Nevin Manimala

Molecules. 2025 Apr 2;30(7):1584. doi: 10.3390/molecules30071584.

ABSTRACT

Electronic noses (E-noses) have become powerful tools for the rapid and cost-effective differentiation of wines, providing valuable information for the comprehensive evaluation of aroma patterns. However, they need to be trained and validated using classical analytical techniques, such as gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, which accurately identify the volatile compounds in wine. In this study, five low-ethanol wines with distinctive sensory profiles-produced using Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces yeasts and tailored to modern consumer preferences-were analyzed to validate the E-nose. A total of 57 volatile compounds were quantified, 27 of which had an Odor Activity Value (OAV) over 0.2. The content in volatiles, grouped into 11 odorant series according to their odor descriptors, along with the data provided by 12 E-nose sensors, underwent advanced statistical treatments to identify relationships between both data matrices. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) applied to the data from the 12 E-nose sensors revealed well-defined clustering patterns and produced a model that explained approximately 92% of the observed variability. In addition, a principal component regression (PCR) model was developed to assess the ability of the E-nose to non-destructively predict odorant series in wine. The synergy between the volatile compound profiles and the pattern recognition capability of the E-nose, as captured by PLS-DA, enables a detailed characterization of wine aromas. In addition, predictive models that integrate data from gas chromatography, flame ionization detection, and mass spectrometry (GC-FID/GC-MSD) with the electronic nose demonstrating a promising approach for a rapid and accurate odor series prediction, thereby increasing the efficiency of wine aroma analysis.

PMID:40286168 | DOI:10.3390/molecules30071584

Molecules. 2025 Mar 26;30(7):1479. doi: 10.3390/molecules30071479.

ABSTRACT

Chitin and chitosan, versatile biopolymers extensively used in the food and cosmetic industries, are traditionally sourced from crustaceans. However, fungi such as Agaricus bisporus mushrooms present a sustainable, non-animal alternative. This study explored the potential of different Agaricus bisporus samples, including fresh mushrooms and production residues, as sources of chitin. Given that Agaricus bisporus mushrooms are also a rich source of ergosterol, the study additionally incorporated samples treated with supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂). The effects of deproteinisation conditions-specifically the number of successive extractions, sodium hydroxide concentration, and extraction time-were evaluated for fresh mushroom samples in terms of alkali-insoluble matter, chitin yields, and the degree of deacetylation (DD), with the latter determined by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that extraction time had no statistically significant impact on AIM or chitin yield, while the DD increased with prolonged extraction, plateauing after 60 min. Higher sodium hydroxide concentrations enhanced deacetylation, but adversely affected extraction yields. No significant differences in chitin’s DD were observed between fresh mushroom and production residue samples, regardless of scCO₂ treatment. This study demonstrates the viability of recovering chitin from Agaricus bisporus mushroom bio-residues, including those treated with scCO₂, offering a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative for chitin production.

PMID:40286139 | DOI:10.3390/molecules30071479

Molecules. 2025 Mar 22;30(7):1415. doi: 10.3390/molecules30071415.

ABSTRACT

A pseudo-multicomponent one-pot protocol for the synthesis of 1,3-disubstituted imidazolidin-2-one is described, employing trans-(R,R)-diaminocyclohexane for the in situ formation of the Schiff base, followed by reduction to produce the respective diamine and cyclization with carbonyldiimidazole (CDI). This approach utilizes statistical analysis to optimize the reaction conditions, allowing a pseudo-multicomponent protocol to be proposed. The developed method demonstrates sustainability, efficiency, and potential applications in green chemistry, achieving yields ranging from 55% to 81%. This represents a significant advance in synthesizing heterocyclic compounds with biological and pharmacological applications.

PMID:40286054 | DOI:10.3390/molecules30071415

Molecules. 2025 Mar 23;30(7):1425. doi: 10.3390/molecules30071425.

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to examine cold-pressed oils available on the Polish market derived from different plants and manufacturers in the context of their biological activity, including micro- and macroelements, antioxidant properties, antimicrobial activity, and selected effects on eukaryotic cells. In total, 76 oil samples of 34 selected oil types from nine Polish companies (five commercial and four amateur) were tested. The content of macro- and micronutrients was assessed using ICP-OES, the level of fatty acid unsaturation was examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and total antioxidant potential (TAP) was assessed using the DPPH method. The antimicrobial activity of the selected oils against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as fungi, representing both pathogens and human microbiota, was tested using the broth microdilution method. The MTT reduction assay was used to exclude the cytotoxic effect of the oils on the human fibroblast line HFF-1. It has been concluded that the composition of cold-pressed oils varied significantly depending on the plant used and the manufacturer. The total content of the elements tested ranged from 172.91 mg/kg in Helianthus annuus oil to 1580.73 mg/kg in Silybum marianum oil. The iron concentration limits were exceeded in 10 oils, the copper concentration limits were exceeded in 34 oils, and the lead concentration limits were exceeded in 18 oils. At least one of these elements was exceeded in 40 oils (53% of the tested samples), which is why testing the concentration of elements should be a standard procedure for assessing the quality of cold-pressed oils. There was no statistically significant correlation between the content of any macro- and microelements and TAP. While TAP was strongly correlated with the spectral unsaturation index of the oils, this relationship can be used to develop a simple and rapid assessment of oils quality. The strongest antioxidant activity (over 90%) was observed for Nigella sativa oils. Interestingly, among all the tested oils, only these from Nigella sativa L., whatever the producer, possessed also strong antimicrobial activity. None of the tested oils showed cytotoxicity against eukaryotic cells, so the cold-pressed oils can be considered safe.

PMID:40286008 | DOI:10.3390/molecules30071425

Discov Oncol. 2025 Apr 26;16(1):619. doi: 10.1007/s12672-025-02063-8.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Adherence to chemotherapy treatment requires collaboration and sincere agreement between healthcare providers and patients. Poor medication adherence is problematic as it can lead to reduced effectiveness of the treatment. Poor survival, a rise in relapses, treatment failure, and higher healthcare expenses will result from this. A measure of patient treatment adherence is crucial to attain ideal results, such as curative treatment or improving quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: To assess cancer patients’ adherence to chemotherapy and related factors patients in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia, in 2022.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between May 28, 2022, and June 22, 2022, 460 cancer patients in the Amhara region participated in a cross-sectional study carried out by systematic randomized sampling. Data were gathered using an interview-based, previously approved questionnaire. For analysis, the data were first imported into Epi-Data version 4.6 and then exported to the Statistical Package for Social Science version 26. Variables with a p-value of 0.25 were evaluated in a bivariate logistic regression to select a candidate variable for multivariate logistic regression. Variables with a p-value less than 0.05 were deemed significantly associated factors in multivariable logistic regression, and the resulting AOR and 95% CI are displayed for those variables. The Hosmer Lemeshow test was used to confirm the model’s appropriateness, and multi-collinearity was verified with a standard error.

RESULTS: The proportion of good adherence in the Amhara region is 42.3% (95%CI [37.6-47.6]). A history of comorbidity [AOR = 2.74, 95% CI (1.56, 4.81)], no serious side effects from chemotherapy [AOR = 3.50, 95% CI (1.55, 7.90)], having social support [AOR = 1.52, 95% CI (1.21, 1.95)], being a woman [AOR = 2.17, 95% CI (1.31, 3.60)], and having a family history of cancer [AOR = 3.58, 95% CI (2.22, 5.76)], were associated with good chemotherapy adherence.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Compared to other studies, the proportion of poor adherence in the Amhara region was high. Health professionals, families, and government representatives should all work together to provide social support and other systems that will lessen the likelihood that cancer patients with comorbidities may have side effects from chemotherapy.

PMID:40285995 | DOI:10.1007/s12672-025-02063-8

MAGMA. 2025 Apr 26. doi: 10.1007/s10334-025-01252-4. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To validate the automated analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diffusion phantoms with an updated version of the magnetic resonance biomarker assessment software (MR-BIAS), an open-source tool initially developed for the analysis of MRI relaxometry phantoms.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The updated MR-BIAS was validated against two published diffusion weighted MRI datasets: (i) a single-site study (n = 48) was used for validation of apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) and to identify optimal region of interest (ROI) selection, and (ii) a multi-centre multi-vendor study including diffusion imaging from a shared benchmark protocol (n = 49) and site-specific protocols (n = 43). ADC analysis compared both datasets with ROIs manually matched to the original studies, and with automatically detected optimal ROIs.

RESULTS: MR-BIAS ADC values were statistically equivalent (p < 0.05) to original studies within tolerances (manual ROI, automatic ROI) for the single-site study (± 0.01, ± 6 μm²/s) and for the multi-vendor study for benchmark (± 4, ± 7 μm²/s) and site-specific (± 3, ± 6 μm²/s) protocols. The optimal ROI was a central cylinder (height = 10mm, diameter = 10mm). MR-BIAS ADC summary metrics were comparable to those of the original studies.

DISCUSSION: MR-BIAS can automatically and accurately perform ADC analysis of diffusion phantoms, making the software suitable for the quality assurance of multi-centre studies of multi-parametric MRI.

PMID:40285992 | DOI:10.1007/s10334-025-01252-4

Int Endod J. 2025 Apr 26. doi: 10.1111/iej.14243. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: Tissue engineering can be applied to dentine regeneration, stimulating tissue repair by promoting mesenchymal cell migration and differentiation into odontoblast-like cells while modulating inflammation. This study aimed to investigate the effect of quercetin (QU) and calcium hydroxide (CH) incorporated into polycaprolactone (PCL)/polyethylene oxide (PEO) scaffolds on the differentiation of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) in a simulated inflammatory environment in vitro.

METHODOLOGY: Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) were cultured and treated with different concentrations of quercetin (QU) to assess cell viability, mineralized matrix production and responses under inflammatory stimuli. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, as well as TNF-α synthesis, were quantified using fluorescence and ELISA methods. Scaffolds of PCL/PEO with calcium hydroxide and QU were fabricated via electrospinning, characterized and analysed for cell adhesion, viability, inflammatory and mineralisation-related genes in an artificial pulp chamber model. Statistical analysis was performed using anova, Kruskal-Wallis and confidence intervals with a significance level of 5%.

RESULTS: Polycaprolactone/polyethylene oxide scaffolds incorporated with CH and QU showed cytocompatibility and support for DPSC differentiation at concentrations of up to 5 M diluted in the culture medium. After 14 days of treatment, the scaffolds upregulated ALPL gene expression under the inflammatory stimulus, with no differences between the control group and the nonincorporated scaffold. The expression of osteocalcin (OCN) and dentine sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) genes was significantly upregulated for the scaffold-treated group when stimulated with LPS.

CONCLUSIONS: Incorporating QU and CH into PCL/PEO scaffolds modulated the inflammatory-related response and upregulated mineralisation-related genes of LPS-challenged dental pulp stem cells.

PMID:40285990 | DOI:10.1111/iej.14243

Environ Monit Assess. 2025 Apr 26;197(5):599. doi: 10.1007/s10661-025-14052-z.

ABSTRACT

Paddy stubble burning is a prevalent agricultural practice in India, particularly after paddy cultivation, making the country the second-largest contributor to crop residue burning (CBR) globally, releasing approximately 84 Tg/year of aerosols and pollutants, significantly exacerbating air quality and public health crises. This study aimed to enhance the identification of paddy stubble-burning activity at the field level by integrating the contextual possibilistic c-means (PCM-S) model and individual sample as mean (ISM) training approach. By analysing spectral and temporal data from PlanetScope and Sentinel-2, the study optimized the classification of burnt paddy fields. The contextual PCM-S model, which incorporates neighbouring pixel effects, was combined with the ISM training approach, which preserves individual sample characteristics during the training process. This integration, along with pre-burnt and post-burnt temporal data, effectively addressed noisy pixels and field heterogeneity caused by varying harvesting techniques. Moreover, it helped prevent the recurrence of burnt fields in subsequent observations and facilitated the identification of fields that were burned and immediately ploughed. The key findings demonstrated that among 155.42 sq. km of paddy fields in the vicinity of Patiala, 27.07 sq. km were burnt across ten mapped dates, constituting 83.99% of the total burning events mapped across 13 dates of harvested paddy fields. The results showed good accuracies and validation, with minimal intra-class mean membership difference (MMD), indicating negligible variability within the same class (almost 0), higher inter-class MMD, representing a clear distinction between classes (nearly 1), negligible variance (approximately 0.0001), minimal entropy (about 0.05), and a statistical F-score exceeding 0.9. These findings underscore the significant occurrence of paddy stubble burning, despite efforts to manage paddy crop residue, underscoring the urgent need for immediate measures to mitigate future occurrences.

PMID:40285973 | DOI:10.1007/s10661-025-14052-z

Oral Radiol. 2025 Apr 26. doi: 10.1007/s11282-025-00827-0. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Manual therapy is one of the recommended treatments for temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD). This study aims to investigate the ultrasonographic changes in the masseter muscle following manual therapy in patients with TMD, as well as the immediate and short-term effects of the therapy on mouth opening, muscle pain, muscle relaxation, and activities of daily living.

METHODS: The study involved 20 individuals (10 female, mean age = 29.3 ± 11.38; 10 male, mean age = 30.8 ± 10.42) with masseter region pain and TMD, who received a session manual therapy. Ultrasonography assessed changes in the masseter muscle’s thickness, echogenicity, and elasticity before therapy, immediately after, and 1-week following therapy. Muscle pain, its impact on daily life, and muscle relaxation were measured using the Visual Analog Scale, and maximum mouth opening was recorded using a caliper. Data were statistically analyzed using the repeated measures ANOVA test, the Friedman, the paired t test.

RESULTS: The study found significant decreases in masseter muscle thickness immediately and 1 week following therapy (p < 0.001), along with a significant increase in elasticity (p < 0.01). Pain levels decreased significantly following therapy (p < 0.001), and the impact of pain on daily activities improved significantly 1 week following therapy (p < 0.001). Muscle relaxation also increased 1 week following therapy compared to immediately following therapy (p < 0.01). Maximum mouth opening was significantly greater immediately following therapy compared to before therapy (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: This study shows that manual therapy results in immediate and short-term improvements in masseter muscle thickness, elasticity, pain reduction, and the impact on daily activities in TMD patients experiencing masseter muscle pain.

PMID:40285956 | DOI:10.1007/s11282-025-00827-0

Lifetime Data Anal. 2025 Apr 26. doi: 10.1007/s10985-025-09653-2. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

We propose a new goodness-of-fit procedure designed to verify the reciprocal property that characterizes the fatigue-life or Birnbaum-Saunders (BS) distribution. Under this property, scaling a random variable that takes positive values by its median results in the same distribution as its reciprocal, a feature frequently encountered in reliability and survival studies. Our procedure employs total time on test (TTT) curves to compare the behavior of the observed data and its reciprocal counterpart, capturing both local and global discrepancies through supremum- and area-based statistics. We establish the theoretical validity of these statistics under mild assumptions, showing that they deliver accurate inference for moderate to large samples. Simulation evidence indicates that our TTT-based procedures are sensitive to subtle departures from log-symmetry, particularly when the distribution underlying the data has heavier or lighter tails than the assumed one. Illustrative real data examples further reveal how overlooking deviations from the reciprocal property can distort reliability estimates and predictions of failure times, showing the practical importance of the new goodness-of-fit procedure. Overall, our findings strengthen the BS framework and provide robust tools for model validation and selection when log-symmetric modeling assumptions are in place.

PMID:40285949 | DOI:10.1007/s10985-025-09653-2