Tag: nevin manimala

Food Funct. 2021 Nov 23. doi: 10.1039/d1fo01555a. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Postmenopausal women experience an increase in bone remodeling with the rate of bone resorption superseding the rate of bone formation. This results in a net bone loss with a subsequent increased risk for osteoporosis and fractures. High blood pressure (BP) has been associated with loss of bone mineral density and increased propensity to fractures. Strawberries are rich in polyphenols, which have been shown to have anti-hypertensive and bone-protective properties. Thus, we examined whether daily intake of strawberries would positively affect biomarkers of bone metabolism in postmenopausal women with pre- and stage 1-hypertension. Participants (age: 59 ± 6 years; body mass index: 31.5 ± 4.1 kg m^-2; systolic BP: 140 ± 13 mmHg) were randomly assigned to consume (1) 50 g of freeze-dried strawberry powder (FDSP), (2) 25 g FDSP + 25 g of placebo powder, or (3) 50 g placebo powder for eight weeks. Results indicate a significant time-by-treatment interaction (P = 0.04) for serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, a hormone that plays a major role in bone formation. Serum concentrations of bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, a marker of bone formation, and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-5b, a specific marker of bone resorption, were not affected by FDSP compared to placebo. Although not statistically significant, after eight weeks, osteocalcin increased in the 50 g FDSP group with a large effect size (d = 0.6) when compared to the placebo-control group. Adiponectin increased by 5% and 6% in the 25 g and 50 g FDSP groups, respectively, while it declined in the placebo-control group by 25% (P = 0.03 for time-by-treatment interaction). Our findings suggest that consumption of 25 g FDSP increases IGF-1 in postmenopausal women with pre- and stage 1-hypertension. However, further studies are needed to assert the effectiveness of a strawberry intervention for bone health.

PMID:34812466 | DOI:10.1039/d1fo01555a

Glob Food Sec. 2021 Nov 18:100594. doi: 10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100594. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study investigates consumer experiences of food environments and food acquisition practices during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our rapid assessment online survey featured a convenience sample of 2015 individuals from 119 countries, spanning Western Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Africa. Data collection took place in April 2020 during the second month of the pandemic. Participants were recruited via existing networks of the United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition, through social media, and by snowballing. The majority of participants were female (71.9%), from low- and middle-income countries (51.0%), and working in nutrition or healthcare (39.3%). Qualitative thematic analysis and descriptive statistics reveal a series of common global experiences related to food availability and accessibility, food prices and affordability, food acquisition practices, and food preparation and consumption. The importance of community food participation, food sharing, and resource allocation are highlighted, along with increasing awareness of healthy diets and food waste. We identify ten synergistic policy entry points to: 1) build resilient and equitable food environments resistant to stresses and shocks; 2) harness positive dietary-related behaviors manifested during the pandemic; and, 3) mitigate the projected nutrition crisis and promote sustainable healthy diets for all.

PMID:34812406 | PMC:PMC8598973 | DOI:10.1016/j.gfs.2021.100594

Rhinology. 2021 Nov 23. doi: 10.4193/Rhin21.320. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of MMP-12 in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with polyps (CRSwNP).

METHODOLOGY: Tissue samples from 37 patients with CRSwNP undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery and healthy mucosa specimens from 12 healthy controls were obtained intraoperatively. The mRNA and protein expression levels of MMP-12 were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, respectively.

RESULTS: mRNA levels of MMP-12 were significantly elevated in the CRSwNP tissue samples compared to those in control ones. The protein levels of MMP-12 showed a trend of increasing but with no statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS: Elevation of MMP-12 in patients with CRSwNP suggests its potential implication in the pathogenesis of the disease. The difference in the expression profile observed between mRNA and protein levels could be due to post-translational gene expression regulation. Our findings provide evidence that MMP-12 along with other MMPs may serve as a biomarker and therapeutic target in the management of the disease.

PMID:34812434 | DOI:10.4193/Rhin21.320

IEEE Access. 2021 May 11;9:74044-74067. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3079217. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Cardio Vascular Diseases (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally and is increasing at an alarming rate, according to the American Heart Association’s Heart Attack and Stroke Statistics-2021. This increase has been further exacerbated because of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, thereby increasing the pressure on existing healthcare resources. Smart and Connected Health (SCH) is a viable solution for the prevalent healthcare challenges. It can reshape the course of healthcare to be more strategic, preventive, and custom-designed, making it more effective with value-added services. This research endeavors to classify state-of-the-art SCH technologies via a thorough literature review and analysis to comprehensively define SCH features and identify the enabling technology-related challenges in SCH adoption. We also propose an architectural model that captures the technological aspect of the SCH solution, its environment, and its primary involved stakeholders. It serves as a reference model for SCH acceptance and implementation. We reflected the COVID-19 case study illustrating how some countries have tackled the pandemic differently in terms of leveraging the power of different SCH technologies, such as big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, and mobile applications. In combating the pandemic, SCH has been used efficiently at different stages such as disease diagnosis, virus detection, individual monitoring, tracking, controlling, and resource allocation. Furthermore, this review highlights the challenges to SCH acceptance, as well as the potential research directions for better patient-centric healthcare.

PMID:34812394 | PMC:PMC8545204 | DOI:10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3079217

IEEE Access. 2021 Jun 2;9:85442-85454. doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3085418. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

In this work we implement a COVID-19 infection detection system based on chest X-ray images with uncertainty estimation. Uncertainty estimation is vital for safe usage of computer aided diagnosis tools in medical applications. Model estimations with high uncertainty should be carefully analyzed by a trained radiologist. We aim to improve uncertainty estimations using unlabelled data through the MixMatch semi-supervised framework. We test popular uncertainty estimation approaches, comprising Softmax scores, Monte-Carlo dropout and deterministic uncertainty quantification. To compare the reliability of the uncertainty estimates, we propose the usage of the Jensen-Shannon distance between the uncertainty distributions of correct and incorrect estimations. This metric is statistically relevant, unlike most previously used metrics, which often ignore the distribution of the uncertainty estimations. Our test results show a significant improvement in uncertainty estimates when using unlabelled data. The best results are obtained with the use of the Monte Carlo dropout method.

PMID:34812397 | PMC:PMC8545186 | DOI:10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3085418

Zootaxa. 2021 Sep 21;5040(2):283-288. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5040.2.7.

ABSTRACT

Based on the geographic distribution database of the Orthoptera Species File, the diversity and distribution of the superfamily Grylloidea in the Nearctic region was studied using the statistics and Sorensen dissimilarity coefficient. A total of 164 species or subspecies belonging to 4 families, 9 subfamilies and 27 genera were recorded from this region; among which Gryllidae (93, 56.70%), followed by Trigonidiidae (44, 26.83%), Mogoplistidae (25, 15.24%), and Phalangopsidae (2, 1.22%). The diversity exhibits an asymmetric distribution pattern, with the southeastern coastal plain, the Interior Plateau and Piedmont of the United States was the most abundant. At the same time, the regional similarity of species distribution was analyzed, and the Nearctic was divided into four subregions: Boreal Arctic zone of North America, Eastern temperate North America, Northeast temperate North America, and Southern North America western temperate North America.

PMID:34811041 | DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.5040.2.7

Zootaxa. 2021 Sep 9;5032(4):549-562. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5032.4.5.

ABSTRACT

The family Stichopodidae is represented in the Mediterranean Sea by the genus Parastichopus which includes two non-endemic species; Parastichopus tremulus (Gunnerus, 1767) and Parastichopus regalis (Cuvier, 1817). On the Algerian coast (southwestern Mediterranean Sea), two morphotypes of P. regalis were observed, one with dark spots on the dorsal surface and the other non-spotted. In total, 65 individuals of P. regalis were recorded from 22 stations along the Algerian coast during an oceanographic campaign. Twelve individuals (6 of each morphotype) were used for a comparative study of the morphological (including endoskeletal) characteristics. Table ossicles, the only ossicles of the body wall of the two morphotypes of P. regalis, are here compared with regard to the disk diameter of the tables and the total area of the surface of the disc. Statistical analysis did not show any significant differences between the spotted and the non-spotted morphotypes.

PMID:34811110 | DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.5032.4.5

Zootaxa. 2021 Nov 22;5071(1):131-142. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5071.1.7.

ABSTRACT

A method is presented for correlating phylogenetic characters through cladistic analysis. It extends the use of phylogenetic datasets for diagnostic purposes. It improves matrix-based identification tools by predicting novel character-state combinations that were not observed when the key was constructed. By interpreting homoplasy as analytical error, hypothetical character-state combinations are tested for the homoplasy that they would add to the shortest tree(s). The correlation is equal to the homoplasy summed across all state combinations, divided by a maximum possible value. The results depend on uncertainty about the sequence of state transitions and their overlap among characters. A correlation index r is proposed for sets of non-additive characters; it is a kind of multiple-regression value, and its ensemble value R is a statistic of a whole matrix. This approach can be used to select sets of the best “proxy” characters to substitute for unobservable characters of interest. The concept can be extended to continuous characters. Worked examples are given with datasets of various insect orders.

PMID:34810677 | DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.5071.1.7

Zootaxa. 2021 Aug 18;5023(2):293-300. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5023.2.9.

ABSTRACT

Although body size correction and inferential statistics have been used in morphological studies for many decades, their applications are far from being ubiquitous. We performed a meta-analysis to quantify the extent of taxonomic papers that performed body size correction and implemented a statistical hypothesis testing framework during the analysis of morphological data. Our results indicate that in most papers, neither of these analyses were performed but instead, cursory comparisons of descriptive statistics were presented. With the development of numerous freely available and powerful statistical programs such as R, we find it prudent to outline a standardized and statistically defensible framework to enhance the workflow of morphological analyses in taxonomic studies. This 5-step approach can be applied to meristic and mensural data across a wide range of taxonomic groups. We include an easy-to-use companion R script to facilitate the implementation of this workflow. Our proposed framework is not rooted in phylogenetic or evolutionary theory and hence, should not be used in place of explicit species delimitation techniques. Nevertheless, it can be incorporated into a more robust integrative taxonomic framework and is particularly useful for identifying diagnostic characters for species diagnoses.

PMID:34810961 | DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.5023.2.9

JBI Evid Implement. 2021 Jan 29;19(4):357-366. doi: 10.1097/XEB.0000000000000274.

ABSTRACT

AIM: The aim of this project was to audit the usual assessment practices employed when admitting patients to a convalescence unit on the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. The project implemented strategies to improve evidence-based practice using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology. The specific objectives of this project were (1) to improve completion of the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) record, (2) to improve professionals’ CGA knowledge, (3) to promote interdisciplinary work, (4) to improve tailored therapeutic plan generation by implementing evidence-based practice criteria within the instrument, and (5) to evaluate the records and action plans derived from the CGA.

METHODS: Pre-/post-implementation audit methodology was used the Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System and Getting Research into Practice, and was developed in multiple phases. The implementation phase took 6 months. A sample of 34 consecutive admissions had their CGA patient records evaluated. Descriptive statistics were calculated.

RESULTS: A total of 64 records (34 pre/30 post) were reviewed to assess CGA completion. The baseline audit results showed that only two audit criteria were higher than 50%, indicating poor knowledge about the concept of CGA and poor compliance with the current program. Following the implementation of the strategies, which included education and the development of a checklist, there was an improvement in all the criteria audited: the record was correctly completed in 67% of cases, and 80% of team members were knowledgeable and competent in CGA.

CONCLUSION: Several barriers were identified at baseline, and various strategies were implemented to improve CGA compliance. The results show that the project increased awareness of the importance of a comprehensive assessment of the care that patients receive, resulting in better CGA completion.

PMID:34810407 | DOI:10.1097/XEB.0000000000000274