Effects of maturity stages and fermentation of cocoa beans on total phenolic contents and antioxidant capacities in raw cocoa powder

Consumption of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) and cocoa products is associated with numerous health benefits due to their high levels of polyphenols and antioxidant capacities. In this study, changes of total phenolic contents (TPC) and antioxidant capacities (AC) of raw cocoa powder at four maturity stages, under different fermentation methods and fermentation duration of cocoa beans were investigated. The TPC and AC were measured using Folin–Ciocalteu and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC)/ABTS assay, respectively. In term of maturity stages, the powder of unfermented cocoa beans harvested from the stage one contained significantly lower levels of TPC (6.39 ± 0.02 g CE/100 g DM) and AC (26.82 ± 0.13 mol TE/100 g DM) than those from the beans harvested from the stage two, three and four. For all maturity stages studied, fermenting cocoa beans increased antioxidant capacities of the raw cocoa powder. Cocoa fermentation using the commercial enzyme Pectinex® Ultra SP-L resulted in lower TPC but higher AC in comparison to those treated without enzymes, however prolonged fermentation time in cocoa beans significantly reduced TPC and AC in the powder. Strong correlations between TPC and AC of fermented samples with (R = 0.923) and without enzyme supplement (R = 0.942) were obtained. Two-way anova analyses showed that changes of TPC and AC of cocoa beans were dependent on maturity stages, fermentation methods and fermentation duration. As a conclusion, fermentation of cocoa beans harvested at the maturity stage two and three was found to be optimum for the high levels of AC and TPC attainment; fermented beans with commercial enzyme could be utilized to reduce labor cost by shortening the fermentation duration

IMPROVEMENT OF CO2 PURIFYING SYSTEM BY PHOTOCATALYST FOR APPLICATION IN MICROALGAE CULTURE TECHNOLOGY

By reactive grinding method Vanadium-doped rutile TiO2 nanoparticle material was obtained with an average particle size of 20‐40nm, the Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) specific surface area about 20 m2g−1 and it absorbed strongly in the UV region and increased at the visible wavelength of 430 – 570 nm. This study focused on the improvement of exhaust gas treatment from coal-fired flue gas of the traditional adsorption-catalysis system (Modular System for Treating Flue Gas - MSTFG) by using the V2O5/TiO2 Rutile as photocatalyst. The results showed that integrating both catalytic systems mentioned above increased the gas treatment efficiency: CO from 77 % to over 98 %, NOx from 50 % to 93 %, SO2 was absent as opposed to the input gas component. Also it showed that V2O5/TiO2 Rutile integrated with MSTFG has got high efficiency of CO treatment, also secured the high obtained CO2 concentration as a valuable carbon source for microagal mass culture as well as saving energy and simplifying devices

Transitions in diatom assemblages and pigments through dry and wet season conditions in the Red River, Hanoi (Vietnam)

Background and aims – Biomonitoring is an important tool for assessing river water quality, but is not routinely applied in tropical rivers. Marked hydrological changes can occur between wet and dry season conditions in the tropics. Thus, a prerequisite for ecological assessment is that the influence of ‘natural’ hydrological change on biota can be distinguished from variability driven by water quality parameters of interest. Here we aimed to (a) assess seasonal changes in water quality, diatoms and algal assemblages from river phytoplankton and artificial substrates through the dry-wet season transition (February–July 2018) in the Red River close to Hanoi and (b) evaluate the potential for microscopic counts and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments for biomonitoring in large tropical rivers.Methods – River water (phytoplankton) and biofilms grown on artificial glass substrates were sampled monthly through the dry (February–April) to wet (May–August) season transition and analysed via microscopic and HPLC techniques.Key results – All phototrophic communities shifted markedly between the dry and wet seasons. Phytoplankton concentrations were low (ca. thousands of cells/mL) and declined as the wet season progressed. The dominant phytoplankton taxa were centric diatoms (Aulacoseira granulata and Aulacoseira distans) and chlorophytes (Scenedesmus and Pediastrum spp.), with chlorophytes becoming more dominant in the wet season. Biofilm diatoms were dominated by Melosira varians, and areal densities declined in the wet season when fast-growing pioneer diatom taxa (e.g. Achnanthidium minutissimum, Planothidium lanceolatum) and non-degraded Chlorophyll a concentrations increased, suggesting active phytobenthos growth in response to scour damage. Otherwise, a-phorbins were very abundant in river seston and biofilms indicating in situ Chlorophyll a degradation which may be typical of tropical river environments. The very large range of total suspended solids (reaching > 120 mg L-1) and turbidity appears to be a key driver of photoautotrophs through control of light availability.Conclusions – Hydrological change and associated turbidity conditions exceed nutrient influences on photoautotrophs at inter-seasonal scales in this part of the Red River. Inter-seasonal differences might be a useful measure for biomonitoring to help track how changes in suspended solids, a major water quality issue in tropical rivers, interact with other variables of interest

WATER QUALITY STATUS OF WHITE LEG SHRIMP FARMING AREAS IN BINH DAI DISTRICT, BEN TRE PROVINCE, VIETNAM

This study focused on water quality assessment of farmed shrimp ponds in Binh Dai District, Ben Tre Province. The goals of the study were to provide chemical parameters of pond water for farmers, to identify problems and causes in farmed shrimp related to water quality and disease, and to help managers find appropriate solutions to minimize damage to local shrimp farming. Water samples were collected monthly from January to June 2021 from 90 vannamei farmers in six different areas, including Vang Quoi Dong, Dinh Trung Binh Thoi, Phu Long, Phu Vang, and Binh Thang of Binh Dai District. Parameters investigated in this study included pH, alkalinity, NH4+, NH3, NO2- and three other minerals. Water quality parameters were analyzed based on APHA standard analysis methods. The results showed that the water quality of shrimp farming areas in Binh Dai fluctuated from time to time, and water quality parameters were suitable for vannamei shrimp farming. However, the concentration of NO2- was always higher than the permitted threshold. The results from cluster analysis and MANOVA testing showed that water quality of the shrimp farming areas in Binh Dai was significantly different (p < 0.05), especially NO2-, Ca, Mg and alkalinity. These findings suggest that farmers must apply proper solutions for water quality management in each farming area to maximize crop production

Analysis of Antimicrobial Resistance in Non-typhoidal Salmonella Collected From Pork Retail Outlets and Slaughterhouses in Vietnam Using Whole Genome Sequencing.

Non-typhoidal salmonella (TS) remains a significant health burden worldwide. In Vietnam, pork accounts for 70% of the total meat consumed, and contamination with Salmonella is high. High levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) have emerged among porcine NTS and of particular concern is the emergence of colistin resistance, a "last defense" antibioic against multi-drug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative pathogens. This study aimed to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility of 69 NTS isolates collected from the pork retail outlets and slaughterhouses in Vietnam during 2014 a nd 2018/19. Phenotypic testing and whole genome sequencing was used to assess the serotype and AMR gene profiles of the 69 NTS isolates. Seventeen different serotypes were identified, of which S. enterica subsp enterica serotype Typhimurium was the most common followed by S. ser. Rissen, S. ser. London, S. ser. Anatum, and S. ser. Derby. Phenotype AMR was common with 41 (59.4%) isolates deemed MDR. MDR strains were most common in slaughterhouses (83%) and supermarkets (75%) and lowest in traditional markets (38%) and convenience stores (40%). Colistin resistance was identified in 18 strains (15 resistant, three intermediate) with mcr-1 identified in seven isolates (S. ser. Meleagridis, S. Rissen, S. Derby) and mcr-3 in two isolates (S. Typhimurium). This includes the first mcr positive S. Meleagridis to our knowledge. Surprisingly, boutique stores had high levels (60%) of MDR isolates including 5/20 isolates with mcr-1. This study demonstrates that pork from modern retail stores classed as supermarkets or boutique (with pork claiming to be high quality, traceable, environmentally friendly marketed toward higher income consumers) still contained NTS with high levels of AMR

The global response: How cities and provinces around the globe tackled Covid-19 outbreaks in 2021

Background: Tackling the spread of COVID-19 remains a crucial part of ending the pandemic. Its highly contagious nature and constant evolution coupled with a relative lack of immunity make the virus difficult to control. For this, various strategies have been proposed and adopted including limiting contact, social isolation, vaccination, contact tracing, etc. However, given the heterogeneity in the enforcement of these strategies and constant fluctuations in the strictness levels of these strategies, it becomes challenging to assess the true impact of these strategies in controlling the spread of COVID-19.Methods: In the present study, we evaluated various transmission control measures that were imposed in 10 global urban cities and provinces in 2021 Bangkok, Gauteng, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, London, Manila City, New Delhi, New York City, Singapore, and Tokyo.Findings: Based on our analysis, we herein propose the population-level Swiss cheese model for the failures and pit-falls in various strategies that each of these cities and provinces had. Furthermore, whilst all the evaluated cities and provinces took a different personalized approach to managing the pandemic, what remained common was dynamic enforcement and monitoring of breaches of each barrier of protection. The measures taken to reinforce the barriers were adjusted continuously based on the evolving epidemiological situation.Interpretation: How an individual city or province handled the pandemic profoundly affected and determined how the entire country handled the pandemic since the chain of transmission needs to be broken at the very grassroot level to achieve nationwide control

CoNIC Challenge: Pushing the Frontiers of Nuclear Detection, Segmentation, Classification and Counting

Nuclear detection, segmentation and morphometric profiling are essential in helping us further understand the relationship between histology and patient outcome. To drive innovation in this area, we setup a community-wide challenge using the largest available dataset of its kind to assess nuclear segmentation and cellular composition. Our challenge, named CoNIC, stimulated the development of reproducible algorithms for cellular recognition with real-time result inspection on public leaderboards. We conducted an extensive post-challenge analysis based on the top-performing models using 1,658 whole-slide images of colon tissue. With around 700 million detected nuclei per model, associated features were used for dysplasia grading and survival analysis, where we demonstrated that the challenge's improvement over the previous state-of-the-art led to significant boosts in downstream performance. Our findings also suggest that eosinophils and neutrophils play an important role in the tumour microevironment. We release challenge models and WSI-level results to foster the development of further methods for biomarker discovery

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Application of ecological technology for removal of COD, nitrogen and phosphorus from piggery wastewater after biogas production technology

Despite a positive contribution to economic – social development, the growth of piggeries has caused heavily environmental pollution. Currently, treated wastewater of pig farms unfortunately does not meet the national discharge standards yet. This paper presents some research results on the removing COD, nitrogen and phosphorus in piggery wastewater after anaerobic (biogas) process at pilot scale by the combined system using Phragmites australis, Cyperus alternifolius, Vetiveria zizanioides and Eichhornia crassipes. The experimental results showed that the wastewater loading rate of 47.35 l/m2.day with initial concentrations of 203.24 mg COD/l, 111.94 mgTN/l and 13.61 mgTP/l gave removal efficiency of 71.66 %, 79.26 % and 69.65 %, respectively. Thus, the removed quantity of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) was of 4201.35 mg TN/m2.day và 448.76mg TP/m2.day. The obtained results indicated that the flow wetland system, using Phragmites australis, Cyperus alternifolius, Vetiveria zizanioides and Eichhornia crassipes has a rather high COD, TN and TP removal efficiency with simple operation so that it could be feasible if applied for treating pig wastewater. However, the system should be functioned longer for taking data and for evaluating its stability.Mặc dù có những đóng góp tích cực cho sự phát triển kinh tế - xã hội, việc phát triển chăn nuôi lợn đã gây ô nhiễm môi trường nghiêm trọng. Hiện nay, nước thải chăn nuôi lợn từ các cơ sở chăn nuôi sau xử lý vẫn chưa đáp ứng được các tiêu chuẩn thải của quốc gia và tiêu chuẩn ngành. Bài báo này trình bày kết quả nghiên cứu về khả năng loại bỏ COD, nitơ (N) và phôtpho (P) trong nước thải chăn nuôi lợn đã qua xử lý bằng hầm biogas của hệ thống phối hợp cây Sậy, Thủy Trúc, cỏ Vetiver và Bèo Tây ở qui mô pilot. Kết quả thực nghiệm ở tải lượng 47,35 l/m2.ngày, với COD, tổng nitơ (TN) và tổng phôtpho (TP) đầu vào trung bình là 203,24 mg/l, 111,94 mg/l và 13,61 mg/l, tương ứng, thì hiệu suất xử lý lần lượt là 71,66 %; 79,26 % và 69,65 %. Như vậy lượng TN và TP loại bỏ là 4201,35 mgN/m2.ngày và 448,76 mgP/m2.ngày. Kết quả nhận được cho thấy hệ thống sử dụng cây Sậy, Thủy Trúc, cỏ Vetiver và Bèo Tây có hiệu quả loại bỏ COD, TN và TP khá cao trong khi vận hành đơn giản nên có triển vọng áp dụng trong điều kiện thực tế để xử lý nước thải chăn nuôi lợn. Tuy nhiên để đánh giá tính ổn định, hệ thống cần được hoạt động với thời gian lâu dài hơn