2017, using the Persian and English Keywords of Amblyopia, children, Iran. FINDINGS: In the review of internal and external journals and search on SID databases 22 articles, PubMed 126 articles, Science Direct 112 articles and 116 Google Scholar search engines were obtained. Then the articles that had the initial conditions for entry into the study were 162 cases based on preliminary studies, with the elimination of 214 repetitive articles. Finally, removing 120 articles unrelated to the topic of the study and removing 24 articles in the secondary studies ultimately 18 papers entered the meta-analysis process. The overall Prevalence of amblyopia in Iranian children was 5.4 % (Cl-95%: 3.1%-9.1%). CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, the prevalence of amblyopia in Iranian children is high

Neonatal severe bacterial infection impairment estimates in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America for 2010.

BACKGROUND: Survivors of neonatal infections are at risk of neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI), a burden not previously systematically quantified and yet important for program priority setting. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses were undertaken and applied in a three-step compartmental model to estimate NDI cases after severe neonatal bacterial infection in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America in neonates of >32 wk gestation (or >1,500 g). METHODS: We estimated cases of sepsis, meningitis, pneumonia, or no severe bacterial infection from among estimated cases of possible severe bacterial infection ((pSBI) step 1). We applied respective case fatality risks ((CFRs) step 2) and the NDI risk among survivors (step 3). For neonatal tetanus, incidence estimates were based on the estimated deaths, CFRs, and risk of subsequent NDI. RESULTS: For 2010, we estimated 1.7 million (uncertainty range: 1.1-2.4 million) cases of neonatal sepsis, 200,000 (21,000-350,000) cases of meningitis, 510,000 cases (150,000-930,000) of pneumonia, and 79,000 cases (70,000-930,000) of tetanus in neonates >32 wk gestation (or >1,500 g). Among the survivors, we estimated moderate to severe NDI after neonatal meningitis in 23% (95% confidence interval: 19-26%) of survivors, 18,000 (2,700-35,000) cases, and after neonatal tetanus in 16% (6-27%), 4,700 cases (1,700-8,900). CONCLUSION: Data are lacking for impairment after neonatal sepsis and pneumonia, especially among those of >32 wk gestation. Improved recognition and treatment of pSBI will reduce neonatal mortality. Lack of follow-up data for survivors of severe bacterial infections, particularly sepsis, was striking. Given the high incidence of sepsis, even minor NDI would be of major public health importance. Prevention of neonatal infection, improved case management, and support for children with NDI are all important strategies, currently receiving limited policy attention

Constructal law of vascular trees for facilitation of flow.

Diverse tree structures such as blood vessels, branches of a tree and river basins exist in nature. The constructal law states that the evolution of flow structures in nature has a tendency to facilitate flow. This study suggests a theoretical basis for evaluation of flow facilitation within vascular structure from the perspective of evolution. A novel evolution parameter (Ev) is proposed to quantify the flow capacity of vascular structures. Ev is defined as the ratio of the flow conductance of an evolving structure (configuration with imperfection) to the flow conductance of structure with least imperfection. Attaining higher Ev enables the structure to expedite flow circulation with less energy dissipation. For both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, the evolution parameter was developed as a function of geometrical shape factors in laminar and turbulent fully developed flows. It was found that the non-Newtonian or Newtonian behavior of fluid as well as flow behavior such as laminar or turbulent behavior affects the evolution parameter. Using measured vascular morphometric data of various organs and species, the evolution parameter was calculated. The evolution parameter of the tree structures in biological systems was found to be in the range of 0.95 to 1. The conclusion is that various organs in various species have high capacity to facilitate flow within their respective vascular structures

Embedded Phase-Amplitude Coupling Based Closed-Loop Platform for Parkinson's Disease

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a widely used clin- ical therapeutic modality to treat Parkinsons disease refractory symptoms and complications of levodopa therapy. Currently available DBS systems use continuous, open-loop stimulation strategies. It might be redundant and we could extend the battery life otherwise. Recently, robust electrophysiological signatures of Parkinsons disease have been characterized in motor cortex of patients undergoing DBS surgery. Reductions in the beta- gamma Phase-Amplitude coupling (PAC) correlated with symp- tom improvement, and the therapeutic effects of DBS itself. We aim to develop a miniature, implantable and adaptive system, which only stimulates the neural target, when triggered by the output of the appropriate PAC algorithm. As a first step, in this paper we compare published PAC algorithms by using human data intra-operatively recorded from Parkinsonian patients. We then introduce IIR masking for later achieving fast and low- power FPGA implementation of PAC mapping for intra-operative studies. Our closed-loop application is expected to consume significantly less power than current DBS systems, therefore we can increase the battery life, without compromising clinical benefits