Effect of glycerol, peanut oil and soybean lecithin contents on the properties of biodegradable film of improved cassava starches from Côte d’Ivoire

— Edible films have been successfully used in the food packaging industry for several decades. Today natural polysaccharides, including cassava starch,are increasingly being used in the production of such biodegradable edible films and food packaging. In Côte d'Ivoire, there are improved cassava varieties whose starches have not yet been tested in the production of biodegradable films. In thisstudy, the optical and mechanical properties and the water solubility of starch-based composite films of four improved cassava varieties withadded glycerol, peanut oil and soy lecithin were determined. Starchwas obtained by cold water extraction from native cassava from the varieties Bocou 1, Bocou 2, Yavo and TMS. Films preparation was made bycasting methodwithcassava, glycerol (25-30 %), peanutoil (5-10 %) and soybean lecithin (0-5 %). Increasing the glycerol content, increased L*color valueand elongationat break and decreased a*, b*, colourdifference (ΔE*ab) and tensilestrength of the composite films. Also, increasing the oil content from 5 to 10%, increased the opacity, b*, ΔE*ab, water solubility, elongationat break but decreased L*, a* and tensilestrength. Similarly, increasing the soy lecithin content from 0 to 5%, increased the opacity, L*, b* and ΔE*ab, but decreased a*, of the starch-based composite films. The results suggest an ideal formulation of 4% starch/25% glycerol/5% oil/5% soy lecithinfor a film with optimum mechanical properties with low solubility

Effect of Edible Coating based on improved Cassava Starch on Post-Harvest quality of fresh Tomatoes (solanum lycopersicum l.)

peer reviewedComposite coatings based on improved cassava starch have the capacity to preserve the quality and extend the shelf life of fresh tomatoes. Two new edible composites coatings C1 (4% starch/25% glycerol/5% oil/5% soybean lecithin) and C2 (4% cassava starch/microcrystalline cellulose 30%/25% glycerol/5% oil/5% lecithin) were compared with the commercially available SemperfreshTM coating and no coating. Different coatings/no coating were applied to fresh tomatoes that were subsequently stored at 20 ± 2°C and 70 ± 2% relative humidity for 4 weeks. Tomatoes coated with the composite coatings C1 and C2 based on improved cassava starch showed a significant (P < 0.05) delay in changes of firmness, weight, titratable acidity, pH, total soluble solids, sugar/acidity ratio and colour development compared with both SemperfreshTM and uncoated control fruit. The results demonstrated that our assessed combination of improved cassava variety starch vegetable oil, glycerol, soy lecithin and cellulose and derivates can be used as edible coating to increase the shelf life of tomatoes stored at 20 ± 2°C up to four weeks

The value of open-source clinical science in pandemic response: lessons from ISARIC

International audienc

Association of Country Income Level With the Characteristics and Outcomes of Critically Ill Patients Hospitalized With Acute Kidney Injury and COVID-19

Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) has been identified as one of the most common and significant problems in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. However, studies examining the relationship between COVID-19 and AKI in low- and low-middle income countries (LLMIC) are lacking. Given that AKI is known to carry a higher mortality rate in these countries, it is important to understand differences in this population. Methods: This prospective, observational study examines the AKI incidence and characteristics of 32,210 patients with COVID-19 from 49 countries across all income levels who were admitted to an intensive care unit during their hospital stay. Results: Among patients with COVID-19 admitted to the intensive care unit, AKI incidence was highest in patients in LLMIC, followed by patients in upper-middle income countries (UMIC) and high-income countries (HIC) (53%, 38%, and 30%, respectively), whereas dialysis rates were lowest among patients with AKI from LLMIC and highest among those from HIC (27% vs. 45%). Patients with AKI in LLMIC had the largest proportion of community-acquired AKI (CA-AKI) and highest rate of in-hospital death (79% vs. 54% in HIC and 66% in UMIC). The association between AKI, being from LLMIC and in-hospital death persisted even after adjusting for disease severity. Conclusions: AKI is a particularly devastating complication of COVID-19 among patients from poorer nations where the gaps in accessibility and quality of healthcare delivery have a major impact on patient outcomes

Characteristics and outcomes of an international cohort of 600 000 hospitalized patients with COVID-19

Background: We describe demographic features, treatments and clinical outcomes in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) COVID-19 cohort, one of the world's largest international, standardized data sets concerning hospitalized patients. Methods: The data set analysed includes COVID-19 patients hospitalized between January 2020 and January 2022 in 52 countries. We investigated how symptoms on admission, co-morbidities, risk factors and treatments varied by age, sex and other characteristics. We used Cox regression models to investigate associations between demographics, symptoms, co-morbidities and other factors with risk of death, admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Results: Data were available for 689 572 patients with laboratory-confirmed (91.1%) or clinically diagnosed (8.9%) SARS-CoV-2 infection from 52 countries. Age [adjusted hazard ratio per 10 years 1.49 (95% CI 1.48, 1.49)] and male sex [1.23 (1.21, 1.24)] were associated with a higher risk of death. Rates of admission to an ICU and use of IMV increased with age up to age 60&nbsp;years then dropped. Symptoms, co-morbidities and treatments varied by age and had varied associations with clinical outcomes. The case-fatality ratio varied by country partly due to differences in the clinical characteristics of recruited patients and was on average 21.5%. Conclusions: Age was the strongest determinant of risk of death, with a ∼30-fold difference between the oldest and youngest groups; each of the co-morbidities included was associated with up to an almost 2-fold increase in risk. Smoking and obesity were also associated with a higher risk of death.&nbsp;The size of our international database and the standardized data collection method make this study a comprehensive international description of COVID-19 clinical features. Our findings may inform strategies that involve prioritization of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who have a higher risk of death