Non-destructive maturity index of “Amritsagor” banana using RGB and HSV values

Massive changes in physicochemical composition and color variation usually occur in fruits during maturation and ripening. This study is conducted to implement an image processing system and develop a maturity color chart of banana. Actually, natural ripening color is different than impose ripening. Maturity color chart will help the consumer when it will be in the packet of banana. The earliest physiological maturity (stage-1) was marked as the stage when the flesh color was olive green and the pulp turning yellow and the subsequent maturity stages determined whenever changes the color as stage-2 (green smoke), stage-3 (apple green), stage-4 (olive drab), stage-5 (yellow) and stage-6 (golden rod) color. For each of the maturity stages, physical (peel color, firmness, and weight loss) and biochemical (anthocyanin content, carotenoids content, titrable acidity, pH, total soluble solids, ascorbic acid, reducing sugar, non-reducing sugar, and total sugar) maturity indices were determined. We had classified the maturity stages of banana based on the RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) and HSV (Hue, Saturation and Value) values. Average, median, minimum and maximum values were used in this study. After completing the qualitative analysis of RGB and HSV values we found the correlation coefficient of RGB and HSV values. The red color (R) values of bananas would increase when stages increase and the hue (H) means the pure color of bananas decreases when stages increase. Therefore, we can say that maturity stages of bananas mainly depend on R and H values. In case of Amritsagor banana at stage-6 (golden rod) color, TSS (Total Soluble Solid) (2.1%), TA (Titrable Acidity) (0.96%), pH (5.2), sugar (1.25%), vitamin C (2.5 mg/100g), reducing sugar (1.04%), non-reducing sugar (0.2%), anthocyanin (0.55 mg/100g) carotenoids (0.38 mg/100g) and at stage-1 (olive green) color, pH (6.8), vitamin C (8.75 mg/100g) are significantly highest. The results show that as maturation progressed, firmness decreased gradually and flesh color turned olive green to golden rod with ripening. Total soluble solids increased while TA (Titrable acidity) gradually increased with maturity. The results revealed that, there is a significant relationship between nutritional value, firmness and fruit skin color. So, the fruit of stage-1 (olive green) is suitable for harvesting and stages-6 (golden rod) color is suitable for consumption. Actually this message for grower/ owner or who would like to harvest and consumer. Fruit is banana, to observe the change of color keep it at room temperature. Neither artificial nor chemical system used here. Each and every box will carry the real maturity color chart

Estimation and prediction of doubling time for COVID-19 epidemic in Bangladesh: a study of first 14 month’s daily confirmed new cases and deaths

Background: The doubling time is a reliable indicator to estimate the rate at which the pandemic is spreading. We evaluated and predicted the doubling time for the daily COVID-19 cases and deaths in Bangladesh. Methods: Publicly available daily data on COVID-19 new cases from 8 March, 2020 to 14 February, 2021 and the daily deaths data from 18 March, 2020 to 14 February, 2021 were used to predict doubling time based on records from seven days prior. Then, short-term predictions for the next 14 days (1 to 14 February, 2021) were performed to validate the accuracy of our prediction. Finally, using the doubling time data up to 14 February, 2021, a two months (15 February- 15 April, 2021) prediction was made for both daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths. Results: The median doubling time for daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths were 90.51 and 86.02 days respectively in the entire period. The doubling period for cases was lowest in the second to third week of March, 2020 [ranged 2.33-8.43 days] and longest in the second week of March, 2021 [ranged 834-2187 days]. Our prediction suggests that the doubling time for daily confirmed new COVID-19 case will be 1310.33 days [95% CI: 854.33 - 1766.32] and deaths will be 683.04 days [556.05 - 810.03] on 15 April, 2021 in Bangladesh. Conclusion: Our prediction is based on current testing strategies. Any changes in daily number of tests or sudden changes of the dynamics of COVID-19 transmission would affect these predictions

Mapping the disease-specific LupusQoL to the SF-6D

Purpose To derive a mapping algorithm to predict SF-6D utility scores from the non-preference-based LupusQoL and test the performance of the developed algorithm on a separate independent validation data set. Method LupusQoL and SF-6D data were collected from 320 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) attending routine rheumatology outpatient appointments at seven centres in the UK. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to estimate models of increasing complexity in order to predict individuals’ SF-6D utility scores from their responses to the LupusQoL questionnaire. Model performance was judged on predictive ability through the size and pattern of prediction errors generated. The performance of the selected model was externally validated on an independent data set containing 113 female SLE patients who had again completed both the LupusQoL and SF-36 questionnaires. Results Four of the eight LupusQoL domains (physical health, pain, emotional health, and fatigue) were selected as dependent variables in the final model. Overall model fit was good, with R2 0.7219, MAE 0.0557, and RMSE 0.0706 when applied to the estimation data set, and R2 0.7431, MAE 0.0528, and RMSE 0.0663 when applied to the validation sample. Conclusion This study provides a method by which health state utility values can be estimated from patient responses to the non-preference-based LupusQoL, generalisable beyond the data set upon which it was estimated. Despite concerns over the use of OLS to develop mapping algorithms, we find this method to be suitable in this case due to the normality of the SF-6D data

Genetic, environmental and stochastic factors in monozygotic twin discordance with a focus on epigenetic differences

PMCID: PMC3566971This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Vitamin D deficiency in chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases: results of the cardiovascular in rheumatology [CARMA] study

INTRODUCTION: The aim was to study the association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and the clinical characteristics of patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases (CIRD). METHODS: We studied a cross-section from the baseline visit of the CARMA project (CARdiovascular in rheuMAtology), a 10-year prospective study evaluating the risk of cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients, and non-CIRD patients who attended rheumatology outpatient clinics from 67 hospitals in Spain. Non-CIRD group was frequency matched by age with the joint distribution of the three CIRD groups included in the study. 25(OH)D deficiency was defined if 25(OH)D vitamin levels were < 20 ng/ml. RESULTS: 2.234 patients (775 RA, 738 AS and 721 PsA) and 677 non-CIRD subjects were assessed. The median (p25-p75) 25(OH)D levels were: 20.4 (14.4-29.2) ng/ml in RA, 20.9 (13.1-29.0) in AS, 20.0 (14.0-28.8) in PsA, and 24.8 (18.4-32.6) ng/ml in non-CIRD patients. We detected 25(OH)D deficiency in 40.5 % RA, 39.7 % AS, 40.9 % PsA and 26.7 % non-CIRD controls (p < 0.001). A statistically significant positive association between RA and 25(OH)D deficiency was found (adjusted (adj.) OR = 1.46; 95 % CI = 1.09-1.96); p = 0.012. This positive association did not reach statistical significance for AS (adj. OR 1.23; 95 % CI = 0.85-1.80) and PsA (adj. OR 1.32; 95 % CI = 0.94-1.84). When the parameters of disease activity, severity or functional impairment were assessed, a marginally significant association between 25(OH)D deficiency and ACPA positivity in RA patients (adj. OR = 1.45; 95 % CI = 0.99-2.12; p = 0.056), and between 25(OH)D deficiency and BASFI in AS patients (adj. OR = 1.08; 95 % CI = 0.99-1.17); p = 0.07) was also found. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with RA show an increased risk of having 25(OH)D deficiency compared to non-CIRD controls

Impact on arsenic exposure of a growing proportion of untested wells in Bangladesh

In many areas of Bangladesh, it has been more than six years since a national campaign to test tubewells for arsenic (As) was conducted. Many households therefore draw their water for drinking and cooking from untested wells. A household drinking water survey of 6646 households was conducted in Singair upazilla of Bangladesh. A subset of 795 untested wells used by 1000 randomly selected households was tested in the field by trained village workers with the Hach EZ kit, using an extended reaction time of 40 min, and in the laboratory by high-resolution inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HR ICP-MS). The household survey shows that more than 80% of the wells installed since the national testing campaign in this area were untested. Less than 13% of the households with untested wells knew where a low-As well was located near their home. Village workers using the Hach EZ kit underestimated the As content of only 4 out of 795 wells relative to the Bangladesh standard. However, the As content of 168 wells was overestimated relative to the same threshold. There is a growing need for testing tubewells in areas of Bangladesh where As concentrations in groundwater are elevated. This could be achieved by village workers trained to use a reliable field kit. Such an effort would result in a considerable drop in As exposure as it increases the opportunities for well switching by households

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty

Nanoparticle Orientation to Control RNA Loading and Ligand Display on Extracellular Vesicles for Cancer Regression

Nanotechnology offers many benefits, and here we report an advantage of applying RNA nanotechnology for directional control. The orientation of arrow-shaped RNA was altered to control ligand display on extracellular vesicle membranes for specific cell targeting, or to regulate intracellular trafficking of small interfering RNA (siRNA) or microRNA (miRNA). Placing membrane-anchoring cholesterol at the tail of the arrow results in display of RNA aptamer or folate on the outer surface of the extracellular vesicle. In contrast, placing the cholesterol at the arrowhead results in partial loading of RNA nanoparticles into the extracellular vesicles. Taking advantage of the RNA ligand for specific targeting and extracellular vesicles for efficient membrane fusion, the resulting ligand-displaying extracellular vesicles were capable of specific delivery of siRNA to cells, and efficiently blocked tumour growth in three cancer models. Extracellular vesicles displaying an aptamer that binds to prostate-specific membrane antigen, and loaded with survivin siRNA, inhibited prostate cancer xenograft. The same extracellular vesicle instead displaying epidermal growth-factor receptor aptamer inhibited orthotopic breast cancer models. Likewise, survivin siRNA-loaded and folate-displaying extracellular vesicles inhibited patient-derived colorectal cancer xenograft

Removal of cationic pollutants from water by xanthated corn cob: optimization, kinetics, thermodynamics, and prediction of purification process

The removal of Cr(III) ions and methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions by xanthated corn cob (xCC) in batch conditions was investigated. The sorption capacity of xCC strongly depended of the pH, and increase when the pH rises. The kinetics was well fitted by pseudo-second order and Chrastil’s model. Sorption of Cr(III) ions and MB on xCC was rapid during the first 20 min of contact time and, thereafter, the biosorption rate decrease gradually until reaching equilibrium. The maximum sorption capacity of 17.13 and 83.89 mg g-1 for Cr(III) ions and MB, respectively was obtained at 40 °C, pH 5 and sorbent dose 4 g dm-3 for removal of Cr(III) ions and 1 g dm-3 for removal of MB. The prediction of purification process was successfully carried out and the verification of theoretically calculated amounts of sorbent was confirmed by using packed-bed column laboratory system with recirculation of the aqueous phase. The wastewater from chrome plating industry was successfully purified, i.e. after 40 min concentration of Cr(III) ions was decreased lower than 0.1 mg dm-3. Also, removal of MB from the river water was successfully carried out and after 40 min removal efficiency was about 94 %

Human PAPS Synthase Isoforms Are Dynamically Regulated Enzymes with Access to Nucleus and Cytoplasm

In higher eukaryotes, PAPS synthases are the only enzymes producing the essential sulphate-donor 3′-phospho-adenosine-5′-phosphosulphate (PAPS). Recently, PAPS synthases have been associated with several genetic diseases and retroviral infection. To improve our understanding of their pathobiological functions, we analysed the intracellular localisation of the two human PAPS synthases, PAPSS1 and PAPSS2. For both enzymes, we observed pronounced heterogeneity in their subcellular localisation. PAPSS1 was predominantly nuclear, whereas PAPSS2 localised mainly within the cytoplasm. Treatment with the nuclear export inhibitor leptomycin B had little effect on their localisation. However, a mutagenesis screen revealed an Arg-Arg motif at the kinase interface exhibiting export activity. Notably, both isoforms contain a conserved N-terminal basic Lys-Lys-Xaa-Lys motif indispensable for their nuclear localisation. This nuclear localisation signal was more efficient in PAPSS1 than in PAPSS2. The activities of the identified localisation signals were confirmed by microinjection studies. Collectively, we describe unusual localisation signals of both PAPS synthase isoforms, mobile enzymes capable of executing their function in the cytoplasm as well as in the nucleus