Beyond Fish Oil Supplementation: The Effects of Alternative Plant Sources of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Lipid Indexes and Cardiometabolic Biomarkers in Nutrients

Cardiovascular diseases remain a global challenge, and lipid-associated biomarkers can predict cardiovascular events. Extensive research on cardiovascular benefits of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n3-PUFAs) is geared towards fish oil supplementation and fish-rich diets. Nevertheless, vegetarianism and veganism are becoming more popular across all segments of society, due to reasons as varied as personal, ethical and religious values, individual preferences and environment-related principles, amongst others. Due to the essentiality of PUFAs, plant sources of n3-PUFAs warrant further consideration. In this review, we have critically appraised the efficacy of plant-derived n3-PUFAs from foodstuffs and supplements upon lipid profile and selected cardiometabolic markers. Walnuts and flaxseed are the most common plant sources of n3-PUFAs, mainly alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), and feature the strongest scientific rationale for applicability into clinical practice. Furthermore, walnuts and flaxseed are sources of fibre, potassium, magnesium, and non-essential substances, including polyphenols and sterols, which in conjunction are known to ameliorate cardiovascular metabolism. ALA levels in rapeseed and soybean oils are only slight when compared to flaxseed oil. Spirulina and Chlorella, biomasses of cyanobacteria and green algae, are important sources of n3-PUFAs; however, their benefits upon cardiometabolic markers are plausibly driven by their antioxidant potential combined with their n3-PUFA content. In humans, ALA is not sufficiently bioconverted into eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acids. However, evidence suggests that plant sources of ALA are associated with favourable cardiometabolic status. ALA supplementation, or increased consumption of ALA-rich foodstuffs, combined with reduced omega-6 (n6) PUFAs intake, could improve the n3/n6 ratio and improve cardiometabolic and lipid profile

Pharmaconutrition in the clinical management of COVID-19: a lack of evidence-based research but clues to personalized prescription

A scientific interest has emerged to identify pharmaceutical and nutritional strategies in the clinical management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The purpose of this narrative review is to critically assess and discuss pharmaconutrition strategies that, secondary to accepted treatment methods, could be candidates in the current context of COVID-19. Oral medicinal doses of vitamin C (1–3 g/d) and zinc (80 mg/d elemental zinc) could be promising at the first signs and symptoms of COVID-19 as well as for general colds. In critical care situations requiring parenteral nutrition, vitamin C (3–10 g/d) and glutamine (0.3–0.5 g/kg/d) administration could be considered, whereas vitamin D3 administration (100,000 IU administered intramuscularly as a one-time dose) could possess benefits for patients with severe deficiency. Considering the presence of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and arginine in immune-enhancing diets, their co-administration may also occur in clinical conditions where these formulations are recommended. However, despite the use of the aforementioned strategies in prior contexts, there is currently no evidence of the utility of any nutritional strategies in the management of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19. Nevertheless, ongoing and future clinical research is imperative to determine if any pharmaconutrition strategies can halt the progression of COVID-19

Electrically Driven Microcavity Exciton-Polariton Optomechanics at 20 GHz

Microcavity exciton polaritons enable the resonant coupling of excitons and photons to vibrations in the super-high-frequency (SHF, 3–30 GHz) domain. We introduce here a novel platform for coherent SHF optomechanics based on the coupling of polaritons and electrically driven SHF longitudinal acoustic phonons confined in a planar Bragg microcavity. The highly monochromatic phonons with tunable amplitudes are excited over a wide frequency range by piezoelectric transducers, which also act as efficient phonon detectors with a very large dynamical range. The microcavity platform exploits the long coherence time of polaritons as well as their efficient coupling to phonons. Furthermore, an intrinsic property of the platform is the backfeeding of phonons to the interaction region via reflections at the sample boundaries, which leads to quality factor × frequency products (Q×f) exceeding 1014  Hz as well as huge modulation amplitudes of the optical transition energies exceeding 8 meV. We show that the modulation is dominated by the phonon-induced energy shifts of the excitonic polariton component. Thus, the large modulation leads to a dynamical switching of light-matter nature of the particles from a mixed (i.e., polaritonic) one to photonlike and excitonlike states at frequencies up to 20 GHz. On the one hand, this work opens the way for electrically driven polariton optomechanics in the nonadiabatic, sideband-resolved regime of coherent control. Here, the bidirectionality of the transducers can be exploited for light-to-sound-to-rf conversion. On the other hand, the large phonon frequencies and Q×f products enable phonon control with optical readout down to the single-particle regime at relatively high temperatures (of 1 K)

Design Elements of Pervasive Games for Elderly Players: A Social Interaction Study Case

We present the design process and evaluation of a pervasive, location-based mobile game created to act as an experiment system and allow evaluation of how different design elements can influence player behaviour, using social interaction as a study case. A feasibility study with a group of community dwelling elderly volunteers from the city of Kyoto, Japan, was performed to evaluate the system. Results showed that the choice of theme and overall design of game was adequate, and that elderly people could understand the game rules and their goals while playing. Points of improvement included reducing the complexity of game controls and changing social interaction mechanics to account for situations when there are only a few players active or players are too far apart

The Usefulness of Melatonin in the Field of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Disorders of the female reproductive system, including those associated with hormone regulation, fertility rate and fetal health, are issues of great concern worldwide. More recently, melatonin supplementation has been suggested as a therapeutic approach in gynecological practice. In both animal models and in women, melatonin supplementation suggests a therapeutic and preventative potential, effects attributed mainly to its antioxidant properties and action as hormone modulator. The aim of this literature review is to further investigate the evidence available on the effects of melatonin supplementation in animal and human studies, focusing on its potential application to gynecology. Melatonin-containing supplements are easily found in online and high street retailers, and despite its supplementation deemed to be relatively safe, no consensus has been reached on effective dosage and supplementation period. Short term supplementation studies, of up to six months, suggest that a daily posology of 2 to 18 mg of melatonin may have the potential to improve fertility rate, oocyte quality, maturation and number of embryos. However, the evidence available so far on the effects of melatonin supplementation covering gestational age and gestational outcomes is very scarce. Clinical trials and longer-term supplementation studies are required to assess any clinical outcome associated with melatonin supplementation in the field of gynecology

Control tunning approach and digital filter application for competitive line follower robot

This research describes the development of a control strategy to optimize a competitive line follower robot for standard races. The innovative approach stems from the WolfBotz team at CEFET/RJ, presenting a thorough exploration of mathematical foundations, hardware design, control analysis, and how to implement this system in a microcontroller. This research complements a previous work that shows all the regulations used in Brazilian competitions and describes the controllers used in the system, such as angular and linear control. This research emphasizes all the changes between the two versions of Line Follower robots. The emphasis on mathematical foundations and integrating digital signal processing techniques like digital filters set the stage for robust sensor data interpretation. The tuning and optimization of dual controllers for track stability and linear velocity regulation represent a significant innovation, augmenting the robot’s overall performance.The authors would like to thank CEFET/RJ and the Brazilian research agencies CAPES, CNPq, and FAPERJ for supporting this work. Besides, the authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CeDRI (UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDP/05757/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2021).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Melatonin supplementation in the management of obesity and obesity-associated disorders: a review of physiological mechanisms and clinical applications

Despite the evolving advances in clinical approaches to obesity and its inherent comorbidities, the therapeutic challenge persists. Among several pharmacological tools already investigated, recent studies suggest that melatonin supplementation could be an efficient therapeutic approach in the context of obesity. In the present review, we have amalgamated the evidence so far available on physiological effects of melatonin supplementation in obesity therapies, addressing its effects upon neuroendocrine systems, cardiometabolic biomarkers and body composition. Most studies herein appraised employed melatonin supplementation at dosages ranging from 1 to 20 mg/day, and most studies followed up participants for periods from 3 weeks to 12 months. Overall, it was observed that melatonin plays an important role in glycaemic homeostasis, in addition to modulation of white adipose tissue activity and lipid metabolism, and mitochondrial activity. Additionally, melatonin increases brown adipose tissue volume and activity, and its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties have also been demonstrated. There appears to be a role for melatonin in adiposity reduction; however, several questions remain unanswered, for example melatonin baseline levels in obesity, and whether any seeming hypomelatonaemia or melatonin irresponsiveness could be clarifying factors. Supplementation dosage studies and more thorough clinical trials are needed to ascertain not only the relevance of such findings but also the efficacy of melatonin supplementation

The effect of nigella sativa on biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Inflammation and oxidative stress are involved in the pathogenesis of a myriad of chronic disorders. This systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to determine the effects of Nigella Sativa (NS) seed and seed oil consumption on several biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress. The Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed-MEDLINE databases were systematically searched until August 2019. The quality assessment and heterogeneity of the selected randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were measured using the Jadad checklist, and Q and I2 tests, respectively. Finally, a total of 10 clinical RCTs were found to be eligible for this meta-analysis. The pooled findings showed that NS consumption significantly reduced serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP; WMD: �0.67, 95 CI: �1.29, �0.05, I2 = 95.7), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α; WMD: �2.29, 95 CI: �4.48, �0.11, I2 = 93), and malondialdehyde (MDA; WMD: �1.18, 95 CI: �2.24, �0.12, I2 = 85.4), and significantly increased total antioxidant capacity (TAC; WMD: 0.35, 95 CI: 0.10, 0.59, I2 = 77.1), and superoxide dismutase (SOD; WMD: 66.30, 95 CI: 1.03, 131.57, I2 = 99.4) levels. Overall, the results of this systematic review and meta-analysis imply that NS consumption may decrease inflammatory response and oxidative stress markers. Practical applications: Overall, the evidence supports the consumption of NS to reduce hs-CRP, TNF-α, and MDA, and to increase SOD and TAC levels. In addition, the subgroup analyses findings concluded that lower dosages of NS, longer durations of the intervention, and the use of NS seed oil may result in more effective action on inflammatory markers, but because of the limited number of trials, the results must be analyzed with caution, especially for the subgroup analysis. However, further prospective studies regarding the effect of NS consumption on biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress, with larger sample sizes, from various countries and longer follow-up periods, are required to confirm whether NS possesses veritable anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC

Impact of Varying Atmospheric Profiles on Extensive Air Shower Observation: Fluorescence Light Emission and Energy Reconstruction

Several experiments measure the fluorescence light produced by extensive air showers in the atmosphere. This light is converted into a longitudinal shower profile from which information on the primary energy and composition is derived. The fluorescence yield, as the conversion factor between light profile measured by EAS experiments and physical interpretation of showers, has been measured in several laboratory experiments. The results, however, differ considerably. In this article, a model calculation of the fluorescence emission from relevant band systems of nitrogen in dependence on wavelength and atmospheric conditions is presented. Different calculations are compared to each other in combination with varying input parameters. The predictions are compared with measurements and the altitude-dependence of the fluorescence yield is discussed in detail.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables, Astroparticle Physics in pres