Optimization of spray-drying conditions and quality assessment of dry extract from Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton leaves

Context: Perilla frutescens and its dried extract have been employed in food and pharmaceutical manufacturing due to the plant's biological activities, which include antibacterial, anti-allergic, anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant, and antidepressant properties. Despite numerous studies on preparing dry extracts from various medicinal herbs, no research has been conducted to optimize spray-drying conditions specifically for P. frutescens. Aims: To optimize the spray-drying parameters using BCPharSoft software and evaluate the quality of P. frutescens dry extract. Methods: D-optimal design based on four independent variables carrier type (Glucidex, Glucidex: Arabic gum 9:1, Glucidex: Arabic gum 8:2), carrier mass (10, 15, and 20 g), inlet air temperature (160, and 180℃) and flow rate (12, and 14 rpm/min) was applied to investigate the cause-effect relations and optimized preparation process. The drying performance, moisture content, total phenol, and total flavonoid content were investigated as four dependent variables. Results: All independent variables had significant effects on the dependent variables. The optimal parameters of the preparation process included using carrier Glucidex: Arabic gum at a ratio of 9:1, carrier mass of 19 g, inlet air temperature of 161°C, and flow rate of 12 rpm/min. The drying performance, moisture content, total phenol, and flavonoid content of the optimized P. frutescens dry extract were found to be 10.42%, 4.80%, and 90.57 mg GA/g, and 53.55 mg QE/g, respectively. Conclusions: Dried P. frutescens extract has been efficiently produced using the spray-drying technique, establishing a foundation for future manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and functional foods derived from P. frutescens

Information searching behaviors among Vietnamese students during first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

This study aims to describe the COVID-19 related information searching behaviors and the relationship between those behaviors and the satisfaction with the COVID-19 related information searched on the Internet among university students during first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam

Can hippocampal neurites and growth cones climb over obstacles?

Guidance molecules, such as Sema3A or Netrin-1, can induce growth cone (GC) repulsion or attraction in the presence of a flat surface, but very little is known of the action of guidance molecules in the presence of obstacles. Therefore we combined chemical and mechanical cues by applying a steady Netrin-1 stream to the GCs of dissociated hippocampal neurons plated on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces patterned with lines 2 \ub5m wide, with 4 \ub5m period and with a height varying from 100 to 600 nm. GC turning experiments performed 24 hours after plating showed that filopodia crawl over these lines within minutes. These filopodia do not show staining for the adhesion marker Paxillin. GCs and neurites crawl over lines 100 nm high, but less frequently and on a longer time scale over lines higher than 300 nm; neurites never crawl over lines 600 nm high. When neurons are grown for 3 days over patterned surfaces, also neurites can cross lines 300 nm and 600 nm high, grow parallel to and on top of these lines and express Paxillin. Axons - selectively stained with SMI 312 - do not differ from dendrites in their ability to cross these lines. Our results show that highly motile structures such as filopodia climb over high obstacle in response to chemical cues, but larger neuronal structures are less prompt and require hours or days to climb similar obstacles

Effect of Electrolyzed Cassava Starch-Gelatin Coating on Biochemical Properties and Ripening of Banana (<i>Musa acuminata</i> L.) Fruits

In this study, cassava starch oxidized by the electrolysis was used as an edible coating to improve the shelf life of banana fruits. The effects of coating in solutions of electrolyzed starch with 1, 2 and 3% (w/v) gelatin and without gelatin addition on respiratory rate and biochemical properties of banana during 8 days of storage at room temperature (75-80% relative humidity) were evaluated. The micrographs of scanning electron microscopy showed very thin coating layers (w/v) of gelatin demonstrated the highest efficiency as it delayed the respiratory peak 4 days more than in the uncoated bananas. This study results suggest that electrolyzed starch-gelatin coating could be a potential material to extend the shelf life of fruits

Antecedents of salesperson performance in information service industry: The role of guanxi, adaptive selling behaviors and customer orientation

This research aims to investigate the determinants of salesperson performance with a focus on the role of customer-centric selling behaviors in the interaction with Guanxi-a measure of the quality of customer-salesperson relationship. The study examines two well-established constructs in the body of sales literature, namely customer orientation and Adaptive selling behavior to shed light on the inconclusive relationship between these antecedents and sales performance in prior works. Using a sample of 204 salespeople in the Information service industry, the authors tested several hypotheses employing the structural equation model (SEM). The results suggest that the adoption of adaptive selling and Customer-oriented behaviors may help salespeople improve performance. Moreover, Guanxi does play some role in explaining sales performance of B2B salespeople. Based on the findings, theoretical contributions and managerial implications, as well as suggestions for future research, will also be presented. In the business-to-business (B2B) context, salespeople are the critical link between a company and its customers; therefore, understanding their performance is a key concern of sales managers as well as researchers in the discipline. However, due to the complex nature of selling activities, the extant literature has not agreed upon the universal factors that may ensure salespeople's success. The research also takes into account the China-originated construct called Guanxi, which is expected to reflect the quality of the relationship between salesperson and customer. Few prior studies have grouped guanxi with selling behaviors in an explanatory model of sales performance. Therefore, studying this interaction may provide more insights into how to improve the performance of the salesforce

Digital Health Literacy About COVID-19 as a Factor Mediating the Association Between the Importance of Online Information Search and Subjective Well-Being Among University Students in Vietnam

Nguyen LHT, Vo MTH, Tran LTM, et al. Digital Health Literacy About COVID-19 as a Factor Mediating the Association Between the Importance of Online Information Search and Subjective Well-Being Among University Students in Vietnam. Frontiers in Digital Health . 2021;3: 739476.Introduction: Digital health literacy (DHL) has recently been proposed as a means of enabling healthy decisions for protective behavior, preventive measures, and adherence with COVID-19 policies and recommendations especially in the era of the "infodemic". This study aimed to (1) identify COVID-19 related DHL and its association with online information seeking; (2) to elucidate COVID-19 related DHL as a mediator predictor between the importance of online information search and its association with subjective well-being among Vietnamese university students. Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey was used to elicit the responses of Vietnamese students over 2 consecutive weeks (from April 25 to May 9, 2020, n = 1,003, 70.1% female students, mean age 21.4 ± 3.1). The online survey questionnaire collected data on the sociodemographic characteristics of participants, DHL about COVID-19, information seeking behavior, and subjective well-being. Mediation analysis was conducted using the importance of searching COVID-19 related information as independent variables, subjective well-being as a dependent variable, and DHL as a mediator variable. Results: Among 1,003 students, the mean (SD) of DHL related to COVID-19 was 2.87 ± 0.32. In the survey, 87.2% of the students reported sufficient well-being, while almost 13% reported low or very low well-being. The findings also indicated that search engines were the most popular platform for information seeking by Vietnamese students (95.3%) and 92.8% of participants had searched for information related to the current spread of COVID-19. Not searching for hygiene regulation as part of infection control and an average level of information satisfaction were associated with limited DHL (p < 0.05). The importance of online information searching related to COVID-19 increased the subjective well-being of students significantly and limited DHL (p < 0.05). DHL was found to mediate the relationship between the importance of online information searching and the subjective well-being of students. Conclusion: The finding provides insight into DHL about COVID-19 among university students, and their ability to find, understand, appraise, and use online health related information during lockdown throughout the first COVID-19 pandemic wave. DHL should be highlighted as a mediating factor that enhances the positive effect of the importance of information seeking on psychological well-being. However, further studies are needed to better define the mediating role of DHL across other factors. Copyright © 2021 Nguyen, Vo, Tran, Dadaczynski, Okan, Murray and Van Vo

#25 : The Prediction Value of EEVA in the Timelapse GERI Incubator for the Blastocyst Morphology

Background and Aims: Time-lapse monitoring of embryo development may represent a superior way to culture and select embryos in vitro. The EEVA Test records the development of each embryo with a cell-tracking system and predicts the potential (High, Medium or Low) that an embryo will form a blastocyst based on automated detection and analysis of time-lapse imaging information of early cell division stage. The blastocyst grade will help clinicians in selecting the best embryos for transfer to increase pregnancy rates and reduce multiple pregnancies. The aim of this study is to determine the correlation between EEVA score and some blastocyst morphological parameters. Methods: Retrospective analysis study on 2522 embryos with indication for prolonging embryo culture to the blastocyst stage in time-lapse GERI incubator from January 2020 to June 2022. Results: Embryos with E1 and E2 score had significant higher morphological ratios of ICM A, ICM B, TE A, TE B, blastocoele expansion ratios of BL5,6 and lower morphological ratios of ICM D, TE D,compared with embryos having E3, E4, E5 score, p<0.01. Embryos with E3 score had significant higher morphological ratios of ICM A, ICM B, TE A, TE B, blastocoele expansion ratios of BL5,6 and lower morphological ratios of ICM D, TE D, compared with embryos having E4, E5 score, p<0.01. Conclusions: The blastocyst morphological parameters were associcated with the EEVA score. The rate of blastocyst with the ICM A, ICM B, TE A, TE B, BL 5,6 tended to decrease and the rate of blastocyst with ICM D; TE D tended to increase for embryos with low EEVA score. In other words, the good quality blastocyst rate tended to decrease, and the bad quality blastocyst rate tended to increase for embryos with low EEVA score