Brazilian Capsicum peppers: capsaicinoid content and antioxidant activity.

PubMed

Bogusz, Stanislau; Libardi, Silvia H; Dias, Fernanda Fg; Coutinho, Janclei P; Bochi, Vivian C; Rodrigues, Daniele; Melo, Arlete Mt; Godoy, Helena T

2018-01-01

Capsicum peppers are known as a source of capsaicinoids, phenolic compounds and antioxidants. Brazilian Capsicum peppers are important spices used in foods worldwide. However, little information is available on the chemical composition and antioxidant activity of these peppers. Capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity were investigated in extracts of three Brazilian peppers: Capsicum frutescens, C. chinense and C. baccatum var. pendulum, in two different harvest years and at two ripening stages. The bioactive compound content was dependent on harvest year, and changes in the concentration profiles were found for capsaicin. Mature fruits of C. chinense harvested in the first year had the highest capsaicin concentration (2.04 mg g -1 fresh pepper), and mature fruits of C. frutescens harvested in the same first year had the highest dihydrocapsaicin content (0.95 mg g -1 fresh pepper). Mature fruits of C. frutescens harvested in the first year showed the major total phenolic compound content (2.46 mg g -1 fresh pepper). The total phenolic compound content was directly related to antioxidant activity. Our results suggest that phenolic compounds significantly contribute to the antioxidant activity of the investigated peppers. Also, these data add valued novel information that enhances current knowledge of Brazilian pepper fruits. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Protonospheric columnar electron content determination. I - Analysis.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Almeida, O. G.

1973-01-01

A combination of phase-path length difference and Faraday rotation angle data obtained from geostationary satellite transmissions is used to determine the integration constant necessary to convert phase-path length difference information into absolute values of total slant columnar electron content. The total content thus determined, which is the sum of the ionospheric and protonospheric contents, is measured with uncertainties about one order of magnitude smaller than the value of the protonospheric content. It is thus, in principle, possible to determine the latter by subtracting from the measurement the so-called 'Faraday content.' This idea, proposed by several authors in the past, is critically examined in the present paper. It is impossible to totally eliminate the ionospheric contribution to the measurements; however, it is shown that the degree of elimination depends on the type of distribution of the longitudinal component of the geomagnetic field along the path of observation. Satisfactory minimization of the ionospheric contribution can be accomplished only under certain geometries of observation.

Psychology Ethics in Introductory Psychology Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zucchero, Renee' A.

2011-01-01

Previous research revealed that introductory psychology textbooks included limited information about psychology ethics. This study reviewed 48 current introductory psychology textbooks for research and other APA ethics content. These textbooks included slightly more total ethics content and were more thorough in their review of research ethics…

Safety Precautions for Total Release Foggers

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Total release foggers, also known as bug bombs, are pesticide products containing aerosol propellants that release their contents at once to fumigate an area. They can pose a hazard if used incorrectly. Find safety information and videos on this page.

Identification of the 100 richest dietary sources of polyphenols: an application of the Phenol-Explorer database.

PubMed

Pérez-Jiménez, J; Neveu, V; Vos, F; Scalbert, A

2010-11-01

The diversity of the chemical structures of dietary polyphenols makes it difficult to estimate their total content in foods, and also to understand the role of polyphenols in health and the prevention of diseases. Global redox colorimetric assays have commonly been used to estimate the total polyphenol content in foods. However, these assays lack specificity. Contents of individual polyphenols have been determined by chromatography. These data, scattered in several hundred publications, have been compiled in the Phenol-Explorer database. The aim of this paper is to identify the 100 richest dietary sources of polyphenols using this database. Advanced queries in the Phenol-Explorer database (www.phenol-explorer.eu) allowed retrieval of information on the content of 502 polyphenol glycosides, esters and aglycones in 452 foods. Total polyphenol content was calculated as the sum of the contents of all individual polyphenols. These content values were compared with the content of antioxidants estimated using the Folin assay method in the same foods. These values were also extracted from the same database. Amounts per serving were calculated using common serving sizes. A list of the 100 richest dietary sources of polyphenols was produced, with contents varying from 15,000 mg per 100 g in cloves to 10 mg per 100 ml in rosé wine. The richest sources were various spices and dried herbs, cocoa products, some darkly coloured berries, some seeds (flaxseed) and nuts (chestnut, hazelnut) and some vegetables, including olive and globe artichoke heads. A list of the 89 foods and beverages providing more than 1 mg of total polyphenols per serving was established. A comparison of total polyphenol contents with antioxidant contents, as determined by the Folin assay, also showed that Folin values systematically exceed the total polyphenol content values. The comprehensive Phenol-Explorer data were used for the first time to identify the richest dietary sources of polyphenols and the foods contributing most significantly to polyphenol intake as inferred from their content per serving.

Health Information Needs and Health Seeking Behavior During the 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak: A Twitter Content Analysis.

PubMed

Odlum, Michelle; Yoon, Sunmoo

2018-03-23

For effective public communication during major disease outbreaks like the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, health information needs of the population must be adequately assessed. Through content analysis of social media data, like tweets, public health information needs can be effectively assessed and in turn provide appropriate health information to address such needs. The aim of the current study was to assess health information needs about Ebola, at distinct epidemic time points, through longitudinal tracking. Natural language processing was applied to explore public response to Ebola over time from July 2014 to March 2015. A total 155,647 tweets (unique 68,736, retweet 86,911) mentioning Ebola were analyzed and visualized with infographics. Public fear, frustration, and health information seeking regarding Ebola-related global priorities were observed across time. Our longitudinal content analysis revealed that due to ongoing health information deficiencies, resulting in fear and frustration, social media was at times an impediment and not a vehicle to support health information needs. Content analysis of tweets effectively assessed Ebola information needs. Our study also demonstrates the use of Twitter as a method for capturing real-time data to assess ongoing information needs, fear, and frustration over time.

The Quality of Patient Information Booklets for Cancer Patients-an Evaluation of Free Accessible Material in German Language.

PubMed

Keinki, Christian; Rudolph, Ivonne; Ruetters, Dana; Kuenzel, Ulrike; Lobitz, Jessica; Schaefer, Maike; Hanaya, Hani; Huebner, Jutta

2017-05-04

According to the information-seeking behaviors of patients, booklets which can be downloaded from the Internet for free are an important source of information notably for patients with cancer. This study investigated whether information booklets for patients with cancer available at German websites are in accordance with the formal and content criteria of evidence-based information. We compared and compiled both content and formal criteria by matching different national and international standards for written patient information using a merged instrument. A catalog with a total of 16 items within 4 categories (quality of the publication, quality of information, quality of information representation, and transparency) was created. Patient information booklets for the most frequent tumor types were collected from the Internet. A total of 52 different patient booklets were downloaded and assessed. Overall, no booklet fulfilled all criteria. The quality of the publications was evaluated with an average value of 1.67 while the quality of the information had a mean value of 1.45, and the quality of information presentation had a similar rating (1.39). The transparency criteria were evaluated as lowest with an average of 1.07. In summary, German booklets for cancer patients have some shortcomings concerning formal and content criteria for evidence-based patient information. The applied requirement catalog is suitable for wide use and may help in quality assurance of health information. It may be used as part of an obligatory external evaluation, which could help improving the quality of health information.

Characteristics of "Music Education" Videos Posted on Youtube

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitaker, Jennifer A.; Orman, Evelyn K.; Yarbrough, Cornelia

2014-01-01

This content analysis sought to determine information related to users uploading, general content, and specific characteristics of music education videos on YouTube. A total of 1,761 videos from a keyword search of "music education" were viewed and categorized. Results for relevant videos indicated users posted videos under 698 different…

Folate content and availability in Malaysian cooked foods.

PubMed

Chew, S C; Khor, G L; Loh, S P

2012-12-01

Data on folate availability of Malaysian cooked foods would be useful for estimation of dietary folate intake; however such information is scarce. A total of 53 samples of frequently consumed foods in Malaysia were selected from the Nutrient Composition of Malaysian Foods. Folate content was determined using HPLC method hyphenated with a stainless steel C18 column and ultraviolet detector (lambda = 280 nm). The index of folate availability was defined as the proportion of folate identified as monoglutamyl derivatives from the total folate content. Total folate content of different food samples varied from 30-95 microg/100g fresh weight. Among rice-based dishes, the highest and the lowest total folate was in coconut milk rice (nasi lemak) and ghee rice (nasi minyak), respectively. In noodle dishes, fried rice noodle (kuey teow goreng) and curry noodle (mee kari) had the highest folate contents. The highest index of folate availability was in a flat rice noodle dish (kuey teow bandung) (12.13%), while the lowest was in a festival cake (kuih bakul) (0.13%). Folate content was found to be negatively related to its availability. This study determined folate content and folate availability in commonly consumed cooked foods in Malaysia. The uptake of folate from foods with high folate content may not be necessarily high as folate absorption also depends on the capacity of intestinal deconjugation and the presence of high fibre in the foods.

Cost Benefit Analysis of Boat Lifts

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

boats in the high tempo operations scenario, and combined information for all lifts. Crystal Ball ran the model and estimated this total impact...the Department of Homeland Security in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or...and recovery of the craft were considered and a total of three were tested. These models included: Hydro Hoist, SunStream, and Jet Dock. The study

Dermatology in Doximity.

PubMed

Ashack, Kurt A; Burton, Kyle A; Dellavalle, Robert P

2016-02-17

Doximity, currently the largest online social networking service for United States (US) health care professionals and medical students, provides a wide variety of content to a large audience. In fact, its database includes 1,078,305 physicians in the US. It is therefore important to evaluate this content from time to time. Our objective is to analyze both the residency rankings and news content presented in Doximity, with respect to dermatology. The study compared the residency rankings created by Doximity to another dermatology residency ranking system that used a different algorithm. In terms of dermatology content, seven dermatology-related search terms were entered into the Doximity search query and data was collected on the first 20 "relevant" articles. Our study evaluated a total of 140 articles. The search term "skin cancer" yielded the most articles totaling 6,001. Informative articles were the most common type of article for each content item searched except for "dermatology", yielding research articles as the most common content type (70%). The search term "melanoma awareness" had the largest number of shares (19,032). In comparing dermatology residency rankings on Doximity with another ranking system that accounted for scholarly achievement, there was 50% overlap. In conclusion, it is vital to evaluate content on social media websites that are utilized by US medical students and health care professionals. We hope this information presented provides an up-to-date analysis on the quality of one particular social media platform.

How do design features influence consumer attention when looking for nutritional information on food labels? Results from an eye-tracking study on pan bread labels.

PubMed

Antúnez, Lucía; Vidal, Leticia; Sapolinski, Alejandra; Giménez, Ana; Maiche, Alejandro; Ares, Gastón

2013-08-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate consumer visual processing of food labels when evaluating the salt content of pan bread labels and to study the influence of label design and nutritional labelling format on consumer attention. A total of 16 pan bread labels, designed according to a full factorial design, were presented to 52 participants, who were asked to decide whether the sodium content of each label was medium or low, while their eye movements were recorded using an eye tracker. Results showed that most participants looked at nutrition labels and the traffic light system to conclude on the salt content of the labels. However, the average percentage of participants who looked at the actual sodium content was much lower. Nutrition information format affected participants' processing of nutrition information. Among other effects, the inclusion of the traffic light system increased participants' attention towards some kind of nutrition information and facilitated its processing, but not its understanding.

Health Information Needs and Health Seeking Behavior During the 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak: A Twitter Content Analysis

PubMed Central

Odlum, Michelle; Yoon, Sunmoo

2018-01-01

Introduction: For effective public communication during major disease outbreaks like the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, health information needs of the population must be adequately assessed. Through content analysis of social media data, like tweets, public health information needs can be effectively assessed and in turn provide appropriate health information to address such needs. The aim of the current study was to assess health information needs about Ebola, at distinct epidemic time points, through longitudinal tracking. Methods: Natural language processing was applied to explore public response to Ebola over time from July 2014 to March 2015. A total 155,647 tweets (unique 68,736, retweet 86,911) mentioning Ebola were analyzed and visualized with infographics. Results: Public fear, frustration, and health information seeking regarding Ebola-related global priorities were observed across time. Our longitudinal content analysis revealed that due to ongoing health information deficiencies, resulting in fear and frustration, social media was at times an impediment and not a vehicle to support health information needs.  Discussion: Content analysis of tweets effectively assessed Ebola information needs. Our study also demonstrates the use of Twitter as a method for capturing real-time data to assess ongoing information needs, fear, and frustration over time.  PMID:29707416

Medicines discarded in household garbage: analysis of a pharmaceutical waste sample in Vienna

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Objectives To analyze a sample of pharmaceutical waste drawn from household garbage in Vienna, with the aim to learn whether and which medicines end up unused in normal household waste. Methods We obtained a pharmaceutical waste sample from the Vienna Municipal Waste Department. This was drawn by their staff in a representative search in October and November 2009. We did a manual investigation of the sample which contained packs and loose blisters, excluded medical devices and traced loose blisters back to medicines packs. We reported information on the prescription status, origin, therapeutic group, dose form, contents and expiry date. We performed descriptive statistics for the total data set and for sub-groups (e.g. items still containing some of original content). Results In total, 152 packs were identified, of which the majority was prescription-only medicines (74%). Cardiovascular medicines accounted for the highest share (24%). 87% of the packs were in oral form. 95% of the packs had not expired. 14.5% of the total data set contained contents but the range of content left in the packs varied. Results on the packs with contents differed from the total: the shares of Over-the Counter medicines (36%), of medicines of the respiratory system (18%) and of the musculo-skeletal system (18%), for dermal use (23%) and of expired medicines (19%) were higher compared to the full data set. Conclusions The study showed that some medicines end up unused or partially used in normal household garbage in Vienna. Our results did not confirm speculations about a high percentage of unused medicines improperly discarded. There is room for improved patient information and counseling to enhance medication adherence and a proper discharge of medicines. PMID:25848546

Medicines discarded in household garbage: analysis of a pharmaceutical waste sample in Vienna.

PubMed

Vogler, Sabine; Leopold, Christine; Zuidberg, Christel; Habl, Claudia

2014-01-01

To analyze a sample of pharmaceutical waste drawn from household garbage in Vienna, with the aim to learn whether and which medicines end up unused in normal household waste. We obtained a pharmaceutical waste sample from the Vienna Municipal Waste Department. This was drawn by their staff in a representative search in October and November 2009. We did a manual investigation of the sample which contained packs and loose blisters, excluded medical devices and traced loose blisters back to medicines packs. We reported information on the prescription status, origin, therapeutic group, dose form, contents and expiry date. We performed descriptive statistics for the total data set and for sub-groups (e.g. items still containing some of original content). In total, 152 packs were identified, of which the majority was prescription-only medicines (74%). Cardiovascular medicines accounted for the highest share (24%). 87% of the packs were in oral form. 95% of the packs had not expired. 14.5% of the total data set contained contents but the range of content left in the packs varied. Results on the packs with contents differed from the total: the shares of Over-the Counter medicines (36%), of medicines of the respiratory system (18%) and of the musculo-skeletal system (18%), for dermal use (23%) and of expired medicines (19%) were higher compared to the full data set. The study showed that some medicines end up unused or partially used in normal household garbage in Vienna. Our results did not confirm speculations about a high percentage of unused medicines improperly discarded. There is room for improved patient information and counseling to enhance medication adherence and a proper discharge of medicines.

Total Quality Management (TQM). Implementers Workshop

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-05-15

SHEE’T :s t’ii ,rrl DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE May 15, 1990 Lfl CN I TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM) Implementers Workshop © Copyright 1990 Booz.Allen...must be continually performed in order to achieve successful TQM implementation. 1-5 = TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT Implementers Workshop Course Content...information, please refer to the student manual, Total Quality Management (TOM) Awareness Seminar, that was provided for the Awareness Course. You may

78 FR 67130 - Information Collection; Submission for OMB Review, Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-08

... through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection... comments. Many of the comments addressed the content of the FY2013 AmeriCorps State and National Notice of... fields ``Total Private Match'' and ``Total Local, State, and Federal Government Match'' will be populated...

Bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity analysis of Malaysian pineapple cultivars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiet, Chong Hang; Zulkifli, Razauden Mohamed; Hidayat, Topik; Yaakob, Harisun

2014-03-01

Pineapple industry is one of the important agricultural sectors in Malaysia with 76 cultivars planted throughout the country. This study aims to generate useful nutritional information as well as evaluating antioxidant properties of different pineapple commercial cultivars in Malaysia. The bioactive compound content and antioxidant capacity of `Josapine', `Morris' and `Sarawak' pineapple (Ananas comosus) were studied. The pineapple varieties were collected at commercial maturity stage (20-40% yellowish of fruit peel) and the edible portion of the fruit was used as sample for evaluation. The bioactive compound of the fruit extracts were evaluated by total phenolic and tannin content assay while the antioxidant capacity was determined by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). From the results obtained, total phenolic and tannin content was highest for `Josapine' followed by `Morris' and `Sarawak'. With respect to FRAP, `Josapine' showed highest reducing capacity, followed by `Morris' and then `Sarawak' having the least value. The bioactive compounds content are positively correlated with the antioxidant capacities of the pineapple extracts. This result indicates that the total phenolics and tannin content present in the pineapples may contribute to the antioxidant capacity of the pineapples.

[The professional learning website needs of hospital nursing stations: a needs assessment].

PubMed

Yu, Tsui-Mien; Hsu, Li-Ling; Hsieh, Suh-Ing

2011-12-01

Healthcare must face the challenges of the information era. Changes in the medical sciences and increasing disease complexity have given rise to many professional learning websites designed to aid nurse learning. However, nurses in Taiwan have only a few poorly designed websites from which to choose. Language barriers and cultural differences often prevent nurses from making the best use of learning websites designed outside of Taiwan. This situation necessitates an investigation into the type of learning website content most needed by professional nurses in Taiwan. This study aimed to investigate the types of content in a professional learning website most needed by a group of nurses and to examine factors affecting nurses' content demand. Researchers used descriptive and correlational study designs. Random cluster sampling was used to select 43 of the total 70 nursing wards at one hospital in northern Taiwan. Subjects agreed to participate in a cross-sectional survey using a self-structured questionnaire. A total 571 questionnaires (96%) were returned out of 600 sent. The average professional learning website demand score was 4.03 (SD = 0.70). The top three content categories were, respectively, instructions on nursing routines for common diseases, common medication information, and instructions on preparing for common physical examinations. The bottom three content categories were, respectively, description of website purpose, post-learning tests, and online forum. Subject age, marital status, education, hospital department, Clinical Nursing Ladder status, and work experience all significantly affected subjects' content demand profile. Study findings identified the content categories in highest demand from professional nurses, which can help guide professional learning website design work in the future. Different website versions may be developed to suit different nurse needs and help nurses save time searching for information on such topics as nursing procedures and standard introductions to medical-surgical wards.

When Educational Material Is Delivered: A Mixed Methods Content Validation Study of the Information Assessment Method

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background The Information Assessment Method (IAM) allows clinicians to report the cognitive impact, clinical relevance, intention to use, and expected patient health benefits associated with clinical information received by email. More than 15,000 Canadian physicians and pharmacists use the IAM in continuing education programs. In addition, information providers can use IAM ratings and feedback comments from clinicians to improve their products. Objective Our general objective was to validate the IAM questionnaire for the delivery of educational material (ecological and logical content validity). Our specific objectives were to measure the relevance and evaluate the representativeness of IAM items for assessing information received by email. Methods A 3-part mixed methods study was conducted (convergent design). In part 1 (quantitative longitudinal study), the relevance of IAM items was measured. Participants were 5596 physician members of the Canadian Medical Association who used the IAM. A total of 234,196 ratings were collected in 2012. The relevance of IAM items with respect to their main construct was calculated using descriptive statistics (relevance ratio R). In part 2 (qualitative descriptive study), the representativeness of IAM items was evaluated. A total of 15 family physicians completed semistructured face-to-face interviews. For each construct, we evaluated the representativeness of IAM items using a deductive-inductive thematic qualitative data analysis. In part 3 (mixing quantitative and qualitative parts), results from quantitative and qualitative analyses were reviewed, juxtaposed in a table, discussed with experts, and integrated. Thus, our final results are derived from the views of users (ecological content validation) and experts (logical content validation). Results Of the 23 IAM items, 21 were validated for content, while 2 were removed. In part 1 (quantitative results), 21 items were deemed relevant, while 2 items were deemed not relevant (R=4.86% [N=234,196] and R=3.04% [n=45,394], respectively). In part 2 (qualitative results), 22 items were deemed representative, while 1 item was not representative. In part 3 (mixing quantitative and qualitative results), the content validity of 21 items was confirmed, and the 2 nonrelevant items were excluded. A fully validated version was generated (IAM-v2014). Conclusions This study produced a content validated IAM questionnaire that is used by clinicians and information providers to assess the clinical information delivered in continuing education programs. PMID:28292738

Food labeling: nutrient content claims, expansion of the nutrient content claim "lean". Final rule.

PubMed

2007-01-12

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its food labeling regulations for the expanded use of the nutrient content claim "lean" on the labels of foods categorized as "mixed dishes not measurable with a cup" that meet certain criteria for total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol content. This final rule responds to a nutrient content claim petition submitted by Nestlé Prepared Foods Co. (Nestlé) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act). This action is also being taken to provide reliable information that would assist consumers in maintaining healthy dietary practices.

Effect of different cooking methods on total phenolic contents and antioxidant activities of four Boletus mushrooms.

PubMed

Sun, Liping; Bai, Xue; Zhuang, Yongliang

2014-11-01

The influences of cooking methods (steaming, pressure-cooking, microwaving, frying and boiling) on total phenolic contents and antioxidant activities of fruit body of Boletus mushrooms (B. aereus, B. badius, B. pinophilus and B. edulis) have been evaluated. The results showed that microwaving was better in retention of total phenolics than other cooking methods, while boiling significantly decreased the contents of total phenolics in samples under study. Effects of different cooking methods on phenolic acids profiles of Boletus mushrooms showed varieties with both the species of mushroom and the cooking method. Effects of cooking treatments on antioxidant activities of Boletus mushrooms were evaluated by in vitro assays of hydroxyl radical (OH·) -scavenging activity, reducing power and 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals (DPPH·) -scavenging activity. Results indicated the changes of antioxidant activities of four Boletus mushrooms were different in five cooking methods. This study could provide some information to encourage food industry to recommend particular cooking methods.

What's for Lunch? II. A 1990 Survey of Options in the School Lunch Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Patricia McGrath; And Others

This report provides information on the content of school lunches offered to middle school children in the public schools. A total of 163 middle schools in 42 states responded to the school lunch survey. Survey findings are given on: (1) the contents of the main course, vegetable and fruit offerings, desserts, and beverages; and (2) lunches…

Petroleum Quality Information System 2013 Annual Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

Content: (ppm) 10 0.10 Metals : (ppm) 0.5 total 0.10 Alkali Metals and Metalloids: (ppm) 1 total 0.99 Table 3-12 displays Direct Sugar to ...183 146 189 185 111 143 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 To ta l S am pl es Calendar Year In-Line...Report Documentation Page Form ApprovedOMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour

Laboratory Determined Sugar Content and Composition of Commercial Infant Formulas, Baby Foods and Common Grocery Items Targeted to Children.

PubMed

Walker, Ryan W; Goran, Michael I

2015-07-16

Excess added sugar consumption is tied to poor health outcomes in children. The sugar content of beverages and foods children are exposed to is mostly unknown, yet this information is imperative for understanding potential risks from overconsumption of sugars in early life. We determined actual sugar content by conducting a blinded laboratory analysis in infant formulas, breakfast cereals, packaged baked goods and yogurts. One hundred samples were sent to an independent laboratory for analysis via gas chromatography. Sugar content and composition was determined and total sugar was compared against nutrition labels. Of the 100 samples analyzed, 74% contained ≥20% of total calories per serving from added sugars. Nutrient label data underestimated or overestimated actual sugars and ~25% of all samples had actual total sugar values that were either <10% or >10% of labeled total sugar. Many products that are frequently marketed to and consumed by infants and young children contain sugars in amounts that differ from nutrition labels and often in excess of recommended daily levels. These findings provide further support for adding more comprehensive sugar labeling to food and beverage products, specifically those marketed to, or commonly consumed by, children.

Laboratory Determined Sugar Content and Composition of Commercial Infant Formulas, Baby Foods and Common Grocery Items Targeted to Children

PubMed Central

Walker, Ryan W.; Goran, Michael I.

2015-01-01

Excess added sugar consumption is tied to poor health outcomes in children. The sugar content of beverages and foods children are exposed to is mostly unknown, yet this information is imperative for understanding potential risks from overconsumption of sugars in early life. We determined actual sugar content by conducting a blinded laboratory analysis in infant formulas, breakfast cereals, packaged baked goods and yogurts. One hundred samples were sent to an independent laboratory for analysis via gas chromatography. Sugar content and composition was determined and total sugar was compared against nutrition labels. Of the 100 samples analyzed, 74% contained ≥20% of total calories per serving from added sugars. Nutrient label data underestimated or overestimated actual sugars and ~25% of all samples had actual total sugar values that were either <10% or >10% of labeled total sugar. Many products that are frequently marketed to and consumed by infants and young children contain sugars in amounts that differ from nutrition labels and often in excess of recommended daily levels. These findings provide further support for adding more comprehensive sugar labeling to food and beverage products, specifically those marketed to, or commonly consumed by, children. PMID:26193309

Direct to consumer advertising via the Internet, a study of hip resurfacing.

PubMed

Ogunwale, B; Clarke, J; Young, D; Mohammed, A; Patil, S; Meek, R M D

2009-02-01

With increased use of the internet for health information and direct to consumer advertising from medical companies, there is concern about the quality of information available to patients. The aim of this study was to examine the quality of health information on the internet for hip resurfacing. An assessment tool was designed to measure quality of information. Websites were measured on credibility of source; usability; currentness of the information; content relevance; content accuracy/completeness and disclosure/bias. Each website assessed was given a total score, based on number of scores achieved from the above categories websites were further analysed on author, geographical origin and possession of an independent credibility check. There was positive correlation between the overall score for the website and the score of each website in each assessment category. Websites by implant companies, doctors and hospitals scored poorly. Websites with an independent credibility check such as Health on the Net (HoN) scored twice the total scores of websites without. Like other internet health websites, the quality of information on hip resurfacing websites is variable. This study highlights methods by which to assess the quality of health information on the internet and advocates that patients should look for a statement of an "independent credibility check" when searching for information on hip resurfacing.

Report of the International Ozone Trends Panel 1988, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

Chapters on the following topics are presented: spacecraft instrument calibration and stability; information content of ozone retrieval algorithms; trends in total column ozone measurements; and trends in ozone profile measurement.

Short-term contributions of cover crop surface residue return to soil carbon and nitrogen contents in temperate Australia.

PubMed

Zhou, Xiaoqi; Wu, Hanwen; Li, Guangdi; Chen, Chengrong

2016-11-01

Cover crop species are usually grown to control weeds. After cover crop harvest, crop residue is applied on the ground to improve soil fertility and crop productivity. Little information is available about quantifying the contributions of cover crop application to soil total carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents in temperate Australia. Here, we selected eight cover crop treatments, including two legume crops (vetch and field pea), four non-legume crops (rye, wheat, Saia oat, and Indian mustard), a mixture of rye and vetch, and a nil-crop control in temperate Australia to calculate the contributions of cover crops (crop growth + residue decomposition) to soil C and N contents. Cover crops were sown in May 2009 (autumn). After harvest, the crop residue was placed on the soil surface in October 2009. Soil and crop samples were collected in October 2009 after harvest and in May 2010 after 8 months of residue decomposition. We examined cover crop residue biomass, soil and crop total C and N contents, and soil microbial biomass C and N contents. The results showed that cover crop application increased the mean soil total C by 187-253 kg ha -1 and the mean soil total N by 16.3-19.1 kg ha -1 relative to the nil-crop treatment, except for the mixture treatment, which had similar total C and N contents to the nil-crop control. Cover crop application increased the mean soil microbial biomass C by 15.5-20.9 kg ha -1 and the mean soil microbial biomass N by 4.5-10.2 kg ha -1 . We calculated the apparent percentage of soil total C derived from cover crop residue C losses and found that legume crops accounted for 10.6-13.9 %, whereas non-legume crops accounted for 16.4-18.4 % except for the mixture treatment (0.2 %). Overall, short-term cover crop application increased soil total C and N contents and microbial biomass C and N contents, which might help reduce N fertilizer use and improve sustainable agricultural development.

A Study of Information Content in the U.S. Television Commercials: Has It Become Less Informative but More Creative?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ng, Daniel; Supaporn, Potibut

A study investigated the trend of current U.S. television commercial informativeness by comparing the results with Alan Resnik and Bruce Stern's previous benchmark study conducted in 1977. A systematic random sampling procedure was used to select viewing dates and times of commercials from the three national networks. Ultimately, a total of 550…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Raymund, T.D.

Recently, several tomographic techniques for ionospheric electron density imaging have been proposed. These techniques reconstruct a vertical slice image of electron density using total electron content data. The data are measured between a low orbit beacon satellite and fixed receivers located along the projected orbital path of the satellite. By using such tomographic techniques, it may be possible to inexpensively (relative to incoherent scatter techniques) image the ionospheric electron density in a vertical plane several times per day. The satellite and receiver geometry used to measure the total electron content data causes the data to be incomplete; that is, themore » measured data do not contain enough information to completely specify the ionospheric electron density distribution in the region between the satellite and the receivers. A new algorithm is proposed which allows the incorporation of other complementary measurements, such as those from ionosondes, and also includes ways to include a priori information about the unknown electron density distribution in the reconstruction process. The algorithm makes use of two-dimensional basis functions. Illustrative application of this algorithm is made to simulated cases with good results. The technique is also applied to real total electron content (TEC) records collected in Scandinavia in conjunction with the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar. The tomographic reconstructions are compared with the incoherent scatter electron density images of the same region of the ionosphere.« less

When Educational Material Is Delivered: A Mixed Methods Content Validation Study of the Information Assessment Method.

PubMed

Badran, Hani; Pluye, Pierre; Grad, Roland

2017-03-14

The Information Assessment Method (IAM) allows clinicians to report the cognitive impact, clinical relevance, intention to use, and expected patient health benefits associated with clinical information received by email. More than 15,000 Canadian physicians and pharmacists use the IAM in continuing education programs. In addition, information providers can use IAM ratings and feedback comments from clinicians to improve their products. Our general objective was to validate the IAM questionnaire for the delivery of educational material (ecological and logical content validity). Our specific objectives were to measure the relevance and evaluate the representativeness of IAM items for assessing information received by email. A 3-part mixed methods study was conducted (convergent design). In part 1 (quantitative longitudinal study), the relevance of IAM items was measured. Participants were 5596 physician members of the Canadian Medical Association who used the IAM. A total of 234,196 ratings were collected in 2012. The relevance of IAM items with respect to their main construct was calculated using descriptive statistics (relevance ratio R). In part 2 (qualitative descriptive study), the representativeness of IAM items was evaluated. A total of 15 family physicians completed semistructured face-to-face interviews. For each construct, we evaluated the representativeness of IAM items using a deductive-inductive thematic qualitative data analysis. In part 3 (mixing quantitative and qualitative parts), results from quantitative and qualitative analyses were reviewed, juxtaposed in a table, discussed with experts, and integrated. Thus, our final results are derived from the views of users (ecological content validation) and experts (logical content validation). Of the 23 IAM items, 21 were validated for content, while 2 were removed. In part 1 (quantitative results), 21 items were deemed relevant, while 2 items were deemed not relevant (R=4.86% [N=234,196] and R=3.04% [n=45,394], respectively). In part 2 (qualitative results), 22 items were deemed representative, while 1 item was not representative. In part 3 (mixing quantitative and qualitative results), the content validity of 21 items was confirmed, and the 2 nonrelevant items were excluded. A fully validated version was generated (IAM-v2014). This study produced a content validated IAM questionnaire that is used by clinicians and information providers to assess the clinical information delivered in continuing education programs. ©Hani Badran, Pierre Pluye, Roland Grad. Originally published in JMIR Medical Education (http://mededu.jmir.org), 14.03.2017.

Web-based information on the treatment of oral leukoplakia - quality and readability.

PubMed

Wiriyakijja, Paswach; Fedele, Stefano; Porter, Stephen; Ni Riordain, Richeal

2016-09-01

To categorise the content and assess the quality and readability of the online information regarding the treatment for oral leukoplakia. An online search using the term 'leukoplakia treatment' was carried out on 8th June 2015 using the Google search engine. The content, quality and readability of the first 100 sites were explored. The quality of the web information was assessed using the following tools, the DISCERN instrument and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks for website analysis and the HON seal. Readability was assessed via the Flesch Reading Ease Score. The search strategy generated 357 000 sites on the Google search engine. Due to duplicate links, non-operating links and irrelevant links, a total of 47 of the first 100 websites were included in this study. The mean overall rating achieved by included websites using the DISCERN instrument was 2.3. With regard to the JAMA benchmarks, the vast majority of examined websites (95.7%) completely fulfilled the disclosure benchmark and less than 50% of included websites met the three remaining criteria. A mean total readability score of 47.5 was recorded with almost 90% of websites having a readability level ranging from fairly difficult to very difficult. Based on this study, the online health information regarding oral leukoplakia has challenging readability with content of questionable accuracy. As patients often search for health information online, it would be prudent for clinicians to highlight the caution with which online information should be interpreted. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A small-diameter NMR logging tool for groundwater investigations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walsh, David; Turner, Peter; Grunewald, Elliot; Zhang, Hong; Butler, James J.; Reboulet, Ed; Knobbe, Steve; Christy, Tom; Lane, John W.; Johnson, Carole D.; Munday, Tim; Fitzpatrick, Andrew

2013-01-01

A small-diameter nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging tool has been developed and field tested at various sites in the United States and Australia. A novel design approach has produced relatively inexpensive, small-diameter probes that can be run in open or PVC-cased boreholes as small as 2 inches in diameter. The complete system, including surface electronics and various downhole probes, has been successfully tested in small-diameter monitoring wells in a range of hydrogeological settings. A variant of the probe that can be deployed by a direct-push machine has also been developed and tested in the field. The new NMR logging tool provides reliable, direct, and high-resolution information that is of importance for groundwater studies. Specifically, the technology provides direct measurement of total water content (total porosity in the saturated zone or moisture content in the unsaturated zone), and estimates of relative pore-size distribution (bound vs. mobile water content) and hydraulic conductivity. The NMR measurements show good agreement with ancillary data from lithologic logs, geophysical logs, and hydrogeologic measurements, and provide valuable information for groundwater investigations.

Information Content of the Near-Field I: Two-Dimensional Samples

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frazin, Richard A.; Fischer, David G.; Carney, P. Scott

2004-01-01

Limits on the effective resolution of many optical near-field experiments are investigated. The results are applicable to variants of total-internal-reflection microscopy (TIRM), photon-scanning-tunneling microscopy (PSTM), and near-field-scanning-optical microscopy (NSOM) in which the sample is weakly scattering and the direction of illumination may be controlled. Analytical expressions for the variance of the estimate of the complex susceptibility of an unknown two-dimensional object as a function of spatial frequency are obtained for Gaussian and Poisson noise models, and a model-independent measure is examined. The results are used to explore the transition from near-zone to far-zone detection. It is demonstrated that the information content of the measurements made at a distance of even one wavelength away from the sample is already not much different from the information content of the far field. Copyright 2004 Optical Society of America

Adequacy of Online Patient Information Resources on Gout and Potentially Curative Urate-Lowering Treatment.

PubMed

Jimenez-Liñan, L M; Edwards, L; Abhishek, A; Doherty, Michael

2017-05-01

To assess the content and readability of online patient information resources against the current understanding of gout. An online survey was undertaken using Google UK, USA, Australia, and Canada. Information was assessed for content and accuracy on 19 key points regarding core content for gout patient information resources. Readability was assessed using the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease score. Fifteen randomly selected websites were reviewed by a blinded second observer. A total of 85 websites were selected. More than 50% of the websites provided no information or had inaccuracies regarding the pathogenesis of gout. Most websites contained information on dietary and lifestyle modifications for treating gout and did not emphasize urate-lowering therapy (ULT) and its potential for cure. Over 75% of the websites had no/inaccurate information on the role of ULT or prophylaxis for preventing gout attacks on starting ULT. The majority of websites were difficult to read, with information in 68% of the websites rated at least fairly difficult. Only a few web-based patient information resources provide accurate and easy-to-read information on gout. This study will help physicians direct patients to currently reliable resources, but there is a need to improve many web-based patient information resources, which at present act as barriers to care. © 2016, American College of Rheumatology.

Kinesiology taping and the world wide web: a quality and content analysis of internet-based information.

PubMed

Beutel, Bryan G; Cardone, Dennis A

2014-10-01

Due to limited regulation of websites, the quality and content of online health-related information has been questioned as prior studies have shown that websites often misrepresent orthopaedic conditions and treatments. Kinesio tape has gained popularity among athletes and the general public despite limited evidence supporting its efficacy. The primary objective of this study was to assess the quality and content of Internet-based information on Kinesio taping. An Internet search using the terms "Kinesio tape" and "kinesiology tape" was performed using the Google search engine. Websites returned within the first two pages of results, as well as hyperlinks embedded within these sites, were included in the study. These sites were subsequently classified by type. The quality of the website was determined by the Health On the Net (HON) score, an objective metric based upon recommendations from the United Nations for the ethical representation of health information. A content analysis was performed by noting specific misleading versus balanced features in each website. A total of 31 unique websites were identified. The majority of the websites (71%) were commercial. Out of a total possible 16 points, the mean HON score among the websites was 8.9 points (SD 2.2 points). The number of misleading features was significantly higher than the balanced features (p < 0.001). Fifty-eight percent of sites used anecdotal testimonials to promote the product. Only small percentages of websites discussed complications, alternatives, or provided accurate medical outcomes. Overall, commercial sites had a greater number of misleading features compared to non-commercial sites (p = 0.01). Websites discussing Kinesio tape are predominantly of poor quality and present misleading, imbalanced information. It is of ever-increasing importance that healthcare providers work to ensure that reliable, balanced, and accurate information be available to Internet users. IV.

The relationships between phenolic content, pollen diversity, physicochemical information and radical scavenging activity in honey.

PubMed

Giorgi, Annamaria; Madeo, Moira; Baumgartner, Johann; Lozzia, Giuseppe Carlo

2011-01-07

Honey is rich in different secondary plant metabolites acting as natural antioxidants and contributing to human health. Radical scavenging activity (RSA) is related to antioxidant activity, while the correlation between the phenolic content and RSA is often weak. Consequently, exclusive information on phenolics is often insufficient to qualify the RSA and the health promoting effects of honey. The paper deals with a case study of honey samples originating from the alpine areas of Italy's Lombardia and Veneto regions and realized by standard physicochemical and statistical analytical methods. In pure honey, the total phenolic content and the RSA were measured in spectrophotometric tests with the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH·) free radical and Folin-Ciocalteu assays, respectively. Melissopalynological data was used to qualify pollen diversity through rank-frequency curves separating the samples into two groups. On the basis of physicochemical data, the samples were analyzed through multivariate classification and ranking procedures resulting in the identification of an outlier. Elimination of the outlier produced a high correlation between the total phenolic content and RSA in the two pollen diversity groups. The case study suggests that, after disregarding outliers, the RSA activity can be satisfactorily qualified on the basis of phenolics with pollen diversity as a covariate.

Bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of wolfberry infusion

PubMed Central

Sun, Yujing; Rukeya, Japaer; Tao, Wenyang; Sun, Peilong; Ye, Xingqian

2017-01-01

An infusion of the wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.) is a traditional Asian herbal tea. This is the most commonly consumed form of dried wolfberry worldwide, yet little scientific information on wolfberry infusions is available. We investigated the effects of making infusions with hot water on the color, the content of bioactive compounds (polysaccharides, polyphenols, flavonoids and carotenoids) and the antioxidant ability of wolfberry infusions. The contents of bioactive compounds and the antioxidant activity of a wolfberry infusion increased with increased infusion temperature and time. Total polysaccharides content (TPOC), total polyphenols (TPC), total flavonoids (TFC) and total carotenoids contents (TCC) were important for determining the antioxidant capacity of wolfberry infusions with the contribution to antioxidant activity in the order TPC > TFC > TCC > TPOC. Hierarchical cluster analysis indicated preparation conditions of 100 °C for 1~3 h, 90 °C for 2~3 h and 80 °C for 2.5~3 h were equivalent as regards the value of TPC, TPOC, TFC, TCC, FRAP, DPPH and ABTS. The results of this study suggest the length of time of making a wolfberry infusion in actual real life practice is too short and different dietary habits associated with the intake of wolfberry infusion might provide the same bioactive nutrients. PMID:28102295

Remote sensing of forest canopy and leaf biochemical contents

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peterson, David L.; Matson, Pamela A.; Card, Don H.; Aber, John D.; Wessman, Carol; Swanberg, Nancy; Spanner, Michael

1988-01-01

Recent research on the remote sensing of forest leaf and canopy biochemical contents suggests that the shortwave IR region contains this information; laboratory analyses of dry ground leaves have yielded reliable predictive relationships between both leaf nitrogen and lignin with near-IR spectra. Attention is given to the application of these laboratory techniques to a limited set of spectra from fresh, whole leaves of conifer species. The analysis of Airborne Imaging Spectrometer data reveals that total water content variations in deciduous forest canopies appear as overall shifts in the brightness of raw spectra.

VHF/UHF technique for the determination of the columnar electron contents of the plasmasphere and of the protonosphere using geostationary satellite transmission: Observations during magnetic storms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Almeida, O. G.

1972-01-01

Measurements of the total electron content of the plasmasphere up to geostationary heights were made using the beacon transmitters aboard the satellite ATS-3. The technique employed is a combination of the phase-path length difference and the Faraday rotation angle methods. Such a combination permits very accurate determination of the integration constant necessary to convert phase-path length difference data into information about the absolute value of the columnar content.

Comparative Evaluation of Raw and Ripe Fruits of Forsythia suspensa by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS Analysis and Anti-Microbial Assay.

PubMed

Qu, Jialin; Yan, Xinjia; Li, Chunyan; Wen, Jing; Lu, Chongning; Ren, Jungang; Peng, Ying; Song, Shaojiang

2017-04-01

A multi-component quantification fingerprint based on high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry technique has been established for the comparative analysis of raw and ripe fruits of Forsythia suspensa originated from different provinces. Eighteen bioactive constituents including three phenylethanoid glycosides derivatives, six phenolic acids, three flavonoids, four phenylpropanoids, one fatty acid and one terpenoid were identified and quantified. Total contents of phenylethanoid glycosides, phenylpropanoids and flavonoids from raw samples were found much higher than those from ripe samples, while total content of phenolic acids showed a contrary tendency. Moreover, the anti-microbial activities were comparatively assayed for the first time using five different bacterial strains. Results revealed a positive relationship between contents of total phenolic and anti-microbial activity. The results obtained in the present study may provide useful information for future utilization of F. suspensa. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

End-of-life care content in 50 textbooks from multiple specialties.

PubMed

Rabow, M W; Hardie, G E; Fair, J M; McPhee, S J

2000-02-09

Prior reviews of small numbers of medical textbooks suggest that end-of-life care is not well covered in textbooks. No broad study of end-of-life care content analysis has been performed on textbooks across a wide range of medical, pediatric, psychiatric, and surgical specialties. To determine the quantity and rate the adequacy of information on end-of-life care in textbooks from multiple medical disciplines. DESIGN AND SOURCES: A 1998 review of 50 top-selling textbooks from multiple specialties (cardiology, emergency medicine, family and primary care medicine, geriatrics, infectious disease and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome [AIDS], internal medicine, neurology, oncology and hematology, pediatrics, psychiatry, pulmonary medicine, and surgery) for the presence and adequacy of content in 13 end-of-life care domains. Chapters on diseases commonly causing death and those devoted to end-of-life care were identified, read, rated, and compared by textbook specialty, chapter, and domain for the presence of helpful information in the 13 domains. Content for each domain was rated as absent, minimally present, or helpful. Textbook indexes were analyzed for the number of pages relevant to end-of-life care. Overall, helpful information was provided in 24.1% (range, 8.7%-44.2%) of the expected end-of-life content domains; in 19.1% (range, 6.2%-38.5%), expected content received minimal attention; and in 56.9% (range, 23.1 %-77.9%), expected content was absent. As a group, the textbooks with the highest percentages of absent content were in surgery (71.8%), infectious diseases and AIDS (70%), and oncology and hematology (61.9%). Textbooks with the highest percentage of helpful end-of-life care content were in family medicine (34.4%), geriatrics (34.4%), and psychiatry (29.6%). In internal medicine textbooks, the content domains with the greatest amount of helpful information were epidemiology and natural history. Content domains covered least well were social, spiritual, ethical, and family issues, as well as physician after-death responsibilities. On average, textbook indexes cited 2% of their total pages as pertinent to end-of-life care. Top-selling textbooks generally offered little helpful information on caring for patients at the end of life. Most disease-oriented chapters had no or minimal end-of-life care content. Specialty textbooks with information about particular diseases often did not contain helpful information on caring for patients dying from those diseases.

Comparative study on the nutritional and antioxidant properties of two Mexican corn (Zea mays) based meals versus processed cereals.

PubMed

Sánchez-Herrera, Marissa; Martínez-Cano, Evelia; Maldonado-Santoyo, María; Aparicio-Fernández, Xochitl

2014-06-01

The present study was conducted to analyze the chemical composition, total phenolics content and antioxidant capacity of two whole corn (Zea mays) based meals traditional from Mexico: "traditional pinole" and "seven grain pinole"; and compare it with information available from ready to eat cereal products based on refined corn and whole grain cereals. Proximate analyses (moisture, ash, fat, protein and fiber) were carried out according to the procedures of AOAC, sugars content was determined by HPLC method; calcium and iron were quantified using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Total phenolic compounds were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu spectrophotometric method; the antiradical capacity was determined by DPPH colorimetric method and total antioxidant capacity was determined by FRAP method. Traditional and seven grain pinole presented higher energy content and nutrient density (protein and fat) than processed cereals. Calcium content was higher in processed cereals than pinole; seven grain pinole presented the highest conentration of iron. Polyphenolic concentration was higher in both kinds of pinole compared to processed cereals; traditional pinole presented the highest antioxidant activity measured by DPPH and FRAP methods. The results provide evidence about the important nutrient and antioxidant content of traditional and seven grain pinole compared to processed cereals based on corn and other grains. It is recommended their incorporation in to regular diet as a healthy food, with a good protein level, low sugar content and good antioxidant capacity.

The Lichen-GIS Project, Teaching Students How to Use Bioindicator Species to Assess Environmental Quality.

PubMed

Wagner, Stephen C; McDonald, Darrel; Watson, Trey; Taylor, Josephine; Sowards, Alan B

2009-01-01

A content-driven biology course for preservice K-8 teachers has been developed. This course uses the constructivist approach, where instructors engage students by organizing information around concept-based problems. To this end, a semester-long, inquiry-based project was introduced where students studied lichen populations on trees located on their campus to monitor air quality. Data were incorporated into a geographical information systems (GIS) database to demonstrate how it can be used to map communities. Student teams counted the number of each lichen type within a grid placed on each tree trunk sampled and entered this information into a GIS database. The students constructed maps of lichen populations at each sample site and wrote abstracts about their research. Student performance was assessed by the preparation of these abstracts as well as by scores on pre- and posttests of key content measures. Students also completed a survey to determine whether the project aided in their comprehension as well as their interest in incorporating this activity into their own curricula. The students' pre- and posttest results showed an eightfold improvement in the total score after the semester project. Additionally, correct responses to each individual content measure increased by at least 35%. Total scores for the abstract ranged from 12 to 20 points out of 20 total points possible (60% to 100%), with a mean score of 15.8 points (78%). These results indicate that this exercise provided an excellent vehicle to teach students about lichens and their use as bioindicators and the application of geospatial technologies to map environmental data.

Lipid composition of some commonly consumed traditional Nigerian dishes.

PubMed

Onabanjo, O O; Sanni, S A; Afolabi, W A O; Oyawoye, O O; Obanla, O O

2014-08-01

Lipids in the diet have been associated with the rising prevalence of many chronic diseases. The present study aimed to provide information on total lipid, free fatty acids, triacylglycerol and cholesterol contents of some dishes consumed in northern, southern, western parts of Nigeria, as well as dishes generally consumed in all parts of Nigeria. This would result in a resource that would be used by nutritionists and dietitians in meal planning. The present study is analytical in nature. The composite dishes included a blend of cereals, roots and tubers, legumes, fat and oil and vegetables and were analysed for total lipid, free fatty acids, triacylglycerol and cholesterol contents spectrophotometrically. Burabisko (a millet based dish) had the lowest free fatty acid (0.1 mg per 100 g) and cholesterol (1. 9 mg per 100 g) contents, yam with eggs (7.1 mg per 100 g) and miyan-kuka with semovita (415.9 mg per 100 g) contained the highest amounts of free fatty acid and cholesterol, respectively. The total lipid and triacylglycerol content were lowest in gbegiri with eko (2.6 g per 100 g) and 3.1 mg per 100 g respectively. Stewed beans with fried plantain, however, had the highest total lipid (86.5 g per 100 g) content and yam with eggs had the highest triacylglycerol (122.5 mg per 100 g) contents. The moisture content of the dishes ranged between 59.68 and 81.73% in melon seed with vegetable soup and burabisko, respectively. For the first time, we have provided the lipid profile of standardised traditional dishes consumed in Nigeria. These dishes contribute a significant proportion of lipids to the diet of Nigerians, which are essential for assessing the nutrient intake of Nigerians. © 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Radiation 101: Effects on Hardware and Robotic Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pellish, Jonathan A.

2015-01-01

We present basic information on different types of radiation effects, including total ionizing dose, displacement damage, and single-event effects. The content is designed to educate space weather professionals, space operations professionals, and other science and engineering stakeholders.

Validating the content of a brief informational intervention to empower patients and spouses facing breast cancer: perspectives of both couple members.

PubMed

Blais, Marie-Claude; Maunsell, Elizabeth; Grenier, Sophie; Lauzier, Sophie; Dorval, Michel; Pelletier, Sylvie; Guay, Stéphane; Robidoux, André; Provencher, Louise

2014-09-01

The study objectives were to identify key information components that would be the basic content of a brief informational intervention, developed from a population perspective, to empower individual couple members facing breast cancer and to validate the relevance and acceptability of these components. A review of information relevant to couples facing cancer presented in internet sites and documents of national cancer organizations was made to identify information components to include in a brief informational intervention. These information components were framed as messages, that is, very brief sentences or tips. To validate the relevance and acceptability of these messages, six focus groups were conducted in Quebec City and Montreal among women who had had breast cancer and their spouses. Reactions to the messages were synthesized by analyzing the verbatim transcripts. A total of 70 individuals (35 women with an average of 14 months since diagnosis and 35 spouses) participated in the groups. The content of almost all messages was seen as relevant, although nuances and improvements were discussed. However, the message format provoked irritation and will need improvement. Findings provide validation of the relevance, from the viewpoint of women and their spouses, of the message content to be part of a brief informational intervention intended to empower couples as they cope with breast cancer. Couples approved of the idea of being guided in their adjustment to breast cancer. However, the message format requires adaptation and further testing.

Patients' perspectives of accessibility and digital delivery of factual content provided by official medical and surgical specialty society websites: a qualitative assessment.

PubMed

Ow, Darren; Wetherell, David; Papa, Nathan; Bolton, Damien; Lawrentschuk, Nathan

2015-03-27

Health care websites provide a valuable resource of health information to online consumers, especially patients. Official surgical and medical society websites should be a reliable first point of contact. The primary aim of this study was to quantitatively assess medical and surgical society websites for content and highlight the essential features required for a high-quality, user-friendly society website. Twenty specialty association websites from each of the regions, Australia, UK, Canada, Europe, and the USA were selected for a total of 100 websites. Medical and surgical specialities were consistent across each region. Each website was systematically and critically analysed for content and usability. The average points scored per website was 3.2 out of 10. Of the total (N=100) websites, 12 scored at least 7 out of 10 points and 2 scored 9 out of 10. As well, 35% (35.0/100) of the websites had an information tab for patients on their respective homepages while 38% (38.0/100) had download access to patient information. A minority of the websites included different forms of multimedia such as pictures and diagrams (24.0/100, 24%) and videos (18.0/100, 18%). We found that most society websites did not meet an adequate standard for delivery of information. Half of the websites were not patient accessible, with the primary focus being for health professionals. As well, most required logins for information access. Specialty health care societies should create patient-friendly websites that would be beneficial to all online consumers.

Quantifying the Spatial and Seasonal Hydrodynamics of Subsurface Soil Salinity and Selenium Mobilization in the Pariette Watershed, Uintah Basin, UT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amakor, X. N.; Jacobson, A. R.; Cardon, G. E.; Grossl, P. R.

2011-12-01

A recent water quality report recognized concentrations of salts and selenium above total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) in the Pariette Wetlands located in the Uintah Basin, Utah. Since the wetlands are located in the Pacific Migratory Flyway and frequented by numerous water fowl, the elevated levels of total dissolved solids and Se are of concern. To determine whether it possible to manage the mobilization of salts and associated contaminants through the watershed soils into the Pariette Wetlands, knowledge of the spatio-temporal dynamics and distribution of these contaminants is required. Thus, the objective of this study is to characterize the spatio-temporal mobilization of salts and total selenium in the Pariette Draw watershed. Intensive soil information is being collected along the streams feeding the wetlands from fields representing the dominant land-uses in the watershed (irrigated agricultural fields, fallow salt-crusted fields, oil and natural gas extraction fields) using both the noninvasive electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensing technique (EM38DD) and the invasive time-domain reflectometry (TDR). At each site, ground truth samples were collected from optimally determined points generated using the ESAP-RSSD program based on the bulk soil electrical conductivity survey information. Stable soil properties affecting the measurement of salinity (e.g., clay content, organic matter content, cation exchange capacity, bulk density) were also characterized at these points. Parameters affected by fluctuations in soil moisture content (e.g., pH, electrical conductivity of saturation paste extract (ECe), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and total selenium in the dissolved saturation extract) are being measured repeatedly over a minimum of 1 year. Based on regression models of collocated EMI, TDR and ECe measurements, the dense survey data are transformed into ECe. Geostatistical kriging methods are applied to the transformed ECe and volumetric water content to reveal the complex spatio-temporal patterns of salinity, water content, and total selenium (based on the association between ECe and total Se) across portions of the watershed. Temporal changes are being compared using the paired t-test. Here we present the spatio-temporal correlations among the properties and over the sampling times for the 2011 summer and fall seasons with an initial evaluation of the underlying processes contributing to the elevated contaminant loads at the wetlands. Additional measurements will be made in 2012 to capture the effects of early spring snowmelt and runoff.

Beyond Failure: Potentially Mitigating Failed Author Searches in the Online Library Catalog through the Use of Linked Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moulaison, Heather Lea; Stanley, Susan Nicole

2013-01-01

Linked data stores house vetted content that can supplement the information available through online library catalogs, potentially mitigating failed author searches if information about the author exists in linked data formats. In this case study, a total of 689 failed author index queries from a large Midwestern academic library's online library…

Variability of some diterpene esters in coffee beverages as influenced by brewing procedures.

PubMed

Moeenfard, Marzieh; Erny, Guillaume L; Alves, Arminda

2016-11-01

Several coffee brews, including classical and commercial beverages, were analyzed for their diterpene esters content (cafestol and kahweol linoleate, oleate, palmitate and stearate) by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) combined with spectral deconvolution. Due to the coelution of cafestol and kahweol esters at 225 nm, HPLC-DAD did not give accurate quantification of cafestol esters. Accordingly, spectral deconvolution was used to deconvolve the co-migrating profiles. Total cafestol and kahweol esters content of classical coffee brews ranged from 5-232 to 2-1016 mg/L, respectively. Commercial blends contained 1-54 mg/L of total cafestol esters and 2-403 mg/L of total kahweol esters. Boiled coffee had the highest diterpene esters content, while filtered and instant brews showed the lowest concentrations. However, individual diterpene esters content was not affected by brewing procedure as in terms of kahweol esters, kahweol palmitate was the main compound in all samples, followed by kahweol linoleate, oleate and stearate. Higher amounts of cafestol palmitate and stearate were also observed compared to cafestol linoleate and cafestol oleate. The ratio of diterpene esters esterified with unsaturated fatty acids to total diterpene esters was considered as measure of their unsaturation in analyzed samples which varied from 47 to 52%. Providing new information regarding the diterpene esters content and their distribution in coffee brews will allow a better use of coffee as a functional beverage.

Dermatology on YouTube.

PubMed

Boyers, Lindsay N; Quest, Tyler; Karimkhani, Chante; Connett, Jessica; Dellavalle, Robert P

2014-06-15

YouTube, reaches upwards of six billion users on a monthly basis and is a unique source of information distribution and communication. Although the influence of YouTube on personal health decision-making is well established, this study assessed the type of content and viewership on a broad scope of dermatology related content on YouTube. Select terms (i.e. dermatology, sun protection, skin cancer, skin cancer awareness, and skin conditions) were searched on YouTube. Overall, the results included 100 videos with over 47 million viewers. Advocacy was the most prevalent content type at 24% of the total search results. These 100 videos were "shared" a total of 101,173 times and have driven 6,325 subscriptions to distinct YouTube user pages. Of the total videos, 35% were uploaded by or featured an MD/DO/PhD in dermatology or other specialty/field, 2% FNP/PA, 1% RN, and 62% other. As one of the most trafficked global sites on the Internet, YouTube is a valuable resource for dermatologists, physicians in other specialties, and the general public to share their dermatology-related content and gain subscribers. However, challenges of accessing and determining evidence-based data remain an issue.

Computer-assisted total knee arthroplasty marketing and patient education: an evaluation of quality, content and accuracy of related websites.

PubMed

Shemesh, Shai S; Bronson, Michael J; Moucha, Calin S

2016-10-01

The internet is increasingly being used as a resource for health-related information by the general public. We sought to establish the authorship, content and accuracy of the information available online regarding computer-assisted total knee arthroplasty (CA-TKA). One hundred fifty search results from three leading search engines available online (Google, Yahoo!, Bing) from ten different countries worldwide were reviewed. While private physicians/groups authored 50.7 % of the websites, only 17.3 % were authored by a hospital/university. As compared to traditional TKA, 59.3 % of the websites claimed that navigated TKA offers better longevity, 46.6 % claimed accelerated recovery and 26 % claimed fewer complications. Only 11.3 % mentioned the prolonged operating room time required, and only 15.3 % noted the current lack of long-term evidence in support of this technology. Patients seeking information regarding CA-TKA through the major search engines are likely to encounter websites presenting a narrow, unscientific, viewpoint of the present technology, putting emphasis on unsubstantiated benefits while disregarding potential drawbacks. Survey of Materials-Internet.

WWW mesothelioma information: Surfing on unreliable waters. A cross-sectional study into the content and quality of online informational resources for mesothelioma patients.

PubMed

Soloukey Tbalvandany, S Sadaf; Maat, A Alexander P W M; Cornelissen, R Robin; Nuyttens, J Joost J M E; Takkenberg, J Johanna J M

2018-06-01

Malignant Mesothelioma (MM) is a rare asbestos related disease mostly diagnosed in low-skilled patients. The decision-making process for MM treatment is complicated, making an adequate provision of information necessary. The objective of this study is to assess the content and quality of online informational resources available for Dutch MM patients. The first 100 hits of a Google search were studied using the JAMA benchmarks, the Modified Information Score (MIS) and the International Patient Decision Aid Standard Scoring (IPDAS). A total of 37 sources were included. Six of the 37 resources were published by hospitals. On average, the informational resources scored 37 points on the MIS (scale 0-100). The resources from a (bio)medical sources scored the best on this scale. However, on the domain of use of language, these resources scored the worst. The current level of medical content and quality of online informational resources for patient with MM is below average and cannot be used as decision-aids for patients. The criteria used in this article could be used for future improvements of online informational resources for patients, both online, offline and through health education in the care path. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Online LC-GC-based analysis of minor lipids in various tree nuts and peanuts.

PubMed

Esche, Rebecca; Müller, Luisa; Engel, Karl-Heinz

2013-11-27

As information on free sterols/stanols and steryl/stanyl esters in nuts is lacking, the compositions and contents of these lipid constituents in ten different nut types were analyzed. The applied approach was based on online liquid chromatography-gas chromatography and enabled the simultaneous analysis of free sterols/stanols and individual steryl/stanyl fatty acid esters, and additionally of tocopherols and squalene. Total contents of free sterols/stanols ranged from 0.62 mg/g nut in hazelnuts to 1.61 mg/g nut in pistachios, with sitosterol as the predominant compound. Total contents of steryl/stanyl fatty acid esters were in the range of 0.11-1.26 mg/g nut, being lowest in Brazil nuts and highest in pistachios. There were considerable differences between the various nut types not only regarding the contents, but also the compositions of both classes. The levels of tocopherols were highest in pine nuts (0.33 mg/g nut); those of squalene were remarkably high in Brazil nuts (1.11 mg/g nut).

Saturated and trans fatty acids content in unpackaged traditional bakery products in Santa Fe city, Argentina: nutrition labeling relevance.

PubMed

Negro, Emilse; González, Marcela Aída; Bernal, Claudio Adrián; Williner, María Rosa

2017-08-01

Studies have reported the relationship between the excessive intake of saturated fatty acids (SFA) and trans fatty acids (t-FA) and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Since 2006, the MERCOSUR countries require that the mandatory nutrition labeling should include information not only about the content of SFA but also about the content of t-FA. This does not apply to fractionated products at the point of retail, such as bakery products. This paper aimed to determine the total fat content and the fatty acid profile in unpackaged traditional bakery products (breads, biscuits and pastries) in Santa Fe, Argentina. Except for French bread, the contribution of t-FA and SFA to the total FA consumption from baked products was high. On the other hand, due to the high variability detected in the FA composition of bakery products between bakeries, it would be necessary to implement regulations making nutrition labeling mandatory in these products.

Characterization of Hanwoo Bovine By-products by Means of Yield, Physicochemical and Nutritional Compositions

PubMed Central

Moon, Sung Sil

2014-01-01

Though the edible bovine by-products are widely used for human consumption in most countries worldwide but the scientific information regarding the nutritional quality of these by-products is scarce. In the present study, the basic information regarding the yields, physicochemical and nutritional compositions of edible Hanwoo bovine by-products was studied. Our results showed that the yields, physicochemical and nutritional composition widely varied between the by-products examined. The highest pH values were found in rumen, reticulum, omasum and reproductive organ. Heart, liver, kidney and spleen had the lowest CIE L* values and highest CIE a* values. Liver had the highest vitamin A, B2 and niacin contents whereas the highest B1 and B5 contents were found in kidney. The highest Ca content was found in rumen, reticulum, omasum, head and leg while the highest Mn and Fe contents were found in rumen, omasum and spleen, respectively. Liver had the highest Cu content. Total essential amino acids (EAA)/amino acids (AA) ratios ranged between the by-products from 38.37% to 47.41%. Total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) levels ranged between the by-products from 2.26% to 26.47%, and most by-products showed favorable PUFA/SFA ratios. It is concluded that most of by-products examined are good sources of essential nutrients and these data will be of great importance for promotion of consumption and utilization of beef by-products in future. PMID:26761281

Spatial variability of soil total and DTPA-extractable cadmium caused by long-term application of phosphate fertilizers, crop rotation, and soil characteristics.

PubMed

Jafarnejadi, A R; Sayyad, Gh; Homaee, M; Davamei, A H

2013-05-01

Increasing cadmium (Cd) accumulation in agricultural soils is undesirable due to its hazardous influences on human health. Thus, having more information on spatial variability of Cd and factors effective to increase its content on the cultivated soils is very important. Phosphate fertilizers are main contamination source of cadmium (Cd) in cultivated soils. Also, crop rotation is a critical management practice which can alter soil Cd content. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of long-term consumption of the phosphate fertilizers, crop rotations, and soil characteristics on spatial variability of two soil Cd species (i.e., total and diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) extractable) in agricultural soils. The study was conducted in wheat farms of Khuzestan Province, Iran. Long-term (27-year period (1980 to 2006)) data including the rate and the type of phosphate fertilizers application, the respective area, and the rotation type of different regions were used. Afterwards, soil Cd content (total or DTPA extractable) and its spatial variability in study area (400,000 ha) were determined by sampling from soils of 255 fields. The results showed that the consumption rate of di-ammonium phosphate fertilizer have been varied enormously in the period study. The application rate of phosphorus fertilizers was very high in some subregions with have extensive agricultural activities (more than 95 kg/ha). The average and maximum contents of total Cd in the study region were obtained as 1.47 and 2.19 mg/kg and DTPA-extractable Cd as 0.084 and 0.35 mg/kg, respectively. The spatial variability of Cd indicated that total and DTPA-extractable Cd contents were over 0.8 and 0.1 mg/kg in 95 and 25 % of samples, respectively. The spherical model enjoys the best fitting and lowest error rate to appraise the Cd content. Comparing the phosphate fertilizer consumption rate with spatial variability of the soil cadmium (both total and DTPA extractable) revealed the high correlation between the consumption rate of P fertilizers and soil Cd content. Rotation type was likely the main effective factor on variations of the soil DTPA-extractable Cd contents in some parts (eastern part of study region) and could explain some Cd variation. Total Cd concentrations had significant correlation with the total neutralizing value (p < 0.01), available P (p < 0.01), cation exchange capacity (p < 0.05), and organic carbon (p < 0.05) variables. The DTPA-extractable Cd had significant correlation with OC (p < 0.01), pH, and clay content (p < 0.05). Therefore, consumption rate of the phosphate fertilizers and crop rotation are important factors on solubility and hence spatial variability of Cd content in agricultural soils.

Rapid and Cost-Effective Quantification of Glucosinolates and Total Phenolic Content in Rocket Leaves by Visible/Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Toledo-Martín, Eva María; Font, Rafael; Obregón-Cano, Sara; De Haro-Bailón, Antonio; Villatoro-Pulido, Myriam; Del Río-Celestino, Mercedes

2017-05-20

The potential of visible-near infrared spectroscopy to predict glucosinolates and total phenolic content in rocket ( Eruca vesicaria ) leaves has been evaluated. Accessions of the E. vesicaria species were scanned by NIRS as ground leaf, and their reference values regressed against different spectral transformations by modified partial least squares (MPLS) regression. The coefficients of determination in the external validation (R²VAL) for the different quality components analyzed in rocket ranged from 0.59 to 0.84, which characterize those equations as having from good to excellent quantitative information. These results show that the total glucosinolates, glucosativin and glucoerucin equations obtained, can be used to identify those samples with low and high contents. The glucoraphanin equation obtained can be used for rough predictions of samples and in case of total phenolic content, the equation showed good correlation. The standard deviation (SD) to standard error of prediction ratio (RPD) and SD to range (RER) were variable for the different quality compounds and showed values that were characteristic of equations suitable for screening purposes or to perform accurate analyses. From the study of the MPLS loadings of the first three terms of the different equations, it can be concluded that some major cell components such as protein and cellulose, highly participated in modelling the equations for glucosinolates.

Indicative capacity of NDVI in predictive mapping of the properties of plow horizons of soils on slopes in the south of Western Siberia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gopp, N. V.; Nechaeva, T. V.; Savenkov, O. A.; Smirnova, N. V.; Smirnov, V. V.

2017-11-01

The informativeness of NDVI for predictive mapping of the physical and chemical properties of plow horizons of soils on different slope positions within the first (280-310 m a.s.l.) and second (240-280 m a.s.l.) altitudinal steps has been examined. This index is uninformative for mapping soil properties in small hollows, whose factual width is less than the Landsat image resolution (30 m). In regression models, NDVI index explains 52% of variance in the content of humus; 35 and 24% of variance in the contents of total and nitrate nitrogen; 19 and 29% of variance in the contents of total and available phosphorus; 25 and 50% of variance in the contents of exchangeable calcium and manganese; and 30 and 29% of variance in the contents of fine silt and soil water, respectively. On the basis of the models obtained, prognostic maps of the soil properties have been developed. Spatial distribution patterns of NDVI calculated from Landsat 8 images (30-m resolution) serve as the cartographic base and the main indicator of the soil properties. The NDVI values and the contents of humus, physical clay (<0.01 mm) and fine silt particles, total and nitrate nitrogen, total phosphorus, and exchangeable calcium and manganese in the soils of the first altitudinal step are higher than those in the soils of the second altitudinal step. An opposite tendency has been found for the available phosphorus content: in the soils of the second altitudinal step and the hollow, its content is higher than that in the soils of the first altitudinal step by 1.8 and 2.4 times, respectively. Differences in the pH of soil water suspensions, easily available phosphorus, and clay in the soils of the compared topographic positions (first and second altitudinal steps and the hollow) are statistically unreliable.

Comparison of information about the quality of apparel in three retail formats.

PubMed

Bye, Elizabeth K; Reiley, Kathryn

2003-06-01

Multiple options are available for selection and purchase of apparel including in-store, catalogue, and Internet. The present purpose was to compare information about quality available to consumers in three retail formats. Students studying quality of apparel selected a product which could be purchased in each of the three formats, completed an evaluation from both a consumer's and preprofessional perspective, and made recommendations for improving information on quality. A total of 413 recommendations were categorized and tested for independence. Students had similar expectations for cues of quality across Internet, catalogue, and in-store formats including fiber content, country of origin, 3-dimensional information about fit, color accuracy, size charts, and strong customer service. Students expected a uniform array of information on quality regardless of the shopping format. Merchandisers must be aware of the total image across formats and be prepared to explore methods for improving communication of information on quality in each.

The design and content of orthodontic practise websites in the UK is suboptimal and does not correlate with search ranking.

PubMed

Patel, Annika; Cobourne, Martyn T

2015-08-01

This study investigated standards of ethical advertising; design and content; and information quality associated with UK dental practice websites offering orthodontic treatment. The World Wide Web was searched from a UK-based computer using the Google search engine combined with the term 'orthodontic braces'. The first 100 UK-based dental practice websites were pooled and saved following duplicate removal. Websites were evaluated for compliance with current General Dental Council ethical advertising guidelines; accessibility, usability, and reliability using the LIDA instrument (a validated outcome tool for healthcare website design and content evaluation); and quality of information using the DISCERN toolkit (a validated method of quality assessment for online written patient information). Nine per cent of websites demonstrated full compliance with current guidelines on ethical advertising. Mean total LIDA score was 110/144 (76%) [range: 51-135; 35-94%]. Eleven websites reached a gold standard of 90% or more for total LIDA score. Mean total DISCERN score was 48/75 (64%) [range: 19-73; 25-97%]. Five websites achieved a total DISCERN score above 90%. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients demonstrated no significant correlations between LIDA (0.1669; P = 0.4252, confidence interval [CI]: -0.2560 to 0.5362) or DISCERN (0.3572; P = 0.0796, CI: -0.0565 to 0.663) score and ranking amongst the 25 highest ranked websites. Most UK websites offering orthodontic services are not fully compliant with national guidelines relating to ethical advertising. Validated measures of website design (LIDA) and information quality (DISCERN) showed wide variation amongst sites. No correlation existed between ranking amongst the highest 25 sites and either of these measures. This investigation was limited to a subsample of UK-only websites; and whilst not representative of European-wide sites, it does suggest that in the UK at least website quality can be improved. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Orthodontic Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Effect of drying of figs (Ficus carica L.) on the contents of sugars, organic acids, and phenolic compounds.

PubMed

Slatnar, Ana; Klancar, Urska; Stampar, Franci; Veberic, Robert

2011-11-09

Fresh figs were subjected to two different drying processes: sun-drying and oven-drying. To assess their effect on the nutritional and health-related properties of figs, sugars, organic acids, single phenolics, total phenolics, and antioxidant activity were determined before and after processing. Samples were analyzed three times in a year, and phenolic compounds were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). In figs, monomer sugars predominate, which is important nutritional information, and the content of sugars as well as organic acids in fresh figs was lower than in dried fruits. However, the best sugar/organic acid ratio was measured after the sun-drying process. Analysis of individual phenolic compounds revealed a higher content of all phenolic groups determined after the oven-drying process, with the exception of cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside. Similarly, higher total phenolic content and antioxidant activity were detected after the drying process. With these results it can be concluded that the differences in analyzed compounds in fresh and dried figs are significant. The differences between the sun-dried and oven-dried fruits were determined in organic acids, sugars, chlorogenic acid, catechin, epicatechin, kaempferol-3-O-glucoside, luteolin-8-C-glucoside, and total phenolic contents. The results indicate that properly dried figs can be used as a good source of phenolic compounds.

Traffic Light System Can Increase Healthfulness Perception: Implications for Policy Making.

PubMed

Machín, Leandro; Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Curutchet, María Rosa; Giménez, Ana; Ares, Gastón

2018-04-04

To evaluate how information about low nutrient content included in the traffic light labeling system influences consumers' perception of the healthfulness of products with high content of 1 key nutrient, and to compare the traffic light system with warnings in terms of the perception of healthfulness. Images of front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labels (the traffic light labeling system with different numbers of nutrients with low content, and warnings) were evaluated in study 1, whereas product labels featuring the different FOP nutrition labels were evaluated in study 2. Online studies conducted in Montevideo, Uruguay. A total of 1,228 Uruguayan Facebook users. Perception of healthfulness. The researchers used ANOVA to evaluate the influence of FOP nutrition labels on perceived healthfulness. The inclusion of information about low nutrient content in the traffic light system statistically significantly increased the perception of the healthfulness of products with high nutrient content. Nutritional warnings showed healthfulness ratings similar to those of the simplified version of the traffic light system. Information about low nutrient content in the traffic light system might be used to infer health, and thus could raise the perception of healthfulness and decrease the traffic light system's efficacy in discouraging the consumption of unhealthful products. A simplified version of the traffic light highlighting only high-nutrient content or nutritional warnings seems to overcome this problem. Copyright © 2018 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ethnomedicinal values, phenolic contents and antioxidant properties of wild culinary vegetables.

PubMed

Abbasi, Arshad Mehmood; Shah, Munir H; Li, Tong; Fu, Xiong; Guo, Xinbo; Liu, Rui Hai

2015-03-13

Traditional medicines comprise a variety of health practices, approaches, knowledge, and beliefs. Documentation of traditional knowledge, estimation of total phenolics and antioxidant properties of plant species used as wild vegetables and in traditional medicines by the local communities of Lesser Himalayas-Pakistan are targeted. Interviews, questionnaires, and focus group conversation with local informants were carried out to record ethno-medicinal values. Used value, percentage of people who have traditional knowledge, preference ranking and informant consensus factors were also measured. Standard analytical methods were applied to estimate phenolic contents and antioxidant properties in water and acetone extracts. A total of 39 plant species used as culinary vegetables and to treat 44 different health disorders are investigated. Significant levels of use value (0.571) and preference ranking (58% PPK, PR-5) are calculated for Ficus palmata, Ficus carica and Solanum nigrum. Elevated levels of total phenolics (144.5 mg GAE/100 g, FW), and flavonoid contents (142.5 mgRtE/100 g, FW) were measured in the water extracts of Origanum vulgare, while Ficus palmata exhibits the highest flavonol contents (142.7 mg RtE/100 g, FW). Maximum DPPH activity is noted in the flowering buds of Bauhinia variegata (85.34%). However, highest values for OH(-) radical scavenging activity (75.12%), Fe(3+) reducing antioxidant power (54.50 µM GAE/100 g, FW), and total antioxidant capacity (180.8 µM AAE/100 g, FW) were measured in the water extracts of Origanum vulgare. Lesser Himalayas is a rich source of traditional cultural heritage, and plant biodiversity, which are under threat and necessitate urgent documentation. Present study is focused on the plant species used in traditional medicines and culinary vegetables as well. Preliminary determinations of phenoloic contents and antioxidant properties of various plant species were carried out. Present work will introduce new resource of medicinal and food plants, which could be used as functional food. Furthermore, phytochemical profiles, cellular based antioxidant properties, and isolation of active ingredients will be useful for consumers, and in the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries of the country. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relationships between leaf chlorophyll content and spectral reflectance and algorithms for non-destructive chlorophyll assessment in higher plant leaves.

PubMed

Gitelson, Anatoly A; Gritz, Yuri; Merzlyak, Mark N

2003-03-01

Leaf chlorophyll content provides valuable information about physiological status of plants. Reflectance measurement makes it possible to quickly and non-destructively assess, in situ, the chlorophyll content in leaves. Our objective was to investigate the spectral behavior of the relationship between reflectance and chlorophyll content and to develop a technique for non-destructive chlorophyll estimation in leaves with a wide range of pigment content and composition using reflectance in a few broad spectral bands. Spectral reflectance of maple, chestnut, wild vine and beech leaves in a wide range of pigment content and composition was investigated. It was shown that reciprocal reflectance (R lambda)-1 in the spectral range lambda from 520 to 550 nm and 695 to 705 nm related closely to the total chlorophyll content in leaves of all species. Subtraction of near infra-red reciprocal reflectance, (RNIR)-1, from (R lambda)-1 made index [(R lambda)(-1)-(RNIR)-1] linearly proportional to the total chlorophyll content in spectral ranges lambda from 525 to 555 nm and from 695 to 725 nm with coefficient of determination r2 > 0.94. To adjust for differences in leaf structure, the product of the latter index and NIR reflectance [(R lambda)(-1)-(RNIR)-1]*(RNIR) was used; this further increased the accuracy of the chlorophyll estimation in the range lambda from 520 to 585 nm and from 695 to 740 nm. Two independent data sets were used to validate the developed algorithms. The root mean square error of the chlorophyll prediction did not exceed 50 mumol/m2 in leaves with total chlorophyll ranged from 1 to 830 mumol/m2.

Identifying community perspectives for a lung cancer screening awareness campaign in Appalachia Kentucky: The Terminate Lung Cancer (TLC) Study

PubMed Central

Cardarelli, Roberto; Roper, Karen L.; Cardarelli, Kathryn; Feltner, Frances J.; Prater, Shirley; Ledford, Karen Michelle; Justice, Barbara; Reese, David R.; Wagner, Patsy; Cantrell, Christine

2017-01-01

Introduction Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scan is now covered by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services following an evidence-based recommendation, but a shared decision making process should inform patients of risks and limitations. An awareness campaign promoting LDCT screenings is an opportunity to elicit patient engagement with health providers about the risks and benefits. Focus groups representing three regions of Appalachian Kentucky known for high lung cancer rates discussed development of a lung cancer screening campaign. Recommendations included messaging content, appeals or design, campaign implementation, and trusted information or communication sources. Methods Community health workers (CHWs) from three Eastern Kentucky regions recruited individuals from their local communities using established client files. CHWs hosted six total focus groups (7–11 participants each) using questions guided by the Communication-Persuasion Matrix framework. All sessions were recorded and transcribed for independent content analysis. Results A total of fifty-four individuals (61.1% female; >55 pack year history) participated. Prior to discussion, most participants had not heard of lung cancer screening. Cited needs for content of a campaign included benefits of early detection and payment information. Messages considered most persuasive were those that include: personal testimony, messages of hope, prolonged life, and an emphasis on family and the ambition to survive. Having information come from one’s family doctor or specialty provider was considered important to message communication. Conclusions Messages about survivorship, family, and prolonged life should be considered in lung cancer screening awareness campaigns. Our results provide community input about messages regarding screening options. PMID:26411308

[Information needs of the health and diseases in users of healthcare services in Primary Care at Salamanca, Spain].

PubMed

Bernad Vallés, Mercedes; Maderuelo Fernández, José Ángel; Moreno González, Pilar

2016-01-01

To learn, interpret and understand the information needs of health and disease in users of the healthcare services of the urban Primary Care of Salamanca. Qualitative research corresponding an exploratory qualitative/structural perspective. Primary Care. Urban area, Salamanca in 2007. Ten discussion groups, 2 composed of members of health-related associations and 8 primary care users, involved a total of 83 people. The structural variables considered are: gender, age, educational level and membership or not associations. Generate information to achieve information saturation in the discussion groups. Upon obtaining their informed consent, all subjects in the study participated in videotaped conversations, which were transcribed verbatim. Four researchers categorized the content, intentionality of discourse and developed the concept map. After categorization, triangulation and coding, content obtained was analysed with the NudistQ6 program. Informative content suggest four information needs: health and prevention, early diagnosis, first aid and disease. Different intentions (information needs, watching, claim and improvement) and needs profiles are detected as structural variables. Major information needs are relate to diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic options. There is agreement between the groups that the information transmitted to the patient must be intelligible, updated and coordinated among the different professionals and care levels. Participants require information of a clinical nature to exercise their right to autonomy translating tendency to empower users as part of the social change. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Availability of heavy metals in minesoils measured by different methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lago, Manoel; Arenas, Daniel; Vega, Flora; Andrade, Luisa

2013-04-01

Most of environmental regulations concerning soil pollution commonly include the total heavy metal content as the reference for determining contamination levels. Nevertheless the total content includes all different chemical forms and it rarely gives information on mobility, availability and toxicity (Pueyo et al., 2004). To be able to determine the concentrations of contaminants that cause toxicity it is important to study the available content, the one that can interact with an organism and be incorporated in its structure (Vangronsveld and Cunningham, 1998). There are many techniques that determine the operationally defined as available content in soils. Most of them use a reagent that causes the displacement of the ions by electrostatic attraction (Pueyo et al., 2004). The aim of this work is to compare the agreement among different extractants (Cl2Ca, EDTA, DTPA, bidistilled water (BDW) and low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOA) when Ni and Zn concentrations are measured in the extractions from five mine soils (Touro, Spain). The sequence of soils according to total contents of Ni and Zn is S4>S5>S1>S3>S2 and S4>S1>S5>S2>S3, respectively. In all cases Zn total contents are higher than Ni varying from two times higher (S5) to four times higher (S2). Zn concentration is also higher than Ni in the Cl2Ca extractions but the opposite happens in DTPA extractions. Both metal concentrations in the EDTA, BDW and LMWOA extractions are quite similar in each soil. This first approximation already shows there is no agreement among the different techniques used for determining heavy metal availability in soils. Nevertheless it was found that soils sequence according to Zn and Ni concentrations in all available extractions techniques (with the exception of BDW) is the same. According to the Ni and Zn contents in Cl2Ca, DTPA, EDTA and LMWOA extractions the sequence is S3> S4> S5> S1> S2. The S3 is the soil with the highest content of available Ni and Zn whilst it is the soil with the lowest total Zn content and one of those with the lowest Ni one. Even the sequence obtained from BDW extractions is different (S4> S3> S2> S1> S5) the S3 soil also possess one of the highest amounts of available Ni and Zn. Therefore the information given by the BDW technique is different than the other ones used for determining available contents of Ni and Zn since DTPA, Cl2Ca, EDTA and LMWOA cause the displacement of both ions from soil matrix towards the soil solution. Acknowledgments This research was supported by Project CGL2010-16765 (MICINN-FEDER). F.A. Vega and D. Arenas-Lago acknowledge the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the University of Vigo for the Ramón y Cajal and FPI-MICINN, respectively. References Pueyo, M., López-Sánchez, J.F., Rauret, G. 2004. Analytica Chimica Acta. 504. 217-226. Vangronsveld, J.; Cunningham, S.D. 1998. Metal-Contaminated Soils: In-Situ Inactivation and Phytoremediation. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.

Changes in physicochemical characteristics and free amino acids of hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida) fruits during maturation.

PubMed

Li, Wei-Qin; Hu, Qing-Ping; Xu, Jian-Guo

2015-05-15

In this study, changes in physicochemical characteristics associated with fruit quality and free amino acids were investigated during maturation of hawthorn fruits. Significant differences in these parameters were found during maturation. The color turned progressively from mature green to semi-red, to reach bright red; the shape changed gradually from oval to round or approached round; the size, weight, and edible part (flesh/core ratio) of hawthorns increased while the density of intact fruits did not change. The content of moisture, total soluble sugars, soluble pectin, reduced ascorbic acid, total ascorbic acid, fructose, and sucrose increased while crude protein content decreased significantly. The levels of starch, sucrose, titratable acidity, protopectin, pectin, total free amino acids, and total essential amino acids initially increased and then decreased gradually during maturation. The outcomes of this study provide additional and useful information for fresh consumption and processing as well as utilization of dropped unripe hawthorn fruits. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The McMaster Optimal Aging Portal: Usability Evaluation of a Unique Evidence-Based Health Information Website.

PubMed

Barbara, Angela M; Dobbins, Maureen; Haynes, R Brian; Iorio, Alfonso; Lavis, John N; Raina, Parminder; Levinson, Anthony J

2016-05-11

Increasingly, older adults and their informal caregivers are using the Internet to search for health-related information. There is a proliferation of health information online, but the quality of this information varies, often based on exaggerated or dramatic findings, and not easily comprehended by consumers. The McMaster Optimal Aging Portal (Portal) was developed to provide Internet users with high-quality evidence about aging and address some of these current limitations of health information posted online. The Portal includes content for health professionals coming from three best-in-class resources (MacPLUS, Health Evidence, and Health Systems Evidence) and four types of content specifically prepared for the general public (Evidence Summaries, Web Resource Ratings, Blog Posts, and Twitter messages). Our objectives were to share the findings of the usability evaluation of the Portal with particular focus on the content features for the general public and to inform designers of health information websites and online resources for older adults about key usability themes. Data analysis included task performance during usability testing and qualitative content analyses of both the usability sessions and interviews to identify core themes. A total of 37 participants took part in 33 usability testing sessions and 21 focused interviews. Qualitative analysis revealed common themes regarding the Portal's strengths and challenges to usability. The strengths of the website were related to credibility, applicability, browsing function, design, and accessibility. The usability challenges included reluctance to register, process of registering, searching, terminology, and technical features. The study reinforced the importance of including end users during the development of this unique, dynamic, evidence-based health information website. The feedback was applied to iteratively improve website usability. Our findings can be applied by designers of health-related websites.

The McMaster Optimal Aging Portal: Usability Evaluation of a Unique Evidence-Based Health Information Website

PubMed Central

Dobbins, Maureen; Haynes, R. Brian; Iorio, Alfonso; Lavis, John N; Raina, Parminder

2016-01-01

Background Increasingly, older adults and their informal caregivers are using the Internet to search for health-related information. There is a proliferation of health information online, but the quality of this information varies, often based on exaggerated or dramatic findings, and not easily comprehended by consumers. The McMaster Optimal Aging Portal (Portal) was developed to provide Internet users with high-quality evidence about aging and address some of these current limitations of health information posted online. The Portal includes content for health professionals coming from three best-in-class resources (MacPLUS, Health Evidence, and Health Systems Evidence) and four types of content specifically prepared for the general public (Evidence Summaries, Web Resource Ratings, Blog Posts, and Twitter messages). Objective Our objectives were to share the findings of the usability evaluation of the Portal with particular focus on the content features for the general public and to inform designers of health information websites and online resources for older adults about key usability themes. Methods Data analysis included task performance during usability testing and qualitative content analyses of both the usability sessions and interviews to identify core themes. Results A total of 37 participants took part in 33 usability testing sessions and 21 focused interviews. Qualitative analysis revealed common themes regarding the Portal’s strengths and challenges to usability. The strengths of the website were related to credibility, applicability, browsing function, design, and accessibility. The usability challenges included reluctance to register, process of registering, searching, terminology, and technical features. Conclusions The study reinforced the importance of including end users during the development of this unique, dynamic, evidence-based health information website. The feedback was applied to iteratively improve website usability. Our findings can be applied by designers of health-related websites. PMID:27170443

Do Lower Calorie or Lower Fat Foods Have More Sodium Than Their Regular Counterparts?

PubMed Central

John, Katherine A.; Maalouf, Joyce; B. Barsness, Christina; Yuan, Keming; Cogswell, Mary E.; Gunn, Janelle P.

2016-01-01

The objective of this study was to compare the sodium content of a regular food and its lower calorie/fat counterpart. Four food categories, among the top 20 contributing the most sodium to the US diet, met the criteria of having the most matches between regular foods and their lower calorie/fat counterparts. A protocol was used to search websites to create a list of “matches”, a regular and comparable lower calorie/fat food(s) under each brand. Nutrient information was recorded and analyzed for matches. In total, 283 matches were identified across four food categories: savory snacks (N = 44), cheese (N = 105), salad dressings (N = 90), and soups (N = 44). As expected, foods modified from their regular versions had significantly reduced average fat (total fat and saturated fat) and caloric profiles. Mean sodium content among modified salad dressings and cheeses was on average 8%–12% higher, while sodium content did not change with modification of savory snacks. Modified soups had significantly lower mean sodium content than their regular versions (28%–38%). Consumers trying to maintain a healthy diet should consider that sodium content may vary in foods modified to be lower in calories/fat. PMID:27548218

User needs on Nursing Net (The Kango Net) - analyzing the total consultation page - http://www.kango-net.jp/en/index.html.

PubMed

Sakyo, Yumi; Nakayama, Kazuhiro; Komatsu, Hiroko; Setoyama, Yoko

2009-01-01

People are required to take in and comprehend a massive amount of health information and in turn make some serious decisions based on that information. We, at St. Luke's College of Nursing, provide a rich selection of high-quality health information, and have set up Nursing Net (The Kango Net:Kango is Nursing in Japanese). This website provides information for consumers as well as people interested in the nursing profession. In an attempt to identify the needs of users, this study conducted an analysis of the contents on the total consultation page. Many readers voted that responses to nursing techniques and symptoms questions proved instrumental in their queries. Based on the results of this study, we can conclude that this is an easy-to-access, convenient site for getting health information about physical symptoms and nursing techniques.

Variables affecting athletes' retention of coaches' feedback.

PubMed

Januário, Nuno M S; Rosado, Antonio F; Mesquita, Isabel

2013-10-01

Athletes' retention of information conveyed in coaches' feedback during training was examined, considering the nature of the information transmitted by each coach (extensions, total number of ideas transmitted, and total number of repeated ideas), athletes' characteristics, (ages, genders, school levels, and practice levels), and athletes' perceptions (relevance and acceptance of coaches' information, task motivational levels, and athletes' attention levels). Participants were 193 athletes (79 boys, 114 girls; 9 to 13 years of age) and 6 coaches. Feedback was both audio and video recorded and all athletes were interviewed. All coaches' feedback and athletes' recollections were subjected to content analysis. Information was completely retained in 31.60% of feedback episodes. Athletes' mean per-episode information retention was 63.0%. Three variables appeared to b e predictiveathletes' retention: athletes' practice levels (p = -.25), attention to coaches' provision of feedback (P = .17), and the number of different ideas transmitted by each coach (P = -.90).

Effectiveness of YouTube as a Source of Medical Information on Heart Transplantation.

PubMed

Chen, He-Ming; Hu, Zhong-Kai; Zheng, Xiao-Lin; Yuan, Zhao-Shun; Xu, Zhao-Bin; Yuan, Ling-Qing; Perez, Vinicio A De Jesus; Yuan, Ke; Orcholski, Mark; Liao, Xiao-Bo

2013-11-21

In this digital era, there is a growing tendency to use the popular Internet site YouTube as a new electronic-learning (e-learning) means for continuing medical education. Heart transplantation (HTx) remains the most viable option for patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease. There are plenty of freely accessible YouTube videos providing medical information about HTx. The aim of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of YouTube as an e-learning source on HTx. In order to carry out this study, YouTube was searched for videos uploaded containing surgical-related information using the four keywords: (1) "heart transplantation", (2) "cardiac transplantation", (3) "heart transplantation operation", and (4) "cardiac transplantation operation". Only videos in English (with comments or subtitles in English language) were included. Two experienced cardiac surgeons watched each video (N=1800) and classified them as useful, misleading, or recipients videos based on the HTx-relevant information. The kappa statistic was used to measure interobserver variability. Data was analyzed according to six types of YouTube characteristics including "total viewership", "duration", "source", "days since upload", "scores" given by the viewers, and specialized information contents of the videos. A total of 342/1800 (19.00%) videos had relevant information about HTx. Of these 342 videos, 215 (62.8%) videos had useful information about specialized knowledge, 7/342 (2.0%) were found to be misleading, and 120/342 (35.1%) only concerned recipients' individual issues. Useful videos had 56.09% of total viewership share (2,175,845/3,878,890), whereas misleading had 35.47% (1,375,673/3,878,890). Independent user channel videos accounted for a smaller proportion (19% in total numbers) but might have a wider impact on Web viewers, with the highest mean views/day (mean 39, SD 107) among four kinds of channels to distribute HTx-related information. YouTube videos on HTx benefit medical professionals by providing a substantial amount of information. However, it is a time-consuming course to find high-quality videos. More authoritative videos by trusted sources should be posted for dissemination of reliable information. With an improvement of ranking system and content providers in future, YouTube, as a freely accessible outlet, will help to meet the huge informational needs of medical staffs and promote medical education on HTx.

Evaluation of the content quality of websites for recurrent aphthous ulcers and oral lichen planus.

PubMed

Hu, Xiaosheng; Pan, Hui; He, Wenxiu; Hua, Hong; Yan, Zhimin

2017-12-29

The Internet is one of the most popular resources for people to obtain medical information; however, only a limited number of studies have reported the quality of the available health information related to oral mucosal diseases. The present study aimed to evaluate the quality of information on websites for recurrent aphthous ulcers (RAU) and oral lichen planus (OLP), in both Chinese and English. Common search engines, BaiDu, Google, and Yahoo in Chinese; and Bing, Google, and Yahoo in English were used to identify websites providing content related to the oral mucosal diseases. The first 100 links for keywords "recurrent aphthous ulcers" and "oral lichen planus" were visited and content was downloaded within 24 h. Two separate trained researchers use the validated DISCERN rating instrument and JAMA benchmarks to evaluate the content. The rating scores were analyzed and the quality was assessed according to the scores and content of websites. A total of 145 websites for RAU and 128 of OLP were analyzed. Based on the DISCERN instrument, the quality of the content in websites for both diseases, whether in English or Chinese, was not high, generally scoring 2 to 3 (max. 5). Only 13 of the RAU websites and 21 of the OLP websites fulfilled the four criteria of the JAMA benchmarks. Generally, the scores of the English websites were higher than those of the Chinese websites. During the twelve searches, only four (Yahoo of RAU in Chinese, Bing and Yahoo of RAU in English, and Google of OLP in Chinese) showed moderate correlation between the website's ranking and their rating scores. People cannot obtain high quality medical information if they only look at the top ranked sites on the viewing lists. Websites belonging to universities or medical centers had relatively higher scores compared with the others. The quality of the content on websites relating to RAU and OLP in Chinese and English was moderate. More good quality websites and information are needed in the future.

Quantifying precision of in situ length and weight measurements of fish

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gutreuter, S.; Krzoska, D.J.

1994-01-01

We estimated and compared errors in field-made (in situ) measurements of lengths and weights of fish. We made three measurements of length and weight on each of 33 common carp Cyprinus carpio, and on each of a total of 34 bluegills Lepomis macrochirus and black crappies Pomoxis nigromaculatus. Maximum total lengths of all fish were measured to the nearest 1 mm on a conventional measuring board. The bluegills and black crappies (85–282 mm maximum total length) were weighed to the nearest 1 g on a 1,000-g spring-loaded scale. The common carp (415–600 mm maximum total length) were weighed to the nearest 0.05 kg on a 20-kg spring-loaded scale. We present a statistical model for comparison of coefficients of variation of length (Cl ) and weight (Cw ). Expected Cl was near zero and constant across mean length, indicating that length can be measured with good precision in the field. Expected Cw decreased with increasing mean length, and was larger than expected Cl by 5.8 to over 100 times for the bluegills and black crappies, and by 3 to over 20 times for the common carp. Unrecognized in situ weighing errors bias the apparent content of unique information in weight, which is the information not explained by either length or measurement error. We recommend procedures to circumvent effects of weighing errors, including elimination of unnecessary weighing from routine monitoring programs. In situ weighing must be conducted with greater care than is common if the content of unique and nontrivial information in weight is to be correctly identified.

On the nature and properties of appeals used in direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs.

PubMed

Pinto, M B

2000-04-01

The past decade has seen a steady rise in expenditures for direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising. While total revenues across all media are approaching the $1 billion dollar mark, surprisingly little is known about the effectiveness of these types of advertisements, including the appropriateness of various forms of emotional and informational appeal. A content analysis of direct-to-consumer advertising in 24 popular magazines shows that these advertisements are found in every category of magazine, the advertisements employ a mix of informational and emotional appeals, all types of emotional appeals are used, and to date, the type of appeal (emotional and/or informational) tends not to be based on the type of drug advertised. Implications of this content analysis are considered and directions for research on appeals used in direct-to-consumer advertising are suggested.

Nutrition marketing on processed food packages in Canada: 2010 Food Label Information Program.

PubMed

Schermel, Alyssa; Emrich, Teri E; Arcand, JoAnne; Wong, Christina L; L'Abbé, Mary R

2013-06-01

The current study describes the frequency of use of different forms of nutrition marketing in Canada and the nutrients and conditions that are the focus of nutrition marketing messages. Prepackaged foods with a Nutrition Facts table (N = 10,487) were collected between March 2010 and April 2011 from outlets of the 3 largest grocery chains in Canada and 1 major western Canadian grocery retailer. The nutrition marketing information collected included nutrient content claims, disease risk reduction claims, and front-of-pack nutrition rating systems (FOPS). We found that nutrition marketing was present on 48.1% of Canadian food packages, with nutrient content claims being the most common information (45.5%), followed by FOPS on 18.9% of packages. Disease risk reduction claims were made least frequently (1.7%). The marketing messages used most often related to total fat and trans fat (15.6% and 15.5% of nutrient content claims, respectively). Limiting total and trans fats is a current public health priority, as recommended by Health Canada and the World Health Organization. However, other nutrients that are also recommended to be limited, including saturated fats, sodium, and added sugars, were not nearly as prominent on food labels. Thus, greater emphasis should be placed by the food industry on these other important nutrients. Repeated data collection in the coming years will allow us to track longitudinal changes in nutrition marketing messages over time as food marketing, public health, and consumer priorities evolve.

Antioxidant responses of damiana (Turnera diffusa Willd) to exposure to artificial ultraviolet (UV) radiation in an in vitro model; part ii; UV-B radiation.

PubMed

Soriano-Melgar, Lluvia de Abril Alexandra; Alcaraz-Meléndez, Lilia; Méndez-Rodríguez, Lía C; Puente, María Esther; Rivera-Cabrera, Fernando; Zenteno-Savín, Tania

2014-05-01

Ultraviolet type B (UV-B) radiation effects on medicinal plants have been recently investigated in the context of climate change, but the modifications generated by UV-B radiation might be used to increase the content of antioxidants, including phenolic compounds. To generate information on the effect of exposure to artificial UV-B radiation at different highdoses in the antioxidant content of damiana plants in an in vitro model. Damiana plantlets (tissue cultures in Murashige- Skoog medium) were irradiated with artificial UV-B at 3 different doses (1) 0.5 ± 0.1 mW cm-2 (high) for 2 h daily, (2) 1 ± 0,1 mW cm-2 (severe) for 2 h daily, or (3) 1 ± 0.1 mW cm-2 for 4 h daily during 3 weeks. The concentration of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls a and b, carotenoids), vitamins (C and E) and total phenolic compounds, the enzymatic activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) and total peroxidases (POX, EC 1.11.1), as well as total antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation levels were quantified to assess the effect of high artificial UV-B radiation in the antioxidant content of in vitro damiana plants. Severe and high doses of artificial UV-B radiation modified the antioxidant content by increasing the content of vitamin C and decreased the phenolic compound content, as well as modified the oxidative damage of damiana plants in an in vitro model. UV-B radiation modified the antioxidant content in damiana plants in an in vitro model, depending on the intensity and duration of the exposure. Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Scale Adhesion, Sulfur Content, and TBC Failure on Single Crystal Superalloys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smialek, James L.

2002-01-01

This paper summarizes the main effects of sulfur impurity content on the cyclic oxidation resistance of single crystal superalloys, with emphasis on scale and TBC adhesion. Eleven hundred degrees C cyclic oxidation of PWA 1480 produces scale spallation leading to a weight loss of more than 30 Mg/sq cm after 500 one-hr cycles for a sulfur content of 6 ppmw. The sulfur content was reduced to levels below 0.1 ppmw by hydrogen annealing, resulting in weight gains of only 0.5 to 1.0 Mg/sq cm after 1000 one-hr cycles. Samples were produced with various sulfur contents by adjusting the annealing temperature, time, and sample thickness (i.e., diffusion product Dt/L(exp 2)). The subsequent cyclic oxidation behavior, mapped over a sulfur content/thickness diagram, shows a transition to adherent behavior at sulfur levels equivalent to 1 monolayer of total segregation. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Comparison of a specific HPLC determination of toxic aconite alkaloids in processed Radix aconiti with a titration method of total alkaloids.

PubMed

Csupor, Dezso; Borcsa, Botond; Heydel, Barbara; Hohmann, Judit; Zupkó, István; Ma, Yan; Widowitz, Ute; Bauer, Rudolf

2011-10-01

In traditional Chinese medicine, Aconitum (Ranunculaceae) roots are only applied after processing. Nevertheless, several cases of poisoning by improperly processed aconite roots have been reported. The aim of this study was to develop a reliable analytical method to assess the amount of toxic aconite alkaloids in commercial aconite roots, and to compare this method with the commonly used total alkaloid content determination by titration. The content of mesaconitine, aconitine, and hypaconitine in 16 commercial samples of processed aconite roots was determined by an HPLC method and the total alkaloid content by indirect titration. Five samples were selected for in vivo toxicological investigation. In most of the commercial samples, toxic alkaloids were not detectable, or only traces were found. In four samples, we could detect >0.04% toxic aconite alkaloids, the highest with a content of 0.16%. The results of HPLC analysis were compared with the results obtained by titration, and no correlation was found between the two methods. The in vivo results reassured the validity of the HPLC determination. Samples with mesaconitine, aconitine, and hypaconitine content below the HPLC detection limit still contained up to 0.2% alkaloids determined by titration. Since titration of alkaloids gives no information selectively on the aconitine-type alkaloid content and toxicity of aconite roots this method is not appropriate for safety assessment. The HPLC method developed by us provides a quick and reliable assessment of toxicity and should be considered as a purity test in pharmacopoeia monographs.

Content Analysis of Teenaged Interviews for Designing Drug Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Edward V.

1980-01-01

Analyses of the data and youths' prescriptions concerning prevention of abuse yielded 12 program recommendations. These programs can create the awareness that led to concerted programs to stop the war and pollution. When designing educational-information programs, one must be aware of the total system of causal factors. (Author/BEF)

511, America's travel information number. Deployment assistance report #7, roadway content quality on 511 services

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-06-01

The first 511 service became operational in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area in July 2001. Less than two years later, over a dozen services are operational across the country serving more than 40 million people who, in total, are currently calli...

Managing Your Reading Program--A Total System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hales, Carma M.; Jones, Maurine E.

This guide provides specific information on designing and implementing a reading program. The guide is divided into the following six parts: (1) "Planning for Instruction," including sections on setting ideal goals, establishing a "reality base," and organizing a work flow; (2) "Content Organization," including sections on the structure of…

Index to Computer Based Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoye, Robert E., Ed.; Wang, Anastasia C., Ed.

The computer-based programs and projects described in this index are listed under 98 different subject matter fields. Descrptions of programs include information on: subject field, program name and number, author, source, the program's curriculum content, prerequisites, level of instruction, type of student for which it is intended, total hours of…

75 FR 28330 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Announcement

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-20

... substantial number of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents working in the international community have...,500. Estimated Time per Respondent: 2 hours. Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 11,000. An agency... collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material in the...

Improvements in recall and food choices using a graphical method to deliver information of select nutrients.

PubMed

Pratt, Nathan S; Ellison, Brenna D; Benjamin, Aaron S; Nakamura, Manabu T

2016-01-01

Consumers have difficulty using nutrition information. We hypothesized that graphically delivering information of select nutrients relative to a target would allow individuals to process information in time-constrained settings more effectively than numerical information. Objectives of the study were to determine the efficacy of the graphical method in (1) improving memory of nutrient information and (2) improving consumer purchasing behavior in a restaurant. Values of fiber and protein per calorie were 2-dimensionally plotted alongside a target box. First, a randomized cued recall experiment was conducted (n=63). Recall accuracy of nutrition information improved by up to 43% when shown graphically instead of numerically. Second, the impact of graphical nutrition signposting on diner choices was tested in a cafeteria. Saturated fat and sodium information was also presented using color coding. Nutrient content of meals (n=362) was compared between 3 signposting phases: graphical, nutrition facts panels (NFP), or no nutrition label. Graphical signposting improved nutrient content of purchases in the intended direction, whereas NFP had no effect compared with the baseline. Calories ordered from total meals, entrées, and sides were significantly less during graphical signposting than no-label and NFP periods. For total meal and entrées, protein per calorie purchased was significantly higher and saturated fat significantly lower during graphical signposting than the other phases. Graphical signposting remained a predictor of calories and protein per calorie purchased in regression modeling. These findings demonstrate that graphically presenting nutrition information makes that information more available for decision making and influences behavior change in a realistic setting. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Relativity of commercial specification of Menthae Herba based on chemical analysis].

PubMed

Ye, Dan; Zhao, Ming; Shao, Yang; Ouyang, Zhen; Peng, Hua-sheng; Han Bang-xing; Zhang, Wei-wan-qi; Gu, Xue-mei

2015-01-01

In order to compare the differences of 35 Menthae Herba samples collected on the market and at producing areas, the contents of six total terpenoids, the essential oil and chromatographic fingerprints were analyzed, which provided evidences for drawing up the commodity specifications and grading criteria of Menthae Herba. GC-MS method was used to analyze the chemical constituents of 35 different samples. The chromatographic fingerprints obtained by using GC were then evaluated by similarity analysis, hierarchical clustering analysis and principal component analysis. The relativity between the content of six terpenoids and the essential oil were studied. In this study, the chemical profiles of 35 samples from different producing areas had significant disparity. All samples collected in the report could be categorized into four chemical types, L-menthol, pulegone, carvone and L-menthone, but the chemical profiles had no relationship with the areas. The chromatographic fingerprints of the samples from different types were dissimilar, while the different producing areas were difficult to be separated. It was indicated that the content of volatile oil was positively correlated with the content of L-menthol and the sum of six total terpenoids. The content of the essential oil, L-menthol and the sum of six total terpenoids of Menthae Herba were considered as one of the commercial specifications and grading criteria. These results in the research could be helpful to draw up the commercial specification and grading criteria of Menthae Herba from a view of chemical information.

Per capita alcohol consumption in Australia: will the real trend please step forward?

PubMed

Chikritzhs, Tanya N; Allsop, Steve J; Moodie, A Rob; Hall, Wayne D

2010-11-15

To estimate the national trend in per capita consumption (PCC) of alcohol for Australians aged 15 years and older for the financial years 1990-91 to 2008-09. With the use of data obtained from Australian Bureau of Statistics' catalogues and World Advertising Research Centre reports, three alternative series of annual totals of PCC of alcohol for the past 20 years (1990-91 to 2008-09) were estimated based on different assumptions about the alcohol content of wine. For the "old" series, the alcohol content of wine was assumed to have been stable over time. For the "new" series, the alcohol content of wine was assumed to have increased once in 2004-05 and then to have remained stable to 2008-09. For the "adjusted" series, the alcohol content of wine was assumed to have gradually increased over time, beginning in 1998-99. Linear trend analysis was applied to identify significant trends. National trend in annual PCC of alcohol 1990-91 to 2008-09. The new and adjusted series of annual totals of PCC of alcohol showed increasing trends; the old series was stable. Until recently, official national annual totals of PCC of alcohol were underestimated and led to the mistaken impression that levels of alcohol consumption had been stable since the early 1990s. In fact, Australia's total PCC has been increasing significantly over time because of a gradual increase in the alcohol content and market share of wine and is now at one of its highest points since 1991-92. This new information is consistent with evidence of increasing alcohol-related harm and highlights the need for timely and accurate data on alcohol sales and harms across Australia.

Database for content of mercury in Polish brown coal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jastrząb, Krzysztof

2018-01-01

Poland is rated among the countries with largest level of mercury emission in Europe. According to information provided by the National Centre for Balancing and Management of Emissions (KOBiZE) more than 10.5 tons of mercury and its compounds were emitted into the atmosphere in 2015 from the area of Poland. Within the scope of the BazaHg project lasting from 2014 to 2015 and co-financed from the National Centre of Research and Development (NCBiR) a database was set up with specification of mercury content in Polish hard steam coal, coking coal and brown coal (lignite) grades. With regard to domestic brown coal the database comprises information on coal grades from Brown Coal Mines of `Bełchatów', `Adamów', `Turów' and `Sieniawa'. Currently the database contains 130 records with parameters of brown coal, where each record stands for technical analysis (content of moisture, ash and volatile particles), elemental analysis (CHNS), content of chlorine and mercury as well as net calorific value and combustion heat. Content of mercury in samples of brown coal grades under test ranged from 44 to 985 μg of Hg/kg with the average level of 345 μg of Hg/kg. The established database makes up a reliable and trustworthy source of information about content of mercury in Polish fossils. The foregoing details completed with information about consumption of coal by individual electric power stations and multiplied by appropriate emission coefficients may serve as the background to establish loads of mercury emitted into atmosphere from individual stations and by the entire sector of power engineering in total. It will also enable Polish central organizations and individual business entities to implement reasonable policy with respect of mercury emission into atmosphere.

A Website Supporting Sensitive Religious and Cultural Advance Care Planning (ACPTalk): Formative and Summative Evaluation.

PubMed

Pereira-Salgado, Amanda; Mader, Patrick; O'Callaghan, Clare; Boyd, Leanne

2018-04-16

Advance care planning (ACP) promotes conversations about future health care needs, enacted if a person is incapable of making decisions at end-of-life that may be communicated through written documentation such as advance care directives. To meet the needs of multicultural and multifaith populations in Australia, an advance care planning website, ACPTalk, was funded to support health professionals in conducting conversations within diverse religious and cultural populations. ACPTalk aimed to provide religion-specific advance care planning content and complement existing resources. The purpose of this paper was to utilize the context, input, process, and product (CIPP) framework to conduct a formative and summative evaluation of ACPTalk. The CIPP framework was used, which revolves around 4 aspects of evaluation: context, input, process, and product. Context: health professionals' solutions for the website were determined through thematic analysis of exploratory key stakeholder interviews. Included religions were determined through an environmental scan, Australian population statistics, and documentary analysis of project steering committee meeting minutes. Input: Project implementation and challenges were examined through documentary analysis of project protocols and meeting minutes. Process: To ensure religion-specific content was accurate and appropriate, a website prototype was built with content review and functionality testing by representatives from religious and cultural organizations and other interested health care organizations who completed a Web-based survey. Product: Website analytics were used to report utilization, and stakeholder perceptions were captured through interviews and a website survey. Context: A total of 16 key stakeholder health professional (7 general practitioners, 2 primary health nurses, and 7 palliative care nurses) interviews were analyzed. Website solutions included religious and cultural information, communication ideas, legal information, downloadable content, and Web-based accessibility. Christian and non-Christian faiths were to be included in the religion-specific content. Input: Difficulties gaining consensus on religion-specific content were overcome by further state and national religious organizations providing feedback. Process: A total of 37 content reviewers included representatives of religious and cultural organizations (n=29), health care (n=5), and community organizations (n=3). The majority strongly agree or agree that the content used appropriate language and tone (92%, 34/37), would support health professionals (89%, 33/37), and was accurate (83%, 24/29). Product: Resource usage within the first 9 months was 12,957 page views in 4260 sessions; majority were (83.45%, 3555/4260) from Australia. A total of 107 Australian-based users completed the website survey; most felt information was accurate (77.6%, 83/107), easy to understand (82.2%, 88/107), useful (86.0%, 92/107), and appropriate (86.0%, 92/107). A total of 20 nurses (general practice n=10, palliative care n=8, and both disciplines n=2) participated in stakeholder interviews. Qualitative findings indicated overall positivity in relation to accessibility, functionality, usefulness, design, and increased knowledge of advance care planning. Recommended improvements included shortened content, a comparable website for patients and families, and multilingual translations. The CIPP framework was effectively applied to evaluate the development and end product of an advance care planning website.Although overall findings were positive, further advance care planning website development should consider the recommendations derived from this study. ©Amanda Pereira-Salgado, Patrick Mader, Clare O' Callaghan, Leanne Boyd. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 16.04.2018.

A Website Supporting Sensitive Religious and Cultural Advance Care Planning (ACPTalk): Formative and Summative Evaluation

PubMed Central

Mader, Patrick; O'Callaghan, Clare; Boyd, Leanne

2018-01-01

Background Advance care planning (ACP) promotes conversations about future health care needs, enacted if a person is incapable of making decisions at end-of-life that may be communicated through written documentation such as advance care directives. To meet the needs of multicultural and multifaith populations in Australia, an advance care planning website, ACPTalk, was funded to support health professionals in conducting conversations within diverse religious and cultural populations. ACPTalk aimed to provide religion-specific advance care planning content and complement existing resources. Objective The purpose of this paper was to utilize the context, input, process, and product (CIPP) framework to conduct a formative and summative evaluation of ACPTalk. Methods The CIPP framework was used, which revolves around 4 aspects of evaluation: context, input, process, and product. Context: health professionals’ solutions for the website were determined through thematic analysis of exploratory key stakeholder interviews. Included religions were determined through an environmental scan, Australian population statistics, and documentary analysis of project steering committee meeting minutes. Input: Project implementation and challenges were examined through documentary analysis of project protocols and meeting minutes. Process: To ensure religion-specific content was accurate and appropriate, a website prototype was built with content review and functionality testing by representatives from religious and cultural organizations and other interested health care organizations who completed a Web-based survey. Product: Website analytics were used to report utilization, and stakeholder perceptions were captured through interviews and a website survey. Results Context: A total of 16 key stakeholder health professional (7 general practitioners, 2 primary health nurses, and 7 palliative care nurses) interviews were analyzed. Website solutions included religious and cultural information, communication ideas, legal information, downloadable content, and Web-based accessibility. Christian and non-Christian faiths were to be included in the religion-specific content. Input: Difficulties gaining consensus on religion-specific content were overcome by further state and national religious organizations providing feedback. Process: A total of 37 content reviewers included representatives of religious and cultural organizations (n=29), health care (n=5), and community organizations (n=3). The majority strongly agree or agree that the content used appropriate language and tone (92%, 34/37), would support health professionals (89%, 33/37), and was accurate (83%, 24/29). Product: Resource usage within the first 9 months was 12,957 page views in 4260 sessions; majority were (83.45%, 3555/4260) from Australia. A total of 107 Australian-based users completed the website survey; most felt information was accurate (77.6%, 83/107), easy to understand (82.2%, 88/107), useful (86.0%, 92/107), and appropriate (86.0%, 92/107). A total of 20 nurses (general practice n=10, palliative care n=8, and both disciplines n=2) participated in stakeholder interviews. Qualitative findings indicated overall positivity in relation to accessibility, functionality, usefulness, design, and increased knowledge of advance care planning. Recommended improvements included shortened content, a comparable website for patients and families, and multilingual translations. Conclusions The CIPP framework was effectively applied to evaluate the development and end product of an advance care planning website.Although overall findings were positive, further advance care planning website development should consider the recommendations derived from this study. PMID:29661749

Micronutrient content in enteral nutrition formulas: comparison with the dietary reference values for healthy populations.

PubMed

Iacone, Roberto; Scanzano, Clelia; Santarpia, Lidia; D'Isanto, Anna; Contaldo, Franco; Pasanisi, Fabrizio

2016-03-31

The micronutrient content in standard enteral mixtures should be closer to the dietary reference values for a healthy population since standard enteral diets are formulated for subjects with no special nutritional needs. This study compares the micronutrient content of the most common enteral nutrition (EN) formulas with European dietary reference values (DRVs) for healthy population. Sixty-two nutritionally complete enteral formulas were considered. The micronutrient content was calculated by multiplying the value reported on the nutritional information panel of each formula by the daily dose usually prescribed. The comparison between the micronutrient content of all enteral formulas evaluated and the DRVs indicates that daily fluoride and vitamin K requirements were not covered, while an oversupply of many other micronutrients was provided. Moreover, in some enteral formulas, at a dose of 2000 Kcal/day, zinc and vitamin A content exceeded the tolerable upper limits and, for one diabetes-specific enteral formula, the chromium content exceeded the relevant European standards in both 1500 and 2000 Kcal/day diets. Most enteral formulas evaluated are generally suitable for patients on long-term total EN and formulas with higher content of a specific micronutrient may be a useful tool for patients affected by specific clinical conditions, at least for a period of time, then switching to standard enteral mixtures. The availability of nutritional enteral formulas, well balanced also for micronutrient intake, will further improve individualized treatments, particularly for patients on long-term total EN.

Policy environment for prevention, control and management of cardiovascular diseases in primary health care in Kenya.

PubMed

Asiki, Gershim; Shao, Shuai; Wainana, Carol; Khayeka-Wandabwa, Christopher; Haregu, Tilahun N; Juma, Pamela A; Mohammed, Shukri; Wambui, David; Gong, Enying; Yan, Lijing L; Kyobutungi, Catherine

2018-05-09

In Kenya, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) accounted for more than 10% of total deaths and 4% of total Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) in 2015 with a steady increase over the past decade. The main objective of this paper was to review the existing policies and their content in relation to prevention, control and management of CVDs at primary health care (PHC) level in Kenya. A targeted document search in Google engine using keywords "Kenya national policy on cardiovascular diseases" and "Kenya national policy on non-communicable diseases (NCDs)" was conducted in addition to key informant interviews with Kenyan policy makers. Relevant regional and international policy documents were also included. The contents of documents identified were reviewed to assess how well they aligned with global health policies on CVD prevention, control and management. Thematic content analysis of the key informant interviews was also conducted to supplement the document reviews. A total of 17 documents were reviewed and three key informants interviewed. Besides the Tobacco Control Act (2007), all policy documents for CVD prevention, control and management were developed after 2013. The national policies were preceded by global initiatives and guidelines and were similar in content with the global policies. The Kenya health policy (2014-2030), The Kenya Health Sector Strategic and Investment Plan (2014-2018) and the Kenya National Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable diseases (2015-2020) had strategies on NCDs including CVDs. Other policy documents for behavioral risk factors (The Tobacco Control Act 2007, Alcoholic Drinks Control (Licensing) Regulations (2010)) were available. The National Nutrition Action Plan (2012-2017) was available as a draft. Although Kenya has a tiered health care system comprising primary healthcare, integration of CVD prevention and control at PHC level was not explicitly mentioned in the policy documents. This review revealed important gaps in the policy environment for prevention, control and management of CVDs in PHC settings in Kenya. There is need to continuously engage the ministry of health and other sectors to prioritize inclusion of CVD services in PHC.

Monitoring spatial variations in soil organic carbon using remote sensing and geographic information systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaber, Salahuddin M.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration is a component of larger strategies to control the accumulation of greenhouse gases that may be causing global warming. To implement this approach, it is necessary to improve the methods of measuring SOC content. Among these methods are indirect remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) techniques that are required to provide non-intrusive, low cost, and spatially continuous information that cover large areas on a repetitive basis. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of using Hyperion hyperspectral data on improving the existing remote sensing and GIS-based methodologies for rapidly, efficiently, and accurately measuring SOC content on farmland. The study area is Big Creek Watershed (BCW) in Southern Illinois. The methodology consists of compiling a GIS database (consisting of remote sensing and soil variables) for 303 composite soil samples collected from representative pixels along the Hyperion coverage area of the watershed. Stepwise procedures were used to calibrate and validate linear multiple regression models where SOC was regarded as the response and the other remote sensing and soil variables as the predictors. Two models were selected. The first was the best all variables model and the second was the best only raster variables model. Map algebra was implemented to extrapolate the best only raster variables model and produce a SOC map for the BGW. This study concluded that Hyperion data marginally improved the predictability of the existing SOC statistical models based on multispectral satellite remote sensing sensors with correlation coefficient of 0.37 and root mean square error of 3.19 metric tons/hectare to a 15-cm depth. The total SOC pool of the study area is about 225,232 metric tons to 15-cm depth. The nonforested wetlands contained the highest SOC density (34.3 metric tons/hectare/15cm) with total SOC content of about 2,003.5 metric tons to 15-cm depth, where croplands had the lowest SOC density (21.6 metric tons/hectare/15cm) with total SOC content of about 44,571.2 metric tons to 15-cm depth.

Phytochemical Assays of Commercial Botanical Dietary Supplements

PubMed Central

2004-01-01

The growing popularity of botanical dietary supplements (BDS) has been accompanied by concerns regarding the quality of commercial products. Health care providers, in particular, have an interest in knowing about product quality, in view of the issues related to herb-drug interactions and potential side effects. This study assessed whether commercial formulations of saw palmetto, kava kava, echinacea, ginseng and St. John's wort had consistent labeling and whether quantities of marker compounds agreed with the amounts stated on the label. We purchased six bottles each of two lots of supplements from nine manufacturers and analyzed the contents using established commercial methodologies at an independent laboratory. Product labels were found to vary in the information provided, such as serving recommendations and information about the herb itself (species, part of the plant, marker compound, etc.) With regard to marker compound content, little variability was observed between different lots of the same brand, while the content did vary widely between brands (e.g. total phenolic compounds in Echinacea ranged from 3.9–15.3 mg per serving; total ginsenosides in ginseng ranged from 5.3–18.2 mg per serving). Further, the amounts recommended for daily use also differed between brands, increasing the potential range of a consumer's daily dose. Echinacea and ginseng were the most variable, while St. John's wort and saw palmetto were the least variable. This study highlights some of the key issues in the botanical supplement market, including the importance of standardized manufacturing practices and reliable labeling information. In addition, health care providers should keep themselves informed regarding product quality in order to be able to appropriately advise patients utilizing both conventional and herbal medicines. PMID:15841264

Information content analysis: the potential for methane isotopologue retrieval from GOSAT-2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malina, Edward; Yoshida, Yukio; Matsunaga, Tsuneo; Muller, Jan-Peter

2018-02-01

Atmospheric methane is comprised of multiple isotopic molecules, with the most abundant being 12CH4 and 13CH4, making up 98 and 1.1 % of atmospheric methane respectively. It has been shown that is it possible to distinguish between sources of methane (biogenic methane, e.g. marshland, or abiogenic methane, e.g. fracking) via a ratio of these main methane isotopologues, otherwise known as the δ13C value. δ13C values typically range between -10 and -80 ‰, with abiogenic sources closer to zero and biogenic sources showing more negative values. Initially, we suggest that a δ13C difference of 10 ‰ is sufficient, in order to differentiate between methane source types, based on this we derive that a precision of 0.2 ppbv on 13CH4 retrievals may achieve the target δ13C variance. Using an application of the well-established information content analysis (ICA) technique for assumed clear-sky conditions, this paper shows that using a combination of the shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands on the planned Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT-2) mission, 13CH4 can be measured with sufficient information content to a precision of between 0.7 and 1.2 ppbv from a single sounding (assuming a total column average value of 19.14 ppbv), which can then be reduced to the target precision through spatial and temporal averaging techniques. We therefore suggest that GOSAT-2 can be used to differentiate between methane source types. We find that large unconstrained covariance matrices are required in order to achieve sufficient information content, while the solar zenith angle has limited impact on the information content.

Composition of sugars, organic acids, and total phenolics in 25 wild or cultivated berry species.

PubMed

Mikulic-Petkovsek, Maja; Schmitzer, Valentina; Slatnar, Ana; Stampar, Franci; Veberic, Robert

2012-10-01

Sugars, organic acids, and total phenolic content in fruit of 25 wild and cultivated berry species were identified and quantified with high-performance liquid chromatograph. The composition of sugars, organic acids, and total phenolic compounds in various species of Vaccinium, Rubus, Ribes, and Fragaria genus was evaluated. Additonally, total phenolics of less known berry species of the Morus, Amelanchier, Sorbus, Sambucus, Rosa, Lycium, Actinidia, and Aronia genus were determined in wild growing as well as in cultivated fruits. Significant differences in the concentration of sugars and organic acids were detected among the berry species. Glucose and fructose were the most abundant sugars in berry fruits and the major organic acids were malic and citric acid. However, in kiwi fruit, sucrose represented as much as 71.9% of total sugars. Sorbitol has been detected and quantified in chokeberry, rowanberry, and eastern shadbush fruit. The highest content of total analyzed sugars was determined in rowanberry fruit, followed by dog rose, eastern shadbush, hardy kiwifruit, American cranberry, chokeberry, and jostaberry fruit. Rowanberry stands out as the fruit with the highest content of total analyzed organic acids, followed by jostaberry, lingonberry, red gooseberry, hardy kiwifruit, and black currant. The berries of white gooseberry, black currant, red currant, and white currant had the lowest sugar/organic acid ratio and were thus perceptively the sourest species analyzed. On the other hand, the species with highest sugar/organic acid ratio were goji berry, eastern shadbush, black mulberry, and wild grown blackberry. The highest amounts of total phenols were quantified in chokeberry fruit. Wild strawberry, raspberry, and blackberry had 2- to 5-fold more total phenolics compared to cultivated plants. The fruit of analyzed berry species contained different levels of sugars, organic acids, and total phenolics. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that wild grown species generally contain more phenolics than cultivated ones. This information is interesting for nutritionists as well as berry growers and breeders who can promote the cultivation of species and new cultivars with higher phenolic content. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

A rapid and effective approach for on-site assessment of total carotenoid content in wolfberry juice during processing.

PubMed

Zheng, Xiaodong; Zhu, Fengtao; Wu, Maoyu; Yan, Xinhuan; Meng, Xiaomeng; Song, Ye

2015-11-01

Carotenoid content analysis in wolfberry processed products has mainly focused on the determination of zeaxanthin or zeaxanthin dipalmitate, which cannot indicate the total carotenoid content (TCC) in wolfberries. We have exploited an effective approach for rapid extraction of carotenoid from wolfberry juice and determined TCC using UV-visible spectrophotometry. Several solvent mixtures, adsorption wavelengths of carotenoid extracts and extraction procedures were investigated. The optimal solvent mixture with broad spectrum polarity was hexane-ethanol-acetone (2:1:1) and optimal wavelength was 456 nm. There was no significant difference of TCC in wolfberry juice between direct extraction and saponification extraction. The developed method for assessment of TCC has been successfully employed in quality evaluation of wolfberry juice under different processing conditions. This measurement approach has inherent advantages (simplicity, rapidity, effectiveness) that make it appropriate for obtaining on-site information of TCC in wolfberry juice during processing. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

Selecting informative subsets of sparse supermatrices increases the chance to find correct trees.

PubMed

Misof, Bernhard; Meyer, Benjamin; von Reumont, Björn Marcus; Kück, Patrick; Misof, Katharina; Meusemann, Karen

2013-12-03

Character matrices with extensive missing data are frequently used in phylogenomics with potentially detrimental effects on the accuracy and robustness of tree inference. Therefore, many investigators select taxa and genes with high data coverage. Drawbacks of these selections are their exclusive reliance on data coverage without consideration of actual signal in the data which might, thus, not deliver optimal data matrices in terms of potential phylogenetic signal. In order to circumvent this problem, we have developed a heuristics implemented in a software called mare which (1) assesses information content of genes in supermatrices using a measure of potential signal combined with data coverage and (2) reduces supermatrices with a simple hill climbing procedure to submatrices with high total information content. We conducted simulation studies using matrices of 50 taxa × 50 genes with heterogeneous phylogenetic signal among genes and data coverage between 10-30%. With matrices of 50 taxa × 50 genes with heterogeneous phylogenetic signal among genes and data coverage between 10-30% Maximum Likelihood (ML) tree reconstructions failed to recover correct trees. A selection of a data subset with the herein proposed approach increased the chance to recover correct partial trees more than 10-fold. The selection of data subsets with the herein proposed simple hill climbing procedure performed well either considering the information content or just a simple presence/absence information of genes. We also applied our approach on an empirical data set, addressing questions of vertebrate systematics. With this empirical dataset selecting a data subset with high information content and supporting a tree with high average boostrap support was most successful if information content of genes was considered. Our analyses of simulated and empirical data demonstrate that sparse supermatrices can be reduced on a formal basis outperforming the usually used simple selections of taxa and genes with high data coverage.

Seasonal dynamics of total flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity of Dryopteris erythrosora.

PubMed

Xie, Yinghua; Zheng, Yunxia; Dai, Xiling; Wang, Quanxi; Cao, Jianguo; Xiao, Jianbo

2015-11-01

The seasonal dynamics of the total flavonoid contents in various parts of Dryopteris erythrosora, a traditional Chinese medicinal fern, and their antioxidant activity were investigated. The total flavonoids content in various parts of D. erythrosora showed an obvious seasonal dynamic change. The total flavonoid contents in stems (from 4.3% to 12.5%) were much higher than that in leaves with an average content of 2.01%. In spring, the total flavonoid contents in stems were relatively low, but increased rapidly from summer to winter. However, the seasonal dynamics of total flavonoid contents in leaves showed different model. The total flavonoid contents in the stems showed a negative correlation with that in the leaves from January to July. The correlation coefficient of about -0.7 was obtained. The antioxidant activity of the extracts also altered in proportion to the change of total flavonoid contents. In general, the extracts from stems always showed highest antioxidant potentials and it was suggested that the stems can be used as crude medicine. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ReadyVax: A new mobile vaccine information app.

PubMed

Bednarczyk, Robert A; Frew, Paula M; Salmon, Daniel A; Whitney, Ellen; Omer, Saad B

2017-05-04

Vaccine information of varying quality is available through many different sources. We describe the creation, release and utilization of ReadyVax, a new mobile smartphone app providing access to trustworthy, evidence-based vaccine information for a target audience of healthcare providers, pharmacists, and patients (including parents of children). We describe the information content and technical development of ReadyVax. Between the hard launch of the app on February 12, 2015 and October 8, 2016, the app has been downloaded by 5,142 unique users, with 6,841 total app sessions initiated, comprising a total of 15,491 screen views (2.3 screens/session on average). ReadyVax has been downloaded by users in 102 different countries; most users (52%) are from the United States. We are continuing outreach efforts to increase app use, and planning for development of an Android-compatible version of ReadyVax, to increase the available market for the app.

ReadyVax: A new mobile vaccine information app

PubMed Central

Bednarczyk, Robert A.; Frew, Paula M.; Salmon, Daniel A.; Whitney, Ellen; Omer, Saad B.

2017-01-01

Abstract Vaccine information of varying quality is available through many different sources. We describe the creation, release and utilization of ReadyVax, a new mobile smartphone app providing access to trustworthy, evidence-based vaccine information for a target audience of healthcare providers, pharmacists, and patients (including parents of children). We describe the information content and technical development of ReadyVax. Between the hard launch of the app on February 12, 2015 and October 8, 2016, the app has been downloaded by 5,142 unique users, with 6,841 total app sessions initiated, comprising a total of 15,491 screen views (2.3 screens/session on average). ReadyVax has been downloaded by users in 102 different countries; most users (52%) are from the United States. We are continuing outreach efforts to increase app use, and planning for development of an Android-compatible version of ReadyVax, to increase the available market for the app. PMID:28059610

Microsatellite markers for Senna spectabilis var. excelsa (Caesalpinioideae, Fabaceae)1

PubMed Central

López-Roberts, M. Cristina; Barbosa, Ariane R.; Paganucci de Queiroz, Luciano; van den Berg, Cássio

2016-01-01

Premise of the study: Senna spectabilis var. excelsa (Fabaceae) is a South and Central American tree of great ecological importance and one of the most common species in several sites of seasonally dry forests. Our goal was to develop microsatellite markers to assess the genetic diversity and structure of this species. Methods and Results: We designed and assessed 53 loci obtained from a microsatellite-enriched library and an intersimple sequence repeat library. Fourteen loci were polymorphic, and they presented a total of 39 alleles in a sample of 61 individuals from six populations. The mean values of observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.355 and 0.479, respectively. Polymorphism information content was 0.390 and the Shannon index was 0.778. Conclusions: Polymorphism information content and Shannon index indicate that at least nine of the 14 microsatellite loci developed are moderate to highly informative, and potentially useful for population genetic studies in this species. PMID:26819856

Effect of Increasing Total Solids Contents on Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste under Mesophilic Conditions: Performance and Microbial Characteristics Analysis

PubMed Central

Jin, Jingwei; Dai, Xiaohu

2014-01-01

The total solids content of feedstocks affects the performances of anaerobic digestion and the change of total solids content will lead the change of microbial morphology in systems. In order to increase the efficiency of anaerobic digestion, it is necessary to understand the role of the total solids content on the behavior of the microbial communities involved in anaerobic digestion of organic matter from wet to dry technology. The performances of mesophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste with different total solids contents from 5% to 20% were compared and the microbial communities in reactors were investigated using 454 pyrosequencing technology. Three stable anaerobic digestion processes were achieved for food waste biodegradation and methane generation. Better performances mainly including volatile solids reduction and methane yield were obtained in the reactors with higher total solids content. Pyrosequencing results revealed significant shifts in bacterial community with increasing total solids contents. The proportion of phylum Chloroflexi decreased obviously with increasing total solids contents while other functional bacteria showed increasing trend. Methanosarcina absolutely dominated in archaeal communities in three reactors and the relative abundance of this group showed increasing trend with increasing total solids contents. These results revealed the effects of the total solids content on the performance parameters and the behavior of the microbial communities involved in the anaerobic digestion of food waste from wet to dry technologies. PMID:25051352

Effect of increasing total solids contents on anaerobic digestion of food waste under mesophilic conditions: performance and microbial characteristics analysis.

PubMed

Yi, Jing; Dong, Bin; Jin, Jingwei; Dai, Xiaohu

2014-01-01

The total solids content of feedstocks affects the performances of anaerobic digestion and the change of total solids content will lead the change of microbial morphology in systems. In order to increase the efficiency of anaerobic digestion, it is necessary to understand the role of the total solids content on the behavior of the microbial communities involved in anaerobic digestion of organic matter from wet to dry technology. The performances of mesophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste with different total solids contents from 5% to 20% were compared and the microbial communities in reactors were investigated using 454 pyrosequencing technology. Three stable anaerobic digestion processes were achieved for food waste biodegradation and methane generation. Better performances mainly including volatile solids reduction and methane yield were obtained in the reactors with higher total solids content. Pyrosequencing results revealed significant shifts in bacterial community with increasing total solids contents. The proportion of phylum Chloroflexi decreased obviously with increasing total solids contents while other functional bacteria showed increasing trend. Methanosarcina absolutely dominated in archaeal communities in three reactors and the relative abundance of this group showed increasing trend with increasing total solids contents. These results revealed the effects of the total solids content on the performance parameters and the behavior of the microbial communities involved in the anaerobic digestion of food waste from wet to dry technologies.

The Educational Process in the Emerging Information Society: Conditions for the Reversal of the Linear Model of Education and the Development of an Open Type Hybrid Learning Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anastasiades, Panagiotes S.; Retalis, Simos

The introduction of communications and information technologies in the area of education tends to create a totally different environment, which is marked by a change of the teacher's role and a transformation of the basic components that make up the meaning and content of the learning procedure as a whole. It could be said that, despite any…

Content of phenolic compounds and free polyamines in black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) after application of polyamine biosynthesis regulators.

PubMed

Hudec, Jozef; Bakos, Dusan; Mravec, Dusan; Kobida, L'ubomír; Burdová, Maria; Turianica, Ivan; Hlusek, Jaroslav

2006-05-17

The total contents of anthocyanins, flavonoids, and phenolics in 60 samples of black chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa), after treating with catabolites of polyamine biosynthesis (KPAb) and ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor, were analyzed spectrophotometrically, and quercetin and free polyamine contents were analyzed by RP-HPLC with UV detection. The average total contents of the individual substances and phenolic subgroups in control berries were as follows (mg x kg(-1)): anthocyanines, 6408; flavonoids, 664; phenolics, 37,600; quercetin, 349. KPAb decreased total contents of anthocyanines and phenolics only slightly but significantly increased the content of flavonoids. This caused an important change in the abundance of flavonoids in the pigment complex. The absolute content of quercetin was increased, but its ratio to flavonoids content was decreased. Ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor had a markedly different effect as it significantly increased total content of anthocyanins and total phenolics, inhibited the total content of free polyamines, and stimulated the processes of saccharides transformation to phenolic pigments.

Drinking and Driving PSAs: A Content Analysis of Behavioral Influence Strategies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slater, Michael D.

1999-01-01

Study randomly samples 66 drinking and driving television public service announcements that were then coded using a categorical and dimensional scheme. Data set reveals that informational/testimonial messages made up almost half of the total; positive appeals were the next most common, followed by empathy, fear, and modeling appeals. (Contains 34…

Using Fast Food Nutrition Facts to Make Healthier Menu Selections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turley, Jennifer

2009-01-01

Objectives: This teaching idea enables students to (1) access and analyze fast food nutrition facts information (Calorie, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sugar, and sodium content); (2) decipher unhealthy and healthier food choices from fast food restaurant menus for better meal and diet planning to reduce obesity and minimize…

50 CFR 600.1005 - Content of a request for a subsidized program.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., including any information that NMFS may supply to the requester, and take into account any limitation by... factor that the proposed program involves. (f) Specify the aggregate total allowable catch in the reduction fishery during each of the preceding 5 years and the aggregate portion of such catch harvested by...

78 FR 40829 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Form 720-CS

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-08

...: Representatives of the motor fuel industry, state governments, and the Federal government are working to ensure...,900. Estimated Time per Respondent: 5 hours, 15 minutes. Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 209,418... relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material in...

75 FR 11637 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request for Form 720-TO

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-11

...: Representatives of the motor fuel industry, state governments, and the Federal government are working to ensure...,000. Estimated Time per Respondent: 4 hrs, 40 minutes. Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,347,020... relating to a collection of information must be retained as long as their contents may become material in...

Ana and the Internet: a review of pro-anorexia websites.

PubMed

Norris, Mark L; Boydell, Katherine M; Pinhas, Leora; Katzman, Debra K

2006-09-01

The purpose of this article is to describe the content of pro-anorexia websites, both qualitatively and quantitatively. An Internet search protocol was developed to identify pro-anorexia websites. A grounded theory approach was used to generate themes from Internet-based information. Basic descriptive analysis was employed to report on key website characteristics. Twenty pro-anorexia websites met inclusion criteria. Saturation of themes was achieved after review of 12 websites. Key website characteristics included purpose of website (75%), information about webmaster (67%), website disclaimers (58%), and information on "tips and tricks" (67%). Religious metaphors, lifestyle descriptions, and "thinspiration" (inspirational photo galleries and quotes that aim to serve as motivators for weight loss) were frequently present. A total of 10 themes were generated. The most prevalent themes included control, success, and perfection. Health-care providers and caregivers should be aware of pro-anorexia websites and their content, as these websites contain information that promote and support anorexia nervosa. Copyright (c) 2006 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Entropy and chemical change. 1: Characterization of product (and reactant) energy distributions in reactive molecular collisions: Information and enthropy deficiency

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bernstein, R. B.; Levine, R. D.

1972-01-01

Optimal means of characterizing the distribution of product energy states resulting from reactive collisions of molecules with restricted distributions of initial states are considered, along with those for characterizing the particular reactant state distribution which yields a given set of product states at a specified total energy. It is suggested to represent the energy-dependence of global-type results in the form of square-faced bar plots, and of data for specific-type experiments as triangular-faced prismatic plots. The essential parameters defining the internal state distribution are isolated, and the information content of such a distribution is put on a quantitative basis. The relationship between the information content, the surprisal, and the entropy of the continuous distribution is established. The concept of an entropy deficiency, which characterizes the specificity of product state formation, is suggested as a useful measure of the deviance from statistical behavior. The degradation of information by experimental averaging is considered, leading to bounds on the entropy deficiency.

Web Page Content and Quality Assessed for Shoulder Replacement.

PubMed

Matthews, John R; Harrison, Caitlyn M; Hughes, Travis M; Dezfuli, Bobby; Sheppard, Joseph

2016-01-01

The Internet has become a major source for obtaining health-related information. This study assesses and compares the quality of information available online for shoulder replacement using medical (total shoulder arthroplasty [TSA]) and nontechnical (shoulder replacement [SR]) terminology. Three evaluators reviewed 90 websites for each search term across 3 search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing). Websites were grouped into categories, identified as commercial or noncommercial, and evaluated with the DISCERN questionnaire. Total shoulder arthroplasty provided 53 unique sites compared to 38 websites for SR. Of the 53 TSA websites, 30% were health professional-oriented websites versus 18% of SR websites. Shoulder replacement websites provided more patient-oriented information at 48%, versus 45% of TSA websites. In total, SR websites provided 47% (42/90) noncommercial websites, with the highest number seen in Yahoo, compared with TSA at 37% (33/90), with Google providing 13 of the 33 websites (39%). Using the nonmedical terminology with Yahoo's search engine returned the most noncommercial and patient-oriented websites. However, the quality of information found online was highly variable, with most websites being unreliable and incomplete, regardless of search term.

Integrating Multiple Analytical Datasets to Compare Metabolite Profiles of Mouse Colonic-Cecal Contents and Feces.

PubMed

Zeng, Huawei; Grapov, Dmitry; Jackson, Matthew I; Fahrmann, Johannes; Fiehn, Oliver; Combs, Gerald F

2015-09-11

The pattern of metabolites produced by the gut microbiome comprises a phenotype indicative of the means by which that microbiome affects the gut. We characterized that phenotype in mice by conducting metabolomic analyses of the colonic-cecal contents, comparing that to the metabolite patterns of feces in order to determine the suitability of fecal specimens as proxies for assessing the metabolic impact of the gut microbiome. We detected a total of 270 low molecular weight metabolites in colonic-cecal contents and feces by gas chromatograph, time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography, quadrapole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF). Of that number, 251 (93%) were present in both types of specimen, representing almost all known biochemical pathways related to the amino acid, carbohydrate, energy, lipid, membrane transport, nucleotide, genetic information processing, and cancer-related metabolism. A total of 115 metabolites differed significantly in relative abundance between both colonic-cecal contents and feces. These data comprise the first characterization of relationships among metabolites present in the colonic-cecal contents and feces in a healthy mouse model, and shows that feces can be a useful proxy for assessing the pattern of metabolites to which the colonic mucosum is exposed.

Integrating Multiple Analytical Datasets to Compare Metabolite Profiles of Mouse Colonic-Cecal Contents and Feces

PubMed Central

Zeng, Huawei; Grapov, Dmitry; Jackson, Matthew I.; Fahrmann, Johannes; Fiehn, Oliver; Combs, Gerald F.

2015-01-01

The pattern of metabolites produced by the gut microbiome comprises a phenotype indicative of the means by which that microbiome affects the gut. We characterized that phenotype in mice by conducting metabolomic analyses of the colonic-cecal contents, comparing that to the metabolite patterns of feces in order to determine the suitability of fecal specimens as proxies for assessing the metabolic impact of the gut microbiome. We detected a total of 270 low molecular weight metabolites in colonic-cecal contents and feces by gas chromatograph, time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF) and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography, quadrapole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF). Of that number, 251 (93%) were present in both types of specimen, representing almost all known biochemical pathways related to the amino acid, carbohydrate, energy, lipid, membrane transport, nucleotide, genetic information processing, and cancer-related metabolism. A total of 115 metabolites differed significantly in relative abundance between both colonic-cecal contents and feces. These data comprise the first characterization of relationships among metabolites present in the colonic-cecal contents and feces in a healthy mouse model, and shows that feces can be a useful proxy for assessing the pattern of metabolites to which the colonic mucosum is exposed. PMID:26378591

Adaptation of the AOAC 2011.25 integrated total dietary fiber assay to determine the dietary fiber and oligosaccharide content of dry edible beans.

PubMed

Kleintop, Adrienne E; Echeverria, Dimas; Brick, Leslie A; Thompson, Henry J; Brick, Mark A

2013-10-09

Dietary fiber (DF) has important health benefits in the human diet. Developing dry edible bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivars with improved DF and reduced nondigestible oligosaccharide content is an important goal for dry bean breeders to increase consumer acceptance. To determine if genetic variation exists among dry bean cultivars for DF, two populations of diverse dry bean cultivars/lines that represent two centers of dry bean domestication were evaluated for dietary fiber using the Integrated Total Dietary Fiber Assay (AOAC 2011.25). This assay was adapted to measure water insoluble dietary fiber, water soluble dietary fiber, oligosaccharides raffinose and stachyose, and the calculated total dietary fiber (TDF) content of cooked dry bean seed. The AOAC 2011.25 protocol was modified by using a quick, simple, and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method paired with an electrochemical detection method to separate and quantify specific oligosaccharides, and using duplicate samples as replicates to generate statistical information. The TDF of dry bean entries ranged from 20.0 to 27.0% in population I and from 20.6 to 25.7% in population II. Total oligosaccharides ranged from 2.56 to 4.65% in population I and from 2.36 to 3.84% in population II. The results suggest that significant genetic variation exists among dry bean cultivars/lines to allow for genetic selection for improved DF content in dry beans and that the modifications to the AOAC 2011.25 method were suitable for estimating DF in cooked dry edible beans.

In delicate balance: stem cells and spinal cord injury advocacy.

PubMed

Parke, Sara; Illes, Judy

2011-09-01

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a major focus for stem cell therapy (SCT). However, the science of SCT has not been well matched with an understanding of perspectives of persons with SCI. The online advocacy community is a key source of health information for primary stakeholders and their caregivers. In this study, we sought to characterize the content of SCI advocacy websites with respect to their discussion of SCT and stem cell tourism. We performed a comprehensive analysis of SCI advocacy websites identified through a web search and verified by expert opinion. Two independent researchers coded the information for major themes (e.g., scientific & clinical facts, research & funding, policy, ethics) and valence (positive, negative, balanced, neutral). Of the 40 SCI advocacy websites that met inclusion criteria, 50% (N=20) contained information about SCT. Less than 18% (N=7) contained information on stem cell tourism. There were more than ten times as many statements about SCT with a positive valence (N=67) as with a negative valence (N=6). Ethics-related SCT information comprised 20% (N=37) of the total content; the largest proportion of ethics-related content was devoted to stem cell tourism (80%, N=30 statements). Of those, the majority focused on the risks of stem cell tourism (N=16). Given the still-developing science behind SCT, the presence of cautionary information about stem cell tourism at advocacy sites is ethically appropriate. The absence of stem cell tourism information at the majority of advocacy sites represents a lost educational opportunity.

A Case Study of Petroleum Degradation in Different Soil Textural Classes.

PubMed

Kogbara, Reginald B; Ayotamuno, Josiah M; Worlu, Daniel C; Fubara-Manuel, Isoteim

2016-01-01

Patents have been granted for a number of techniques for petroleum biodegradation including use of micro-organisms for degradation of hydrocarbon-based substances and for hydrocarbon degradation in oil reservoirs, but there is a dearth of information on hydrocarbon degradation in different soil textures. Hence, this work investigated the effects of different soil textures on degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons during a six-week period. Five soil textural classes commonly found in Port Harcourt metropolis, Nigeria, namely sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, silty clay and clay, were employed. The soils were contaminated with the same amount of crude oil and then remediated by biostimulation. Selected soil properties were monitored over time. Bacterial numbers declined significantly in the fine soil textures after petroleum contamination, but were either unaffected or increased significantly in the coarser soil textures. Hydrocarbon losses ranged from 42% - 99%; the sandy loam had the highest, while the clay soil had the least total hydrocarbon content (THC) reduction. The total heterotrophic bacterial (THB) counts generally corroborated the THC results. Fold increase in bacterial numbers due to remediation treatment decreased with increasing clay content. The results suggest that higher sand than clay content of soil favours faster hydrocarbon degradation. Hydrocarbon degradation efficiency increased with silt content among soil groupings such as fine and coarse soils but not necessarily with increasing silt content of soil. Thus, there seems to be cut-off sand and clay contents in soil at which the effect of the silt content becomes significant.

Study on grain quality forecasting method and indicators by using hyperspectral data in wheat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Wenjiang; Wang, Jihua; Liu, Liangyun; Wang, Zhijie; Tan, Changwei; Song, Xiaoyu; Wang, Jingdi

2005-01-01

Field experiments were conducted to examine the influence factors of cultivar, nitrogen application and irrigation on grain protein content, gluten content and grain hardness in three winter wheat cultivars under four levels of nitrogen and irrigation treatments. Firstly, the influence of cultivars and environment factors on grain quality were studied, the effective factors were cultivars, irrigation, fertilization, et al. Secondly, total nitrogen content around winter wheat anthesis stage was proved to be significant correlative with grain protein content, and spectral vegetation index significantly correlated to total nitrogen content around anthesis stage were the potential indicators for grain protein content. Accumulation of total nitrogen content and its transfer to grain is the physical link to produce the final grain protein, and total nitrogen content at anthesis stage was proved to be an indicator of final grain protein content. The selected normalized photochemical reflectance index (NPRI) was proved to be able to predict of grain protein content on the close correlation between the ratio of total carotenoid to chlorophyll a and total nitrogen content. The method contributes towards developing optimal procedures for predicting wheat grain quality through analysis of their canopy reflected spectrum at anthesis stage. Regression equations were established for forecasting grain protein and dry gluten content by total nitrogen content at anthesis stage, so it is feasible for forecasting grain quality by establishing correlation equations between biochemical constitutes and canopy reflected spectrum.

Testing consumer perception of nutrient content claims using conjoint analysis.

PubMed

Drewnowski, Adam; Moskowitz, Howard; Reisner, Michele; Krieger, Bert

2010-05-01

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposes to establish standardized and mandatory criteria upon which front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling must be based. The present study aimed to estimate the relative contribution of declared amounts of different nutrients to the perception of the overall 'healthfulness' of foods by the consumer. Protein, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron were nutrients to encourage. Total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, total and added sugar, and sodium were the nutrients to limit. Two content claims per nutrient used the FDA-approved language. An online consumer panel (n 320) exposed to multiple messages (n 48) rated the healthfulness of each hypothetical food product. Utility functions were constructed using conjoint analysis, based on multiple logistic regression and maximum likelihood estimation. Consumer perception of healthfulness was most strongly driven by the declared presence of protein, fibre, calcium and vitamin C and by the declared total absence of saturated fat and sodium. For this adult panel, total and added sugar had lower utilities and contributed less to the perception of healthfulness. There were major differences between women and men. Conjoint analysis can lead to a better understanding of how consumers process information about the full nutrition profile of a product, and is a powerful tool for the testing of nutrient content claims. Such studies can help the FDA develop science-based criteria for nutrient profiling that underlies FOP and shelf labelling.

Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity of Camarosa and Selva Strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.).

PubMed

Van De Velde, Franco; Tarola, Anna M; Güemes, Daniel; Pirovani, María E

2013-03-25

Strawberries represent an important source of bioactive compounds due to their vitamin C and phenolic compound levels, which present high antioxidant effects, beneficial for the maintenance of consumer's health. Argentina is the second largest strawberry producer in The Common Market of the Southern Cone (MERCOSUR), covering the main export destinations of Argentinian strawberries, i.e. , Canada, United States, and European Union. Information about the bioactive compound occurrence and antioxidant capacity of these fruits is scarce or not available. Health related compounds of strawberry cultivars ( Camarosa and Selva ) from different zones of Argentina were investigated. Vitamin C content was in the same range for both studied cultivars. However, Camarosa strawberries, which are the most cultivated, consumed, and exported berries in Argentina, presented higher total phenolic and anthocyanins content, and consequently better in vitro antioxidant capacity. Moreover, there were differences in the occurrence and concentration in the phenolic compound profiles for both cultivars. Camarosa cultivar presented higher content of anthocyanidins, and Selva showed higher total ellagic acid content. The research shows that Argentina's strawberries are an interesting source of bioactive compounds comparable to those in other parts of the world.

Metal accumulation in marine bivalves under various tributyltin burdens.

PubMed

Tang, Chuan-Ho; Lin, Chan-Shing; Wang, Wei-Hsien

2009-11-01

In the present study, a field survey was conducted to measure the accumulation of butyltin, Cu, Zn, and Cd in green mussels (Perna viridis) and Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) at the regions along a tributyltin pollution gradient. A negative correlation was found between the tributyltin/total butyltin ratio (0.87-0.31) and tributyltin content (114-5,817 ng/g as tin dry wt) in oysters, while the Cu content (44.2-381 mg/kg dry wt) was positively correlated with the logarithm of tributyltin content during the summer and winter. This suggests that as the tributyltin burden increases, the rates of tributyltin metabolism may be elevated, leading to enhanced Cu accumulation. A similar accumulation pattern for Zn was also found in oysters. In mussels, however, the tributyltin/total butyltin ratio and the Cu and Zn contents remained relatively constant (~ 0.7, 12, and 100 mg/kg dry wt, respectively) regardless of the tributyltin burden. Clearly, the butyltin and Cu/Zn accumulation processes in oysters differ from those in mussels under tributyltin pollution. These observations provide valuable information for those who evaluate or compare tributyltin and/or Cu/Zn pollution using oysters and mussels as bioindicators.

Effectiveness of YouTube as a Source of Medical Information on Heart Transplantation

PubMed Central

Zheng, Xiao-Lin; Yuan, Zhao-Shun; Xu, Zhao-Bin; Yuan, Ling-Qing; Perez, Vinicio A De Jesus; Yuan, Ke; Orcholski, Mark

2013-01-01

Background In this digital era, there is a growing tendency to use the popular Internet site YouTube as a new electronic-learning (e-learning) means for continuing medical education. Heart transplantation (HTx) remains the most viable option for patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease. There are plenty of freely accessible YouTube videos providing medical information about HTx. Objective The aim of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of YouTube as an e-learning source on HTx. Methods In order to carry out this study, YouTube was searched for videos uploaded containing surgical-related information using the four keywords: (1) “heart transplantation”, (2) “cardiac transplantation”, (3) “heart transplantation operation”, and (4) “cardiac transplantation operation”. Only videos in English (with comments or subtitles in English language) were included. Two experienced cardiac surgeons watched each video (N=1800) and classified them as useful, misleading, or recipients videos based on the HTx-relevant information. The kappa statistic was used to measure interobserver variability. Data was analyzed according to six types of YouTube characteristics including “total viewership”, “duration”, “source”, “days since upload”, “scores” given by the viewers, and specialized information contents of the videos. Results A total of 342/1800 (19.00%) videos had relevant information about HTx. Of these 342 videos, 215 (62.8%) videos had useful information about specialized knowledge, 7/342 (2.0%) were found to be misleading, and 120/342 (35.1%) only concerned recipients’ individual issues. Useful videos had 56.09% of total viewership share (2,175,845/3,878,890), whereas misleading had 35.47% (1,375,673/3,878,890). Independent user channel videos accounted for a smaller proportion (19% in total numbers) but might have a wider impact on Web viewers, with the highest mean views/day (mean 39, SD 107) among four kinds of channels to distribute HTx-related information. Conclusions YouTube videos on HTx benefit medical professionals by providing a substantial amount of information. However, it is a time-consuming course to find high-quality videos. More authoritative videos by trusted sources should be posted for dissemination of reliable information. With an improvement of ranking system and content providers in future, YouTube, as a freely accessible outlet, will help to meet the huge informational needs of medical staffs and promote medical education on HTx. PMID:24263225

What are older Latinos told about physical activity and cognition? A content analysis of a top-circulating magazine.

PubMed

Rose, India D; Friedman, Daniela B; Marquez, David X; Fernandez, Karen

2013-10-01

Physical activity (PA) may reduce risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). The objectives of this study were to: (a) Compare the content of English and Spanish PA-focused articles in American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) magazines; and (b) Determine whether these articles discuss PA as a potential correlate of AD. AARP (English) and AARP Segunda Juventud (Spanish) magazines were assessed for PA coverage from 2009 to 2010. Articles were analyzed using nonparametric tests. A total of 63 articles discussed PA (48 English; 15 Spanish). In AARP English, 70.8% of articles discussed formal exercise, while 53.3% of Spanish articles discussed formal exercise. Only three English articles mentioned that PA has the potential to reduce risk of AD. No Spanish articles mentioned this association. Spanish content did not adequately present cognitive health information. Culturally appropriate media coverage is needed to inform diverse populations about cognitive health and risks of AD.

Chemical characterisation of old cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) seed oil by liquid chromatography and different spectroscopic detection systems.

PubMed

Cacciola, Francesco; Beccaria, Marco; Oteri, Marianna; Utczas, Margita; Giuffrida, Daniele; Cicero, Nicola; Dugo, Giacomo; Dugo, Paola; Mondello, Luigi

2016-07-01

We report an extensive chemical characterisation of fatty acids, triacylglycerols, tocopherols, carotenoids and polyphenols contained in the oil extracted from old cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) by cold-pressing of the seeds. Analyses were performed by GC-FID combined with mass spectrometry, HPLC with photodiode array, fluorescence and mass spectrometry detection. The 94% of the total fatty acids were unsaturated, rappresented by erucic acid (more than 50%) followed by linoleic, linolenic and oleic acids accounting for approximately 10% each. The most abundant triacylglycerols (>13%) were represented by erucic-gadolenic-linoleic, erucic-eruci-linoleic and erucic-erucic-oleic. Among tocopherols, γ-tocopherol accounted for over 70% of the total content. Thirteen carotenoids and 11 polyphenols were identified and measured. In particular, the total content in carotenoids was 10.9 ppm and all-E-lutein was the main component (7.7 ppm); among polyphenols, six hydroxycinnamic acids and five flavonoids, were identified by combining information from retention times, PDA and MS data.

Chemical and sensory quality of fresh pomegranate fruits exposed to gamma radiation as quarantine treatment.

PubMed

Shahbaz, Hafiz Muhammad; Ahn, Jae-Jun; Akram, Kashif; Kim, Hyo-Young; Park, Eun-Joo; Kwon, Joong-Ho

2014-02-15

The U.S. Department of Agriculture in February 2012 approved the import of fresh pomegranates subjected to irradiation as a quarantine procedure with a minimum absorbed dose of 0.4kGy against different pests. This study evaluated the application of different gamma-irradiation doses (0.4, 1, and 2kGy) in fresh pomegranate fruits and their effect on the chemical and sensory characteristics. The total soluble solids, titratable acidity, and pH values remained unaffected up to 1kGy treatment. Irradiation caused a significant decrease in the total anthocyanins and phenolic content. A strong positive correlation was observed among the antioxidant activities, total phenolics and anthocyanin contents. In general, a stronger preference was shown by sensory panelists for the juice from irradiated fruits. This study provides research-based information about the application of irradiation as a quarantine disinfestation treatment to enhance the marketing and consumer acceptance of pomegranates. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Frequency and Content Analysis of CFS in Medical Text Books

PubMed Central

Jason, Leonard A.; Paavola, Erin; Porter, Nicole; Morello, Morgan L.

2013-01-01

Textbooks are a cornerstone in the training of medical staff and students, and they are an important source of references and reviews for these professionals. The objective of this study was to determine both the quantity and quality of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) information included in medical texts. After reviewing 119 medical textbooks from various medical specialties, we found that 48 (40.3%) of the medical textbooks included information on CFS. However, among the 129,527 total pages within these medical textbooks, the CFS content was presented on only 116.3 (.090%) pages. Other illnesses that are less prevalent, such as Multiple Sclerosis and Lyme disease, were more frequently represented in medical textbooks. These findings suggest that the topic of CFS is under-reported in published medical textbooks. PMID:21128580

Chemical Constituents of Sweetpotato Genotypes in Relation to Textural Characteristics of Processed French Fries.

PubMed

Sato, Ai; Truong, Van-Den; Johanningsmeier, Suzanne D; Reynolds, Rong; Pecota, Kenneth V; Yencho, G Craig

2018-01-01

Sweetpotato French fries (SPFF) are growing in popularity, however limited information is available on SPFF textural properties in relation to chemical composition. This study investigated the relationship between chemical components of different sweetpotato varieties and textural characteristics of SPFF. Sixteen sweetpotato genotypes were evaluated for (1) chemical constituents; (2) instrumental and sensory textural properties of SPFF; and (3) the relationship between chemical components, instrumental measurements, and sensory attributes. Dry matter (DM), alcohol-insoluble solids (AIS), starch, sugar, and oil content, and also α- and β-amylase activities were quantified in raw sweetpotatoes and SPFF. Peak force and overall hardness describing instrumental textural properties of SPFF were measured using a texture analyzer. Descriptive sensory analysis was conducted and 10 attributes were evaluated by a trained panel. Results showed that DM, AIS, and starch content in raw sweetpotatoes were significantly correlated (P < 0.05) with instrumental peak force and overall hardness (r = 0.41 to 0.68), and with sensory surface roughness, hardness, fracturability, and crispness (r = 0.63 to 0.90). Total sugar content in raw sweetpotatoes was positively correlated with sensory smoothness and moistness (r = 0.77), and negatively correlated with instrumental peak force and overall hardness (r = -0.62 to -0.69). Instrumental measurements were positively correlated with sensory attributes of hardness, fracturability, and crispness (r = 0.68 to 0.96) and negatively correlated with oiliness, smoothness, moistness, and cohesiveness (r = -0.61 to -0.91). Therefore, DM, AIS, starch, and total sugar contents and instrumental measurements could be used as indicators to evaluate sweetpotato genotypes for SPFF processing. In recent years, sweetpotato French fries (SPFF) have grown in popularity, but limited information is available on SPFF textural properties in relation to the differences in chemical constituents among sweetpotato varieties. This study demonstrated that sensory texture attributes of SPFF varied widely and were significantly correlated with chemical components such as dry matter, starch, and total sugar contents of raw sweetpotatoes and instrumental texture measurements of SPFF. The knowledge generated from this study will benefit the food industry and breeding programs with the selection of sweetpotato varieties for improved SPFF quality. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Impact of Health Information Technology (I-HIT) scale.

PubMed

Dykes, Patricia C; Hurley, Ann; Cashen, Margaret; Bakken, Suzanne; Duffy, Mary E

2007-01-01

The use of health information technology (HIT) for the support of communication processes and data and information access in acute care settings is a relatively new phenomenon. A means of evaluating the impact of HIT in hospital settings is needed. The purpose of this research was to design and psychometrically evaluate the Impact of Health Information Technology scale (I-HIT). I-HIT was designed to measure the perception of nurses regarding the ways in which HIT influences interdisciplinary communication and workflow patterns and nurses' satisfaction with HIT applications and tools. Content for a 43-item tool was derived from the literature, and supported theoretically by the Coiera model and by nurse informaticists. Internal consistency reliability analysis using Cronbach's alpha was conducted on the 43-item scale to initiate the item reduction process. Items with an item total correlation of less than 0.35 were removed, leaving a total of 29 items. Item analysis, exploratory principal component analysis and internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha were used to confirm the 29-item scale. Principal components analysis with Varimax rotation produced a four-factor solution that explained 58.5% of total variance (general advantages, information tools to support information needs, information tools to support communication needs, and workflow implications). Internal consistency of the total scale was 0.95 and ranged from 0.80-0.89 for four subscales. I-HIT demonstrated psychometric adequacy and is recommended to measure the impact of HIT on nursing practice in acute care settings.

Inaccurate, inadequate and inconsistent: A content analysis of burn first aid information online.

PubMed

Burgess, J D; Cameron, C M; Cuttle, L; Tyack, Z; Kimble, R M

2016-12-01

With the popularity of the Internet as a primary source of health-related information, the aim of this website content analysis was to assess the accuracy and quality of burn first aid information available on the Internet. Using the search term 'burn first aid' in four popular search engines, the first 10 websites from each search engine were recorded. From a total of 40 websites recorded, 14 websites were evaluated after removing duplicates. Websites were assessed on content accuracy by four independent reviewers with checks conducted on inter-rater reliability. Website quality was recorded based on Health on the Net Code of Conduct (HONcode) principles. Country of origin for the 14 websites was the US (7), Australia (6), and New Zealand (1). The mean content accuracy score was 5.6 out of 10. The mean website quality score was 6.6 out of 12. Australasian websites scored lower for quality but higher for accuracy. The US websites scored higher for quality than accuracy. Website usability and accuracy in a crisis situation were also assessed. The median crisis usability score was 3 out of five, and the median crisis accuracy score was 3.5 out of five. The inaccurate and inconsistent burn first aid treatments that appear online are reflected in the often-incorrect burn first aid treatments seen in patients attending emergency departments. Global consistency in burn first aid information is needed to avoid confusion by members of the public. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Foot and Ankle Fellowship Websites: An Assessment of Accessibility and Quality.

PubMed

Hinds, Richard M; Danna, Natalie R; Capo, John T; Mroczek, Kenneth J

2017-08-01

The Internet has been reported to be the first informational resource for many fellowship applicants. The objective of this study was to assess the accessibility of orthopaedic foot and ankle fellowship websites and to evaluate the quality of information provided via program websites. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) and the Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA) fellowship databases were accessed to generate a comprehensive list of orthopaedic foot and ankle fellowship programs. The databases were reviewed for links to fellowship program websites and compared with program websites accessed from a Google search. Accessible fellowship websites were then analyzed for the quality of recruitment and educational content pertinent to fellowship applicants. Forty-seven orthopaedic foot and ankle fellowship programs were identified. The AOFAS database featured direct links to 7 (15%) fellowship websites with the independent Google search yielding direct links to 29 (62%) websites. No direct website links were provided in the FREIDA database. Thirty-six accessible websites were analyzed for content. Program websites featured a mean 44% (range = 5% to 75%) of the total assessed content. The most commonly presented recruitment and educational content was a program description (94%) and description of fellow operative experience (83%), respectively. There is substantial variability in the accessibility and quality of orthopaedic foot and ankle fellowship websites. Recognition of deficits in accessibility and content quality may assist foot and ankle fellowships in improving program information online. Level IV.

[Sugar content in common prepackaged sugary foods sampling from supermarkets].

PubMed

Hou, Linlin; Zhang, Xuesong; Wang, Guodong; Wang, Zhu

2017-05-01

To analyze the content of sugar in the sugary foods in China, in order to provide data for further assessment of the level of consumption of sugar among residents. The most common sugary foods, including drinks, biscuits, pastries, milk and dairy products, sugar, candy, and so on, were randomly collected. The content of galactose, glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose, maltose were determined by chromatographic method. In addition, the content of the sugar was compared with the content in the US food. All measurement data was classified based on the national standard classification of sugary foods, the level of content of sugar in the foods of same class, sugar nutrition claims as well. The content of sugar varied significantly in different kinds of sugary food, the content of total sugar in the drinks ranged of 3. 00-34. 9 g/100 g( mL), the content of total sugar in the biscuits was in the range of 2. 39-27. 2 g/100 g, the content of total sugar in the processing pastry was in the range of 10. 5-19. 8 g/100 g, the content of total sugar in the bread was in the range of 7. 97-18. 4 g/100 g, the content of total sugar in the milk and dairy products was in the range of 6. 09-45. 1 g/100 g( mL), the content of total sugar in the milk and dairy products was in the range of 11. 6-42. 0 g/100 g. Among the other sugary foods, plain oatmeal contained the minimum content of total sugar( 2. 25 ± 0. 23 g/100 g), while the maximum content of total sugar was in jam( 65. 9 ± 7. 06 g/100 g). When compared with the US content data, the content of total sugar in our ice cream, pastry and non-biscuit was less than that in the US food( P < 0. 05), while the content of total sugar in China's whole wheat bread and soda cracker was higher than that in the US food( P < 0. 05). The sugar composition is related to the certain category of sugary foods. Sucrose is the most widespread type of sugar in sugary food of this study, and the content of sucrose in the biscuits, pastry and candy is higher than that in the other foods. There are significant differences of the content of total sugar between Chinese biscuits, breads and icecream and the same kind of American sugary foods.

Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of raspberry and blackberry cultivars.

PubMed

Sariburun, Esra; Sahin, Saliha; Demir, Cevdet; Türkben, Cihat; Uylaşer, Vildan

2010-05-01

Raspberry (Aksu Kirmizisi, Rubin, Newburgh, Hollanda Boduru, Heritage) and blackberry (Bursa 1, Bursa 2, Jumbo, Chester) cultivars were assayed for antioxidant activity (determined as 2,2-azino-di-[3-ethylbenzothialozine-sulphonic acid][ABTS], 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical [DPPH], and cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity [CUPRAC]), total phenol, total flavonoid, and total anthocyanin contents. In addition, 10 anthocyanins and anthocyanidins were determined in raspberry and blackberry by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Raspberry and blackberry had the highest ABTS, DPPH, CUPRAC, total phenol, and total flavonoid contents in methanol extracts, whereas total anthocyanin contents were the highest in water extracts. The antioxidant activity of the raspberry and blackberry was directly related to the total amount of phenolic compounds detected in the raspberry and blackberry. All antioxidant activity values were highly correlated with anthocyanin content in blackberry (0.93 < or = r < or = 0.99, P = 0.05). On the other hand, high correlation between total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity was recorded in water extract of blackberry (0.91 < or = r < or = 0.93, P = 0.05). ABTS value was highly correlated with total flavonoid content in methanol extract (r = 0.90), whereas total flavonoid content was relatively less correlated with DPPH (r = 0.85) and CUPRAC (r = 0.89).

Information content and sensitivity of the 3β + 2α lidar measurement system for aerosol microphysical retrievals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burton, Sharon P.; Chemyakin, Eduard; Liu, Xu; Knobelspiesse, Kirk; Stamnes, Snorre; Sawamura, Patricia; Moore, Richard H.; Hostetler, Chris A.; Ferrare, Richard A.

2016-11-01

There is considerable interest in retrieving profiles of aerosol effective radius, total number concentration, and complex refractive index from lidar measurements of extinction and backscatter at several wavelengths. The combination of three backscatter channels plus two extinction channels (3β + 2α) is particularly important since it is believed to be the minimum configuration necessary for the retrieval of aerosol microphysical properties and because the technological readiness of lidar systems permits this configuration on both an airborne and future spaceborne instrument. The second-generation NASA Langley airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-2) has been making 3β + 2α measurements since 2012. The planned NASA Aerosol/Clouds/Ecosystems (ACE) satellite mission also recommends the 3β + 2α combination.Here we develop a deeper understanding of the information content and sensitivities of the 3β + 2α system in terms of aerosol microphysical parameters of interest. We use a retrieval-free methodology to determine the basic sensitivities of the measurements independent of retrieval assumptions and constraints. We calculate information content and uncertainty metrics using tools borrowed from the optimal estimation methodology based on Bayes' theorem, using a simplified forward model look-up table, with no explicit inversion. The forward model is simplified to represent spherical particles, monomodal log-normal size distributions, and wavelength-independent refractive indices. Since we only use the forward model with no retrieval, the given simplified aerosol scenario is applicable as a best case for all existing retrievals in the absence of additional constraints. Retrieval-dependent errors due to mismatch between retrieval assumptions and true atmospheric aerosols are not included in this sensitivity study, and neither are retrieval errors that may be introduced in the inversion process. The choice of a simplified model adds clarity to the understanding of the uncertainties in such retrievals, since it allows for separately assessing the sensitivities and uncertainties of the measurements alone that cannot be corrected by any potential or theoretical improvements to retrieval methodology but must instead be addressed by adding information content.The sensitivity metrics allow for identifying (1) information content of the measurements vs. a priori information; (2) error bars on the retrieved parameters; and (3) potential sources of cross-talk or "compensating" errors wherein different retrieval parameters are not independently captured by the measurements. The results suggest that the 3β + 2α measurement system is underdetermined with respect to the full suite of microphysical parameters considered in this study and that additional information is required, in the form of additional coincident measurements (e.g., sun-photometer or polarimeter) or a priori retrieval constraints. A specific recommendation is given for addressing cross-talk between effective radius and total number concentration.

Influence of Matrix Composition on the Bioaccessibility of Copper, Zinc and Nickel in Urban Residential Dust and Soil

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rasmussen,P.; Beauchemin, S.; Nugent, M.

2008-01-01

This study examines factors affecting oral bioaccessibility of metals in household dust, in particular metal speciation, organic carbon content, and particle size, with the goal of addressing risk assessment information requirements. Investigation of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) speciation in two size fractions of dust (< 36 {mu} m and 80-150 {mu} m) using synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) indicates that the two metals are bound to different components of the dust: Cu is predominately associated with the organic phase of the dust, while Zn is predominately associated with the mineral fraction. Total and bioaccessible Cu, nickel (Ni), and Znmore » were determined (on dry weight basis) in the < 150 {mu} m size fraction of a set of archived indoor dust samples (n = 63) and corresponding garden soil samples (n = 66) from the City of Ottawa, Canada. The median bioaccessible Cu content is 66 {mu} g g-1 in dust compared to 5 {mu} g g-1 in soil; the median bioaccessible Ni content is 16 {mu} g g-1 in dust compared to 2 {mu} g g-1 in soil; and the median bioaccessible Zn content is 410 {mu} g g-1 in dust compared to 18 {mu} g g-1 in soil. For the same data set, the median total Cu content is 152 {mu} g g-1 in dust compared to 17 {mu} g g-1 in soil; the median total Ni content is 41 {mu} g g-1 in dust compared to 13 {mu} g g-1 in soil; and the median total Zn content is 626 {mu} g g-1 in dust compared to 84 {mu} g g-1 in soil. Organic carbon is elevated in indoor dust (median 28%) compared to soil (median 5%), and is a key factor controlling metal partitioning and therefore bioaccessibility. The results show that house dust and soil have distinct geochemical signatures and should not be treated as identical media in exposure and risk assessments. Separate measurements of the indoor and outdoor environment are essential to improve the accuracy of residential risk assessments.« less

Modeling spatial patterns of soil respiration in maize fields from vegetation and soil property factors with the use of remote sensing and geographical information system.

PubMed

Huang, Ni; Wang, Li; Guo, Yiqiang; Hao, Pengyu; Niu, Zheng

2014-01-01

To examine the method for estimating the spatial patterns of soil respiration (Rs) in agricultural ecosystems using remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS), Rs rates were measured at 53 sites during the peak growing season of maize in three counties in North China. Through Pearson's correlation analysis, leaf area index (LAI), canopy chlorophyll content, aboveground biomass, soil organic carbon (SOC) content, and soil total nitrogen content were selected as the factors that affected spatial variability in Rs during the peak growing season of maize. The use of a structural equation modeling approach revealed that only LAI and SOC content directly affected Rs. Meanwhile, other factors indirectly affected Rs through LAI and SOC content. When three greenness vegetation indices were extracted from an optical image of an environmental and disaster mitigation satellite in China, enhanced vegetation index (EVI) showed the best correlation with LAI and was thus used as a proxy for LAI to estimate Rs at the regional scale. The spatial distribution of SOC content was obtained by extrapolating the SOC content at the plot scale based on the kriging interpolation method in GIS. When data were pooled for 38 plots, a first-order exponential analysis indicated that approximately 73% of the spatial variability in Rs during the peak growing season of maize can be explained by EVI and SOC content. Further test analysis based on independent data from 15 plots showed that the simple exponential model had acceptable accuracy in estimating the spatial patterns of Rs in maize fields on the basis of remotely sensed EVI and GIS-interpolated SOC content, with R2 of 0.69 and root-mean-square error of 0.51 µmol CO2 m(-2) s(-1). The conclusions from this study provide valuable information for estimates of Rs during the peak growing season of maize in three counties in North China.

Quality of Social Media and Web-Based Information Regarding Inappropriate Nuclear Cardiac Stress Testing and the Choosing Wisely Campaign: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PubMed

Winchester, David E; Baxter, Diana; Markham, Merry J; Beyth, Rebecca J

2017-05-04

The World Wide Web and social media provide the public with access to medical information unlike any other time in human history. However, the quality of content related to cardiac stress testing is not well understood. The aim of our study was to evaluate the quality of content on the Internet relating to the use of cardiac nuclear stress testing and the Choosing Wisely campaign. We searched the World Wide Web, Google Video (including YouTube), and Twitter for information relating to these two topics. Searches were performed using English language terms from a computer in the United States not logged into any personal user accounts. Search results were reviewed for discussion of specific topics including radiation risk, accuracy of testing, alternative testing options, and discouragement of inappropriate test use. We evaluated a total of 348 items of content from our searches. Relevant search results for Choosing Wisely were fewer than for other search terms (45 vs 303). We did not find any content which encouraged inappropriate testing (ie, screening in low risk individuals or testing prior to low risk operations). Content related to Choosing Wisely was more likely to discourage inappropriate testing than search results for other terms (29/45, 64% vs 12/303, 4.0%, odds ratio 43.95, 95% CI 17.6-112.2, P<.001). The Internet content on nuclear stress tests consistently discouraged inappropriate testing. The Choosing Wisely content was more likely to discourage inappropriate testing, less relevant content was available. Generating authoritative content on the Internet relating to judicious use of medical interventions may be an important role for the Choosing Wisely campaign. ©David E Winchester, Diana Baxter, Merry J Markham, Rebecca J Beyth. Originally published in the Interactive Journal of Medical Research (http://www.i-jmr.org/), 04.05.2017.

Modeling Spatial Patterns of Soil Respiration in Maize Fields from Vegetation and Soil Property Factors with the Use of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System

PubMed Central

Huang, Ni; Wang, Li; Guo, Yiqiang; Hao, Pengyu; Niu, Zheng

2014-01-01

To examine the method for estimating the spatial patterns of soil respiration (Rs) in agricultural ecosystems using remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS), Rs rates were measured at 53 sites during the peak growing season of maize in three counties in North China. Through Pearson's correlation analysis, leaf area index (LAI), canopy chlorophyll content, aboveground biomass, soil organic carbon (SOC) content, and soil total nitrogen content were selected as the factors that affected spatial variability in Rs during the peak growing season of maize. The use of a structural equation modeling approach revealed that only LAI and SOC content directly affected Rs. Meanwhile, other factors indirectly affected Rs through LAI and SOC content. When three greenness vegetation indices were extracted from an optical image of an environmental and disaster mitigation satellite in China, enhanced vegetation index (EVI) showed the best correlation with LAI and was thus used as a proxy for LAI to estimate Rs at the regional scale. The spatial distribution of SOC content was obtained by extrapolating the SOC content at the plot scale based on the kriging interpolation method in GIS. When data were pooled for 38 plots, a first-order exponential analysis indicated that approximately 73% of the spatial variability in Rs during the peak growing season of maize can be explained by EVI and SOC content. Further test analysis based on independent data from 15 plots showed that the simple exponential model had acceptable accuracy in estimating the spatial patterns of Rs in maize fields on the basis of remotely sensed EVI and GIS-interpolated SOC content, with R2 of 0.69 and root-mean-square error of 0.51 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1. The conclusions from this study provide valuable information for estimates of Rs during the peak growing season of maize in three counties in North China. PMID:25157827

Analysis and Design of a Local Area Network Information Support System for the Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-03-01

Accounting and Budgeting Reporting (SABR) system, a joint Headquarters, U. S . Marine Corps and Marine Corps Finance Center financial system. The Naval...be retyped because of changes to the content. Even though information production costs account for a small percentage of the total business costs ... COSTS $16,580.11 ** Z-248s were procured by HQMC *155 * S .*5’ ~ ~ p~--J .~-~ J".*II 9 ~ ,1 *’Jb ~ S ~ ~ 9 Facilities Management Hardware Requirements Qty

Interstellar reddening information system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burnashev, V. I.; Grigorieva, E. A.; Malkov, O. Yu.

2013-10-01

We describe an electronic bibliographic information system, based on a card catalog, containing some 2500 references (publications of 1930-2009) on interstellar extinction. We have classified the articles according to their content. We present here a list of articles devoted to two categories: maps of total extinction and variation of interstellar extinction with the distance to the object. The catalog is tested using published data on open clusters, and conclusions on the applicability of different maps of interstellar extinctions for various distances are made.

Identification of QTLs associated with oil content and mapping FAD2 genes and their relative contribution to oil quality in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.).

PubMed

Pandey, Manish K; Wang, Ming Li; Qiao, Lixian; Feng, Suping; Khera, Pawan; Wang, Hui; Tonnis, Brandon; Barkley, Noelle A; Wang, Jianping; Holbrook, C Corley; Culbreath, Albert K; Varshney, Rajeev K; Guo, Baozhu

2014-12-10

Peanut is one of the major source for human consumption worldwide and its seed contain approximately 50% oil. Improvement of oil content and quality traits (high oleic and low linoleic acid) in peanut could be accelerated by exploiting linked markers through molecular breeding. The objective of this study was to identify QTLs associated with oil content, and estimate relative contribution of FAD2 genes (ahFAD2A and ahFAD2B) to oil quality traits in two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations. Improved genetic linkage maps were developed for S-population (SunOleic 97R × NC94022) with 206 (1780.6 cM) and T-population (Tifrunner × GT-C20) with 378 (2487.4 cM) marker loci. A total of 6 and 9 QTLs controlling oil content were identified in the S- and T-population, respectively. The contribution of each QTL towards oil content variation ranged from 3.07 to 10.23% in the S-population and from 3.93 to 14.07% in the T-population. The mapping positions for ahFAD2A (A sub-genome) and ahFAD2B (B sub-genome) genes were assigned on a09 and b09 linkage groups. The ahFAD2B gene (26.54%, 25.59% and 41.02% PVE) had higher phenotypic effect on oleic acid (C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), and oleic/linoleic acid ratio (O/L ratio) than ahFAD2A gene (8.08%, 6.86% and 3.78% PVE). The FAD2 genes had no effect on oil content. This study identified a total of 78 main-effect QTLs (M-QTLs) with up to 42.33% phenotypic variation (PVE) and 10 epistatic QTLs (E-QTLs) up to 3.31% PVE for oil content and quality traits. A total of 78 main-effect QTLs (M-QTLs) and 10 E-QTLs have been detected for oil content and oil quality traits. One major QTL (more than 10% PVE) was identified in both the populations for oil content with source alleles from NC94022 and GT-C20 parental genotypes. FAD2 genes showed high effect for oleic acid (C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), and O/L ratio while no effect on total oil content. The information on phenotypic effect of FAD2 genes for oleic acid, linoleic acid and O/L ratio, and oil content will be applied in breeding selection.

Anti-oxidant properties and polyphenolic profile screening of Vitis vinifera stems and leaves crude extracts grown in Perlis, Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zakaria, Nursyahda; Zulkifli, Razauden Mohamed; Akhir, Fazrena Nadia Md; Basar, Norazah

2014-03-01

Grape has become a fast growing agricultural sector in Malaysia producing between 0.62 kg to 2.03 kg waste per vinestock. This study aims to generate useful information on anti-oxidative properties as well as polyphenolic composition of grapevine waste. Stems and leaves of Vitis vinifera cultivated in Perlis, Malaysia were extracted using methanol, ethyl acetate and petroleum ether. Ethyl acetate stems extract exhibited highest total phenolic content. While in DPPH assay, methanolic stems extract show the highest antioxidant activities. This result indicates that total phenolic content in the extracts may not contribute directly to the antioxidant activities. Thin Layer Chromatograms of all crude extracts exhibited good separation under solvent system petroleum ether-ethyl acetate (2:3) resulted in detection of resveratrol in ethyl acetate stems crude extract.

Recruitment Effects: The Influence of Sex, Job Content, and Information Order on Reactions of Applicants.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winter, Paul A.

This study was designed to expand extant knowledge about factors that impact the job application decisions of experienced teachers. A total of 136 experienced teachers, enrolled in graduate education courses at a large Midwestern university, role played the part of job applicants for an elementary teacher position. Participants rated four versions…

Engineering Information Infrastructure for Product Lifecycle Managment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kimura, Fumihiko

For proper management of total product life cycle, it is fundamentally important to systematize design and engineering information about product systems. For example, maintenance operation could be more efficiently performed, if appropriate parts design information is available at the maintenance site. Such information shall be available as an information infrastructure for various kinds of engineering operations, and it should be easily accessible during the whole product life cycle, such as transportation, marketing, usage, repair/upgrade, take-back and recycling/disposal. Different from the traditional engineering database, life cycle support information has several characteristic requirements, such as flexible extensibility, distributed architecture, multiple viewpoints, long-time archiving, and product usage information, etc. Basic approaches for managing engineering information infrastructure are investigated, and various information contents and associated life cycle applications are discussed.

[Determination of podophyllotoxin and total lignans in Sinopodophyllum emodi].

PubMed

Huang, Kun; Jiang, Wei; Zhao, Jifeng; Wang, Changhua; Liu, Xiang; Zhang, Zhiwei; Qin, Songyun; Zhong, Guoyue

2012-05-01

To determine the content of podophyllotoxin and total lignans in Sinopodophyllum emodi Ying from different areas and evaluate the resource utilization of this endangered medicinal plant. HPLC and UV spectrophotometry were used to determine the content of podophyllotoxin and total lignans in 126 samples from different habitats and the total lignans content was determined by the reference wavelength method. According to the results, the highest content was determined from the samples from Yongdeng Nature Reserve in Gansu province, and the lowest ones was found in the samples from Tibet. The former's podophyllotoxin and total lignans contents were 7.40% and 20.66%, respectively, which were 19 times and 4 times more than those of the latter. The content of podophyllotoxin and total lignans in S. emodi were significantly positively related, meanwhile, samples from both low altitude and high latitude showed the higher content. The two determination methods are simple, rapid, accurate and repeatable. It is more scientific and rational to evaluate the resource utilization of S. emodi with two indicators, those are the content of podophyllotoxin and the content of total lignans. This paper is instructive to the collection of wild resources and the establishment of production bases.

40 CFR 60.4365 - How can I be exempted from monitoring the total sulfur content of the fuel?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... the total sulfur content of the fuel? 60.4365 Section 60.4365 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... monitoring the total sulfur content of the fuel? You may elect not to monitor the total sulfur content of the fuel combusted in the turbine, if the fuel is demonstrated not to exceed potential sulfur emissions of...

40 CFR 60.4365 - How can I be exempted from monitoring the total sulfur content of the fuel?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... the total sulfur content of the fuel? 60.4365 Section 60.4365 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... monitoring the total sulfur content of the fuel? You may elect not to monitor the total sulfur content of the fuel combusted in the turbine, if the fuel is demonstrated not to exceed potential sulfur emissions of...

Effect of light regime and provenance on leaf characteristics, growth and flavonoid accumulation in Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal) Iljinskaja coppices.

PubMed

Liu, Yang; Qian, Chenyun; Ding, Sihui; Shang, Xulan; Yang, Wanxia; Fang, Shengzuo

2016-12-01

As a highly valued and multiple function tree species, Cyclocarya paliurus is planted and managed for timber production and medical use. However, limited information is available on its genotype selection and cultivation for growth and phytochemicals. Responses of growth and secondary metabolites to light regimes and genotypes are useful information to determine suitable habitat conditions for the cultivation of medicinal plants. Both light regime and provenance significantly affected the leaf characteristics, leaf flavonoid contents, biomass production and flavonoid accumulation per plant. Leaf thickness, length of palisade cells and chlorophyll a/b decreased significantly under shading conditions, while leaf areas and total chlorophyll content increased obviously. In the full light condition, leaf flavonoid contents showed a bimodal temporal variation pattern with the maximum observed in August and the second peak in October, while shading treatment not only reduced the leaf content of flavonoids but also delayed the peak appearing of the flavonoid contents in the leaves of C. paliurus. Strong correlations were found between leaf thickness, palisade length, monthly light intensity and measured flavonoid contents in the leaves of C. paliurus. Muchuan provenance with full light achieved the highest leaf biomass and flavonoid accumulation per plant. Cyclocarya paliurus genotypes show diverse responses to different light regimes in leaf characteristics, biomass production and flavonoid accumulation, highlighting the opportunity for extensive selection in the leaf flavonoid production.

Effects of total solids content on waste activated sludge thermophilic anaerobic digestion and its sludge dewaterability.

PubMed

Wang, Tianfeng; Chen, Jie; Shen, Honglang; An, Dong

2016-10-01

The role of total solids content on sludge thermophilic anaerobic digestion was investigated in batch reactors. A range of total solids content from 2% to 10% was evaluated with two replicates. The lowest inhibitory concentration for free ammonia and total ammonia of sludge thermophilic anaerobic digestion was 110.9-171.4mg/L and 1313.1-1806.7mg/L, respectively. The volumetric biogas production rate increased with increasing of total solids content, but the corresponding biogas yield per gram volatile solid decreased. The result of normalized capillary suction time indicated that the dewaterability of digested sludge at high total solids content was poor, while solid content of sediment obtained by centrifuging sludge at 2000g for 10min increased with increasing of total solids content of sludge. The results suggest that thickened sludge mixed with dewatered sludge at an appropriate ratio could get high organic loading rate, high biogas yield and adequate dewatering effort. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Total petroleum hydrocarbons in edible marine biota from Northern Persian Gulf.

PubMed

Nozar, Seyedeh Laili Mohebbi; Pauzi, Mohamad Zakaria; Salarpouri, Ali; Daghooghi, Behnam; Salimizadeh, Maryam

2015-04-01

To provide a baseline information for consumer's health, distribution of total petroleum hydrocarbons in 18 edible marine biota species from northern Persian Gulf was evaluated. The samples were purchased from fish market of Hormozgan Province, South of Iran. Marine biota samples included different species with various feeding habits and were analyzed based on ultraviolet florescence spectroscopy. Petroleum hydrocarbons showed narrow variation, ranging from 0.67 to 3.36 μg/g dry weight. The maximum value was observed in silver pomfret. Anchovy and silver pomfret with the highest content of petroleum hydrocarbons were known as good indicator for oil pollution in the studied area. From public health point of view, the detected concentrations for total petroleum hydrocarbons were lower than hazardous guidelines. The results were recorded as background data and information in the studied area; the continuous monitoring of pollutants is recommended, according to the rapid extension of industrial and oily activities in Hormozgan Province.

Khuzestan dust phenomenon: a content analysis of most widely circulated newspapers.

PubMed

Mojadam, Mehdi; Matlabi, Mohammad; Haji, Alireza; Cheraghi, Maria; Bitaraf, Saeid; Khafaie, Morteza Abdullatif

2018-06-01

Dust is an atmospheric phenomenon that causes adverse environmental effects. It is deemed to have harmful effects on health, economics, and climate. This study aimed to analyze the content published on the phenomenon of dust in the widely circulated newspapers in Iran. We investigated the content of all national and provincial newspapers that were published between July and August 2014. Data on the materials related to the dust phenomenon in the newspapers were categorized and coded. From a total of 510 newspaper issues, 143 articles were devoted to the dust phenomenon which 74.1% of them were published in provincial newspapers. Among the national newspapers, Hamshahri newspaper with 16 headlines and from the provincial newspapers; Karoon with 23 headlines published the highest number of articles on dust phenomenon. 45.5% of content on dust were printed on the first page of the newspapers. The most common approach to the type of content published in these newspapers was an interview. Moreover, we noticed that 28.7% of the content published in the newspapers was related to the health issue. The media plays an important role in the transmission of health information. Weaknesses in addressing the causes of dust occurrence and also in providing solutions for the dust control and prevention were noticeable in the content published in the newspaper. It seems necessary to take practical measures to disseminate relevant information to dust and also address the needs of the target audience community influenced by the dust phenomenon properly.

[Plant and soil nutrient characteristics in the karst shrub ecosystem of southwest Hunan, China].

PubMed

Li, Yan Qiong; Deng, Xiang Wen; Yi, Chang Yan; Deng, Dong Hua; Huang, Zhi Hong; Xiang, Wen Hua; Fang, Xi; Jing, Yi Ran

2016-04-22

This research was conducted in light (LRD), moderate (MRD, abandoned land) and intense (IRD) rocky desertification shrub ecosystems in Shaoyang, Hunan Province. We collected plant samples and soil at 3 layers (0-15, 15-30, 30-45 cm), and analyzed the distribution patterns of soil and plant nutrients and the relationships among them. Our results showed that the contents of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total N in different soil layers were various and decreased with soil depth, while the contents of total P, K, Ca and Mg had no obvious variation among the different soil layers. The contents of total N, P, Ca and Mg in soil were significantly different among the 3 rocky desertification shrub ecosystems, and the SOC, total N and total P in MRD were relatively higher than in the others. The rank of macroelement contents in soils for LRD and IRD was SOC>total K>total Ca>total Mg>total N>total P, while it was SOC>total K>total Ca>total N>total Mg>total P for MRD. The rank of macroelement contents in plants from the 3 rocky desertification shrub ecosystems was Ca>N>K>Mg>P, and the contents of N and P in plants were significantly positively correlated with the corresponding contents of total N and total P in soils. Soil nutrients were closely related to vegetation growth. According to the soil nutrient status of desertification plots of different grades, we should integrate the forest reservation with artificial afforestation and targeted fertilization methods for managing karst rocky desertification.

Antioxidants, low molecular weight carbohydrates, and total antioxidant capacity in strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa): effects of cultivar, ripening, and storage.

PubMed

Olsson, Marie E; Ekvall, Jimmy; Gustavsson, Karl-Erik; Nilsson, Jessica; Pillai, Deepa; Sjöholm, Ingegerd; Svensson, Ulla; Akesson, Björn; Nyman, Margareta G L

2004-05-05

Four cultivars of strawberries (Senga Sengana, BFr77111, Elsanta, and Honeoye) were studied for their content of antioxidants, total antioxidant capacity, and low molecular weight carbohydrates in relation to harvest year, ripening stage, and cold storage. For ascorbic acid, chlorogenic acid, ellagic acid, and total antioxidative capacity, measured in both water-soluble and water-insoluble extracts, there was a 2-5-fold variation among cultivars. Unripe berries contained lower concentrations of chlorogenic acid and p-coumaric acid and also quercetin and kaempferol compared with riper berries. During cold storage for up to 3 days, relatively few changes in the concentration of the different antioxidants occurred. The concentrations of several investigated parameters were interrelated, for example, for ascorbic acid and water-soluble antioxidant capacity and for ellagic acid and water-insoluble antioxidant capacity. The dominating sugars in strawberries were fructose and glucose, but considerable amounts of sucrose were also present, and their contents varied among cultivars, giving a predicted glycemic index of approximately 81. Verbascose, raffinose, and stachyose were found in only minor amounts. The study shows that the concentration of a number of bioactive compounds in strawberries varied according to cultivar, ripening stage, and storage. This information should make it possible to select strawberries with an optimal content of bioactive compounds.

“It’s Totally Okay to Be Sad, but Never Lose Hope”: Content Analysis of Infertility-Related Videos on YouTube in Relation to Viewer Preferences

PubMed Central

Kelly-Hedrick, Margot; Grunberg, Paul H; Brochu, Felicia

2018-01-01

Background Infertility patients frequently use the internet to find fertility-related information and support from people in similar circumstances. YouTube is increasingly used as a source of health-related information and may influence health decision making. There have been no studies examining the content of infertility-related videos on YouTube. Objective The purpose of this study was to (1) describe the content of highly viewed videos on YouTube related to infertility and (2) identify video characteristics that relate to viewer preference. Methods Using the search term “infertility,” the 80 top-viewed YouTube videos and their viewing statistics (eg, views, likes, and comments) were collected. Videos that were non-English, unrelated to infertility, or had age restrictions were excluded. Content analysis was used to examine videos, employing a coding rubric that measured the presence or absence of video codes related to purpose, tone, and demographic and fertility characteristics (eg, sex, parity, stage of fertility treatment). Results A total of 59 videos, with a median of 156,103 views, met the inclusion criteria and were categorized into 35 personal videos (35/59, 59%) and 24 informational-educational videos (24/59, 41%). Personal videos did not differ significantly from informational-educational videos on number of views, dislikes, subscriptions driven, or shares. However, personal videos had significantly more likes (P<.001) and comments (P<.001) than informational-educational videos. The purposes of the videos were treatment outcomes (33/59, 56%), sharing information (30/59, 51%), emotional aspects of infertility (20/59, 34%), and advice to others (6/59, 10%). The tones of the videos were positive (26/59, 44%), neutral (25/59, 42%), and mixed (8/59, 14%); there were no videos with negative tone. No videos contained only male posters. Videos with a positive tone did not differ from neutral videos in number of views, dislikes, subscriptions driven, or shares; however, positive videos had significantly more likes (P<.001) and comments (P<.001) than neutral videos. A majority (21/35, 60%) of posters of personal videos shared a pregnancy announcement. Conclusions YouTube is a source of both technical and personal experience-based information about infertility. However, videos that include personal experiences may elicit greater viewer engagement. Positive videos and stories of treatment success may provide hope to viewers but could also create and perpetuate unrealistic expectations about the success rates of fertility treatment. PMID:29792296

Design of new genome- and gene-sourced primers and identification of QTL for seed oil content in a specially high-oil Brassica napus cultivar.

PubMed

Sun, Meiyu; Hua, Wei; Liu, Jing; Huang, Shunmou; Wang, Xinfa; Liu, Guihua; Wang, Hanzhong

2012-01-01

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is one of most important oilseed crops in the world. There are now various rapeseed cultivars in nature that differ in their seed oil content because they vary in oil-content alleles and there are high-oil alleles among the high-oil rapeseed cultivars. For these experiments, we generated doubled haploid (DH) lines derived from the cross between the specially high-oil cultivar zy036 whose seed oil content is approximately 50% and the specially low-oil cultivar 51070 whose seed oil content is approximately 36%. First, to address the deficiency in polymorphic markers, we designed 5944 pairs of newly developed genome-sourced primers and 443 pairs of newly developed primers related to oil-content genes to complement the 2244 pairs of publicly available primers. Second, we constructed a new DH genetic linkage map using 527 molecular markers, consisting of 181 publicly available markers, 298 newly developed genome-sourced markers and 48 newly developed markers related to oil-content genes. The map contained 19 linkage groups, covering a total length of 2,265.54 cM with an average distance between markers of 4.30 cM. Third, we identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) for seed oil content using field data collected at three sites over 3 years, and found a total of 12 QTL. Of the 12 QTL associated with seed oil content identified, 9 were high-oil QTL which derived from the specially high-oil cultivar zy036. Two high-oil QTL on chromosomes A2 and C9 co-localized in two out of three trials. By QTL mapping for seed oil content, we found four candidate genes for seed oil content related to four gene markers: GSNP39, GSSR161, GIFLP106 and GIFLP046. This information will be useful for cloning functional genes correlated with seed oil content in the future.

Design of New Genome- and Gene-Sourced Primers and Identification of QTL for Seed Oil Content in a Specially High-Oil Brassica napus Cultivar

PubMed Central

Liu, Jing; Huang, Shunmou; Wang, Xinfa; Liu, Guihua; Wang, Hanzhong

2012-01-01

Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) is one of most important oilseed crops in the world. There are now various rapeseed cultivars in nature that differ in their seed oil content because they vary in oil-content alleles and there are high-oil alleles among the high-oil rapeseed cultivars. For these experiments, we generated doubled haploid (DH) lines derived from the cross between the specially high-oil cultivar zy036 whose seed oil content is approximately 50% and the specially low-oil cultivar 51070 whose seed oil content is approximately 36%. First, to address the deficiency in polymorphic markers, we designed 5944 pairs of newly developed genome-sourced primers and 443 pairs of newly developed primers related to oil-content genes to complement the 2244 pairs of publicly available primers. Second, we constructed a new DH genetic linkage map using 527 molecular markers, consisting of 181 publicly available markers, 298 newly developed genome-sourced markers and 48 newly developed markers related to oil-content genes. The map contained 19 linkage groups, covering a total length of 2,265.54 cM with an average distance between markers of 4.30 cM. Third, we identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) for seed oil content using field data collected at three sites over 3 years, and found a total of 12 QTL. Of the 12 QTL associated with seed oil content identified, 9 were high-oil QTL which derived from the specially high-oil cultivar zy036. Two high-oil QTL on chromosomes A2 and C9 co-localized in two out of three trials. By QTL mapping for seed oil content, we found four candidate genes for seed oil content related to four gene markers: GSNP39, GSSR161, GIFLP106 and GIFLP046. This information will be useful for cloning functional genes correlated with seed oil content in the future. PMID:23077542

Settling characteristics of nursery pig manure and nutrient estimation by the hydrometer method.

PubMed

Zhu, Jun; Ndegwa, Pius M; Zhang, Zhijian

2003-05-01

The hydrometer method to measure manure specific gravity and subsequently relate it to manure nutrient contents was examined in this study. It was found that this method might be improved in estimation accuracy if only manure from a single growth stage of pigs was used (e.g., nursery pig manure used here). The total solids (TS) content of the test manure was well correlated with the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in the manure, with highly significant correlation coefficients of 0.9944 and 0.9873, respectively. Also observed were good linear correlations between the TN and TP contents and the manure specific gravity (correlation coefficients: 0.9836 and 0.9843, respectively). These correlations were much better than those reported by past researchers, in which lumped data for pigs at different growing stages were used. It may therefore be inferred that developing different linear equations for pigs at different ages should improve the accuracy in manure nutrient estimation using a hydrometer. Also, the error of using the hydrometer method to estimate manure TN and TP was found to increase, from +/- 10% to +/- 50%, with the decrease in TN (from 700 ppm to 100 ppm) and TP (from 130 ppm to 30 ppm) concentrations in the manure. The estimation errors for TN and TP may be larger than 50% if the total solids content is below 0.5%. In addition, the rapid settling of solids has long been considered characteristic of swine manure; however, in this study, the solids settling property appeared to be quite poor for nursery pig manure in that no conspicuous settling occurred after the manure was left statically for 5 hours. This information has not been reported elsewhere in the literature and may need further research to verify.

Kernel analysis of partial least squares (PLS) regression models.

PubMed

Shinzawa, Hideyuki; Ritthiruangdej, Pitiporn; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2011-05-01

An analytical technique based on kernel matrix representation is demonstrated to provide further chemically meaningful insight into partial least squares (PLS) regression models. The kernel matrix condenses essential information about scores derived from PLS or principal component analysis (PCA). Thus, it becomes possible to establish the proper interpretation of the scores. A PLS model for the total nitrogen (TN) content in multiple Thai fish sauces is built with a set of near-infrared (NIR) transmittance spectra of the fish sauce samples. The kernel analysis of the scores effectively reveals that the variation of the spectral feature induced by the change in protein content is substantially associated with the total water content and the protein hydration. Kernel analysis is also carried out on a set of time-dependent infrared (IR) spectra representing transient evaporation of ethanol from a binary mixture solution of ethanol and oleic acid. A PLS model to predict the elapsed time is built with the IR spectra and the kernel matrix is derived from the scores. The detailed analysis of the kernel matrix provides penetrating insight into the interaction between the ethanol and the oleic acid.

Long-term potentiation expands information content of hippocampal dentate gyrus synapses.

PubMed

Bromer, Cailey; Bartol, Thomas M; Bowden, Jared B; Hubbard, Dusten D; Hanka, Dakota C; Gonzalez, Paola V; Kuwajima, Masaaki; Mendenhall, John M; Parker, Patrick H; Abraham, Wickliffe C; Sejnowski, Terrence J; Harris, Kristen M

2018-03-06

An approach combining signal detection theory and precise 3D reconstructions from serial section electron microscopy (3DEM) was used to investigate synaptic plasticity and information storage capacity at medial perforant path synapses in adult hippocampal dentate gyrus in vivo. Induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) markedly increased the frequencies of both small and large spines measured 30 minutes later. This bidirectional expansion resulted in heterosynaptic counterbalancing of total synaptic area per unit length of granule cell dendrite. Control hemispheres exhibited 6.5 distinct spine sizes for 2.7 bits of storage capacity while LTP resulted in 12.9 distinct spine sizes (3.7 bits). In contrast, control hippocampal CA1 synapses exhibited 4.7 bits with much greater synaptic precision than either control or potentiated dentate gyrus synapses. Thus, synaptic plasticity altered total capacity, yet hippocampal subregions differed dramatically in their synaptic information storage capacity, reflecting their diverse functions and activation histories.

Oxalate Content of Taro Leaves Grown in Central Vietnam.

PubMed

Du Thanh, Hang; Phan Vu, Hai; Vu Van, Hai; Le Duc, Ngoan; Le Minh, Tuan; Savage, Geoffrey

2017-01-01

Leaves were harvested from four different cultivars of Colocasia esculenta and three cultivars of Alocasia odora that were growing on nine different farms in central Vietnam. The total, soluble and insoluble oxalate contents of the leaves were extracted and measured using HPLC chromatography. Total calcium determinations were also carried out on the same samples. The total oxalate content of the leaves ranged from 433.8 to 856.1 mg/100 g wet matter (WM) while the soluble oxalate ranged from 147.8 to 339.7 mg/100 g WM. The proportion of soluble oxalate ranged from 28% to 41% (overall mean 35%) of the total oxalate content of the leaves. The equivalent insoluble oxalate proportion ranged from 59% to 72% of the total (overall mean 65%). There was little difference between the Colocasia esculenta and Alocasia odora taro cultivars, although the total oxalate content was significantly higher in Alocasia odora cultivars. The overall mean total calcium content was 279.5 mg/100 WM and the percentage of insoluble calcium bound as calcium oxalate ranged from 31.7% to 57.3% of the total calcium content (overall mean 47.1%). The oxalate content in taro leaves is a major factor to consider when different cultivars of taro are recommended for human or animal consumption.

YouTube as a patient-information source for root canal treatment.

PubMed

Nason, K; Donnelly, A; Duncan, H F

2016-12-01

To assess the content and completeness of Youtube ™ as an information source for patients undergoing root canal treatment procedures. YouTube ™ (https://www.youtube.com/) was searched for information using three relevant treatment search terms ('endodontics', 'root canal' and 'root canal treatment'). After exclusions (language, no audio, >15 min, duplicates), 20 videos per search term were selected. General video assessment included duration, ownership, views, age, likes/dislikes, target audience and video/audio quality, whilst content was analysed under six categories ('aetiology', 'anatomy', 'symptoms', 'procedure', 'postoperative course' and 'prognosis'). Content was scored for completeness level and statistically analysed using anova and post hoc Tukey's test (P < 0.05). To obtain 60 acceptable videos, 124 were assessed. Depending on the search term employed, the video content and ownership differed markedly. There was wide variation in both the number of video views and 'likes/dislikes'. The average video age was 788 days. In total, 46% of videos were 'posted' by a dentist/specialist source; however, this was search term specific rising to 70% of uploads for the search 'endodontic', whilst laypersons contributed 18% of uploads for the search 'root canal treatment'. Every video lacked content in the designated six categories, although 'procedure' details were covered more frequently and in better detail than other categories. Videos posted by dental professional (P = 0.046) and commercial sources (P = 0.009) were significantly more complete than videos posted by laypeople. YouTube ™ videos for endodontic search terms varied significantly by source and content and were generally incomplete. The danger of patient reliance on YouTube ™ is highlighted, as is the need for endodontic professionals to play an active role in directing patients towards alternative high-quality information sources. © 2015 International Endodontic Journal. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Cloud information content analysis of multi-angular measurements in the oxygen A-band: application to 3MI and MSPI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merlin, G.; Riedi, J.; Labonnote, L. C.; Cornet, C.; Davis, A. B.; Dubuisson, P.; Desmons, M.; Ferlay, N.; Parol, F.

2015-12-01

The vertical distribution of cloud cover has a significant impact on a large number of meteorological and climatic processes. Cloud top altitude and cloud geometrical thickness are then essential. Previous studies established the possibility of retrieving those parameters from multi-angular oxygen A-band measurements. Here we perform a study and comparison of the performances of future instruments. The 3MI (Multi-angle, Multi-channel and Multi-polarization Imager) instrument developed by EUMETSAT, which is an extension of the POLDER/PARASOL instrument, and MSPI (Multi-angles Spectro-Polarimetric Imager) develoloped by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will measure total and polarized light reflected by the Earth's atmosphere-surface system in several spectral bands (from UV to SWIR) and several viewing geometries. Those instruments should provide opportunities to observe the links between the cloud structures and the anisotropy of the reflected solar radiation into space. Specific algorithms will need be developed in order to take advantage of the new capabilities of this instrument. However, prior to this effort, we need to understand, through a theoretical Shannon information content analysis, the limits and advantages of these new instruments for retrieving liquid and ice cloud properties, and especially, in this study, the amount of information coming from the A-Band channel on the cloud top altitude (CTOP) and geometrical thickness (CGT). We compare the information content of 3MI A-Band in two configurations and that of MSPI. Quantitative information content estimates show that the retrieval of CTOP with a high accuracy is possible in almost all cases investigated. The retrieval of CGT seems less easy but possible for optically thick clouds above a black surface, at least when CGT > 1-2 km.

Surfing for hip replacements: has the "internet tidal wave" led to better quality information.

PubMed

Nassiri, Mujtaba; Bruce-Brand, Robert A; O'Neill, Francis; Chenouri, Shojaeddin; Curtin, Paul T

2014-07-01

This study aimed to determine the quality of information available on the internet regarding Total Hip Replacement (THR). The unique websites identified were categorised by type and assessed using the DISCERN score, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria, and a novel (THR)-specific content score. The presence of the Health On the Net (HON) code, a reported quality assurance marker, was noted. Commercial websites predominate. Governmental & Non-Profit Organizations websites attained the highest DISCERN score. Sites that bore the HONcode seal obtained significantly higher DISCERN and THR content scores than those without the certification. Physicians should recommend the HONcode seal to their patients as a reliable indicator of website quality or, better yet, refer patients to sites they have personally reviewed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Frequency and content analysis of chronic fatigue syndrome in medical text books.

PubMed

Jason, Leonard A; Paavola, Erin; Porter, Nicole; Morello, Morgan L

2010-01-01

Text books are a cornerstone in the training of medical staff and students, and they are an important source of references and reviews for these professionals. The objective of this study was to determine both the quantity and quality of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) information included in medical texts. After reviewing 119 medical text books from various medical specialties, we found that 48 (40.3%) of the medical text books included information on CFS. However, among the 129 527 total pages within these medical text books, the CFS content was presented on only 116.3 (0.090%) pages. Other illnesses that are less prevalent, such as multiple sclerosis and Lyme disease, were more frequently represented in medical text books. These findings suggest that the topic ofCFS is underreported in published medical text books.

[Contents of total anthocyanins and total saponins as well as composition of saponin monomers of Purple and Green Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma].

PubMed

Zhao, Chang-ling; Yang, Sheng-chao; Chen, Zhong-jian; Shen, Yong; Wei, Fu-gang; Wang, Wu; Long, Ting-ju

2014-10-01

The contents of total anthocyanins and total saponins as well as the composition of saponin monomers of Purple and Green Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma were studied to compare the medicinal quality and commercial values. Three-year-old Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma was selected as the research materials. The contents of total anthocyanins and total saponins were determined by spectrophotometry. The compositions of saponin monomers were monitored by HPLC. The significance of content differences was determined by variance analysis. The contents of total anthocyanins and total saponins of Purple Notoginseng Radix et Rhizomawere about 204.85% and 33.86% higher than those of Green Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma respectively. The Purple and Green Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma both contained five saponin monomers whose contents were as follows: ginsenoside Rg1 > ginsenoside Rb1 > notoginsenoside R1 > ginsenoside Rd > ginsenoside Re. The contents of notoginsenoside R1, ginsenoside Rd and ginsenoside Re of Purple Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma were about 16.03%, 10.83% and 5.39% higher than those of Green Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma respectively. However, the contents of ginsenoside Rg1 and ginsenoside Rb1 of Green Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma were about 0.93% and 3.33% higher than those of Purple Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma respectively. With respect to Green Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma, the increase of the total anthocyanins in Purple Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma reached a significant level, but the increases of total saponins, notoginsenoside R1, ginsenoside Rd and ginsenoside Re and the decreases of ginsenoside Rg1 and ginsenoside Rb1 did not. The total anthocyanins accumulation in Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma implies the content increases of the total saponins, notoginsenoside R1, ginsenoside Rd and ginsenoside Re, and the slight decreases of ginsenoside Rg1 and ginsenoside Rb1 contents; but the type and relative contents of saponin monomers remain unchanged. The medicinal quality and commercial value of Purple Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma are higher than those of Green Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma.

Case Studies of Factors Affecting the Motivation of Musical High Achievers to Learn Music in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Bo Wah; McPherson, Gary E.

2011-01-01

This article reports on the personal beliefs and attitudes of highly motivated Hong Kong school-age subjects who studied music. A total of 24 participants who demonstrated high achievement and interest in learning music were interviewed. Content analysis of the interview data was performed to elucidate four topics: background information about the…

5 CFR 2604.602 - Contents of annual OGE FOIA report.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...; (5) The median number of calendar days taken by OGE to process different types of requests; (6) The... administrative appeals made by persons under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6); (12) The result of such appeals; (13) The reason for the action upon each appeal that results in a denial of information; (14) The total amount of fees...

Size principle and information theory.

PubMed

Senn, W; Wyler, K; Clamann, H P; Kleinle, J; Lüscher, H R; Müller, L

1997-01-01

The motor units of a skeletal muscle may be recruited according to different strategies. From all possible recruitment strategies nature selected the simplest one: in most actions of vertebrate skeletal muscles the recruitment of its motor units is by increasing size. This so-called size principle permits a high precision in muscle force generation since small muscle forces are produced exclusively by small motor units. Larger motor units are activated only if the total muscle force has already reached certain critical levels. We show that this recruitment by size is not only optimal in precision but also optimal in an information theoretical sense. We consider the motoneuron pool as an encoder generating a parallel binary code from a common input to that pool. The generated motoneuron code is sent down through the motoneuron axons to the muscle. We establish that an optimization of this motoneuron code with respect to its information content is equivalent to the recruitment of motor units by size. Moreover, maximal information content of the motoneuron code is equivalent to a minimal expected error in muscle force generation.

Comprehensive transcriptome analysis and flavonoid profiling of Ginkgo leaves reveals flavonoid content alterations in day-night cycles.

PubMed

Ni, Jun; Dong, Lixiang; Jiang, Zhifang; Yang, Xiuli; Chen, Ziying; Wu, Yuhuan; Xu, Maojun

2018-01-01

Ginkgo leaves are raw materials for flavonoid extraction. Thus, the timing of their harvest is important to optimize the extraction efficiency, which benefits the pharmaceutical industry. In this research, we compared the transcriptomes of Ginkgo leaves harvested at midday and midnight. The differentially expressed genes with the highest probabilities in each step of flavonoid biosynthesis were down-regulated at midnight. Furthermore, real-time PCR corroborated the transcriptome results, indicating the decrease in flavonoid biosynthesis at midnight. The flavonoid profiles of Ginkgo leaves harvested at midday and midnight were compared, and the total flavonoid content decreased at midnight. A detailed analysis of individual flavonoids showed that most of their contents were decreased by various degrees. Our results indicated that circadian rhythms affected the flavonoid contents in Ginkgo leaves, which provides valuable information for optimizing their harvesting times to benefit the pharmaceutical industry.

Comparative assessment of sugar and malic acid composition in cultivated and wild apples.

PubMed

Ma, Baiquan; Chen, Jie; Zheng, Hongyu; Fang, Ting; Ogutu, Collins; Li, Shaohua; Han, Yuepeng; Wu, Benhong

2015-04-01

Soluble sugar and malic acid contents in mature fruits of 364 apple accessions were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Fructose and sucrose represented the major components of soluble sugars in cultivated fruits, whilst fructose and glucose were the major items of sugars in wild fruits. Wild fruits were significantly more acidic than cultivated fruits, whilst the average concentration of total sugars and sweetness index were quite similar between cultivated and wild fruits. Thus, our study suggests that fruit acidity rather than sweetness is likely to have undergone selection during apple domestication. Additionally, malic acid content was positively correlated with glucose content and negatively correlated with sucrose content. This suggests that selection of fruit acidity must have an effect on the proportion of sugar components in apple fruits. Our study provides information that could be helpful for future apple breeding. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous determination of polysaccharides and 21 nucleosides and amino acids in different tissues of Salvia miltiorrhiza from different areas by UV-visible spectrophotometry and UHPLC with triple quadrupole MS/MS.

PubMed

Xiang, Xiang; Sha, Xiuxiu; Su, Shulan; Zhu, Zhenhua; Guo, Sheng; Yan, Hui; Qian, Dawei; Duan, Jin-Ao

2018-03-01

Salvia miltiorrhiza, a traditional Chinese medicine, is a widely used herbal medicine to treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In this study, ultraviolet (UV)-visible spectrophotometry and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry analytical methods were used for rapid quantification of polysaccharides and 21 nucleosides and amino acids in S. miltiorrhiza to determine 17 samples of different tissues from different areas. Based on the total contents, hierarchical clustering analysis and principal components analysis were performed to classify these samples. The established methods were validated with good linearity, precision, repeatability, stability, and recovery. Chemical analysis revealed a higher content of total analytes in the sample of inflorescence from Nanjing (34.17 mg/g), sample of root and rhizome from Shaanxi (34.13 mg/g) and sample of stem and leaf from Nanjing (31.14 mg/g), respectively, indicating that root and rhizome from Shaanxi and the aerial parts from Nanjing exhibited the highest quality due to their highest content. In addition, contents of nucleosides and amino acids in the aerial parts (14.67 mg/g) were much higher than that in roots and rhizomes (9.17 mg/g). This study suggested that UV-visible spectrophotometry and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry are effective techniques to analyze polysaccharides, nucleosides, and amino acids in plants, and they provided valuable information for the development and utilization value of the aerial parts of S. miltiorrhiza. This analysis would also provide useful information for the quality control of S. miltiorrhiza. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

HealthRecSys: A semantic content-based recommender system to complement health videos.

PubMed

Sanchez Bocanegra, Carlos Luis; Sevillano Ramos, Jose Luis; Rizo, Carlos; Civit, Anton; Fernandez-Luque, Luis

2017-05-15

The Internet, and its popularity, continues to grow at an unprecedented pace. Watching videos online is very popular; it is estimated that 500 h of video are uploaded onto YouTube, a video-sharing service, every minute and that, by 2019, video formats will comprise more than 80% of Internet traffic. Health-related videos are very popular on YouTube, but their quality is always a matter of concern. One approach to enhancing the quality of online videos is to provide additional educational health content, such as websites, to support health consumers. This study investigates the feasibility of building a content-based recommender system that links health consumers to reputable health educational websites from MedlinePlus for a given health video from YouTube. The dataset for this study includes a collection of health-related videos and their available metadata. Semantic technologies (such as SNOMED-CT and Bio-ontology) were used to recommend health websites from MedlinePlus. A total of 26 healths professionals participated in evaluating 253 recommended links for a total of 53 videos about general health, hypertension, or diabetes. The relevance of the recommended health websites from MedlinePlus to the videos was measured using information retrieval metrics such as the normalized discounted cumulative gain and precision at K. The majority of websites recommended by our system for health videos were relevant, based on ratings by health professionals. The normalized discounted cumulative gain was between 46% and 90% for the different topics. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of using a semantic content-based recommender system to enrich YouTube health videos. Evaluation with end-users, in addition to healthcare professionals, will be required to identify the acceptance of these recommendations in a nonsimulated information-seeking context.

The dependence of the growth rate and meat content of young boars on semen parameters and conception rate.

PubMed

Knecht, D; Jankowska-Mąkosa, A; Duziński, K

2017-05-01

Boars have a decisive impact on the progress in pig production, however, there is no recent information about the optimal growth parameters during the rearing period for modern breed later used in artificial insemination (AI) stations. Therefore, the objective of the research was to conduct semen parameter and conception rate analyses on the basis of growth rate and meat content assessments made during the rearing of AI boars of different genotypes. The study was carried out between 2010 and 2014 and included 184 boars in five breed combinations: 46 Polish Large White, 50 Polish Landrace, 27 Pietrain, 36 Duroc×Pietrain and 25 Hampshire×Pietrain. Boars were qualified by daily gains and meat content assessment (between 170 and 210 days of life). A total number of 38 272 ejaculates were examined (semen volume (ml), spermatozoa concentration (×106 ml-1), total number of spermatozoa (×109) and number of insemination doses from one ejaculate (n)). The fertility was determined by the conception rate (%). Semen volume, spermatozoa concentration and conception rate (P<0.01), followed by the total number of spermatozoa and insemination doses (P<0.05) were characterized by the highest variability in relation to breed of boars. The effect of daily gains was reported for spermatozoa concentration, number of insemination doses, conception rate (all P<0.01) and total number of spermatozoa (P<0.05). The peak of growth for spermatozoa concentration, total number of spermatozoa, insemination doses and conception rate was achieved for 800 to 850 g gains. Meat content affected semen volume, number of insemination doses and conception rate (P<0.05). Rearing boars while maintaining daily gains at the 800 to 850 g level and 62.5% to 65% meat content helps AI stations to increase the efficiency and economic profitability, and the number of insemination doses to increase by up to 300 doses/boar within a year. The analyses of growth parameters may help increase the efficiency and economic viability of AI stations.

Coupled liquid chromatography-gas chromatography for the rapid analysis of gamma-oryzanol in rice lipids.

PubMed

Miller, Andreas; Frenzel, Thomas; Schmarr, Hans-Georg; Engel, Karl-Heinz

2003-01-24

An approach based on on-line coupled liquid chromatography-gas chromatography (LC-GC) was developed for the rapid analysis of gamma-oryzanol in rice. Total lipids were extracted from rice and subjected to LC-GC without any prior purification. gamma-Oryzanol was pre-separated by HPLC from rice lipids and transferred on-line to GC analysis in order to separate its major constituents. 24-methylenecycloartanyl ferulate, cycloartenyl ferulate, campesteryl ferulate, beta-sitosteryl ferulate and campestanyl ferulate. The identities of the compounds were confirmed by off-line GC-MS analysis. Total gamma-oryzanol content could be quantified by HPLC-UV detection and the distribution of gamma-oryzanol constituents could be determined by on-line coupled GC analysis. The proposed methodology paves the way for high-throughput investigations providing information on natural variations in gamma-oryzanol content and its composition in different rice varieties.

Total mercury in muscles and liver of Mugil spp. from three coastal lagoons of NW Mexico: concentrations and risk assessment.

PubMed

Delgado-Alvarez, C G; Frías-Espericueta, M G; Ruelas-Inzunza, J; Becerra-Álvarez, M J; Osuna-Martínez, C C; Aguilar-Juárez, M; Osuna-López, J I; Escobar-Sánchez, O; Voltolina, D

2017-07-01

Total mercury (Hg) concentrations were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in muscles and liver of composite samples of Mugil cephalus and M. curema collected during November 2013 and in January, April, and July 2014 from the coastal lagoons Altata-Ensenada del Pabellón (AEP), Ceuta (CEU), and Teacapán-Agua Brava (TAG) of Sinaloa State. The mean Hg contents and information on local consumption were used to assess the possible risk caused by fish ingestion. Mean total mercury levels in the muscles ranged from 0.11 to 0.39 μg/g, while the range for liver was 0.12-3.91 μg/g. The mean Hg content of the liver was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than that of the muscles only in samples collected from AEP. Although total Hg levels in the muscles were lower than the official permissible limit, the HQ values for methyl mercury calculated for the younger age classes of one fishing community were >1, indicating a possible risk for some fishing communities of the Mexican Pacific coast.

LC-ICP-MS analysis of arsenic compounds in dominant seaweeds from the Thermaikos Gulf (Northern Aegean Sea, Greece).

PubMed

Pell, Albert; Kokkinis, Giannis; Malea, Paraskevi; Pergantis, Spiros A; Rubio, Roser; López-Sánchez, José Fermín

2013-11-01

The content of total arsenic and arsenic compounds in the dominant seaweed species in the Thermaikos Gulf, Northern Aegean Sea was determined in samples collected in different seasons. Total arsenic was determined by acid digestion followed by ICP-MS. Arsenic speciation was analyzed by water extraction followed by LC-ICP-MS. Total arsenic concentrations in the seaweeds ranged from 1.39 to 55.0 mg kg(-1). Cystoseira species and Codium fragile showed the highest total As contents, while Ulva species (U. intestinalis, U. rigida,U. fasciata) had the lowest Arsenosugars, the most common arsenic species in seaweeds, were found in all samples, and glycerol-arsenosugar was the most common form; however, phosphate-arsenosugar and sulfate-arsenosugar were also present. Inorganic arsenic was measured in seven algae species and detected in another. Arsenate was the most abundant species in Cystoseira barbata (27.0 mg kg(-1)). Arsenobetaine was measured in only one sample. Methylated arsenic species were measured at very low concentrations. The information should contribute to further understanding the presence of arsenic compounds in dominant seaweeds from the Thermaikos Gulf. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determination of the floral origin of some Romanian honeys on the basis of physical and biochemical properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cimpoiu, Claudia; Hosu, Anamaria; Miclaus, Vasile; Puscas, Anitta

The aim of this study was to determine the physical and biochemical properties of some Romanian honeys in order to discriminate between their floral origins. The evaluated properties were total phenolic content, total protein content, total free amino acids content, color intensity (ABS450), pH, ash content, antioxidant activity. Twenty-six commercial honeys from six types of flowers (acacia, sunflower, forest, polyfloral, lime and Sea Buckthorn) were investigated. All samples showed considerable variations with reference to their properties. The properties values were in the range of approved limits (according to EU legislation). The total phenolic, total protein and total free amino acids contents and color intensity varied considerably. Similarly, forest honey had the highest antioxidant activity while the lowest was found in acacia honey. Correlation between the floral origin of honeys and the physical and biochemical properties, respectively, was observed. Moreover, this study demonstrates remarkable variation in DPPH scavenging activity and content of total phenols in honey, depending on its botanic source.

Total and soluble oxalate content of some Indian spices.

PubMed

Ghosh Das, Sumana; Savage, G P

2012-06-01

Spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander and turmeric are used all over the world as flavouring and colouring ingredients in Indian foods. Previous studies have shown that spices contain variable amounts of total oxalates but there are few reports of soluble oxalate contents. In this study, the total, soluble and insoluble oxalate contents of ten different spices commonly used in Indian cuisine were measured. Total oxalate content ranged from 194 (nutmeg) to 4,014 (green cardamom) mg/100 g DM, while the soluble oxalate contents ranged from 41 (nutmeg) to 3,977 (green cardamom) mg/100 g DM. Overall, the percentage of soluble oxalate content of the spices ranged from 4.7 to 99.1% of the total oxalate content which suggests that some spices present no risk to people liable to kidney stone formation, while other spices can supply significant amounts of soluble oxalates and therefore should be used in moderation.

A content analysis of Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) strategies for communicating about clinical research participation online.

PubMed

Flood-Grady, Elizabeth; Paige, Samantha R; Karimipour, Nicki; Harris, Paul A; Cottler, Linda B; Krieger, Janice L

2017-12-01

There is a dearth of literature providing guidance on how to effectively communicate about clinical research (CR). Using the transactional model of communication, a content analysis of the investigator (n=62) and participant (n=18) Web sites of institutions funded through the National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) was conducted to identify their strategies (e.g., messages) for communicating about CR participation. CTSAs targeted investigators with CR participation content across the main Web sites, although most CTSAs (n=55; 88.7%) also included CR participation content for participants. In total, 18 CTSAs (29%) hosted participant Web sites. Participant sites included 13 message types about CR participation (e.g., registry enrollment) and 5 additional channels (e.g., email, phone number) to communicate about CR. However, many CTSA participant Web sites excluded information explaining the CR process and offered CR content exclusively in English. CTSAs should identify their target audience and design strategies (e.g., messages, channels) accordingly.

Linear models for calculating digestibile energy for sheep diets.

PubMed

Fonnesbeck, P V; Christiansen, M L; Harris, L E

1981-05-01

Equations for estimating the digestible energy (DE) content of sheep diets were generated from the chemical contents and a factorial description of diets fed to lambs in digestion trials. The diet factors were two forages (alfalfa and grass hay), harvested at three stages of maturity (late vegetative, early bloom and full bloom), fed in two ingredient combinations (all hay or a 50:50 hay and corn grain mixture) and prepared by two forage texture processes (coarsely chopped or finely chopped and pelleted). The 2 x 3 x 2 x 2 factorial arrangement produced 24 diet treatments. These were replicated twice, for a total of 48 lamb digestion trials. In model 1 regression equations, DE was calculated directly from chemical composition of the diet. In model 2, regression equations predicted the percentage of digested nutrient from the chemical contents of the diet and then DE of the diet was calculated as the sum of the gross energy of the digested organic components. Expanded forms of model 1 and model 2 were also developed that included diet factors as qualitative indicator variables to adjust the regression constant and regression coefficients for the diet description. The expanded forms of the equations accounted for significantly more variation in DE than did the simple models and more accurately estimated DE of the diet. Information provided by the diet description proved as useful as chemical analyses for the prediction of digestibility of nutrients. The statistics indicate that, with model 1, neutral detergent fiber and plant cell wall analyses provided as much information for the estimation of DE as did model 2 with the combined information from crude protein, available carbohydrate, total lipid, cellulose and hemicellulose. Regression equations are presented for estimating DE with the most currently analyzed organic components, including linear and curvilinear variables and diet factors that significantly reduce the standard error of the estimate. To estimate De of a diet, the user utilizes the equation that uses the chemical analysis information and diet description most effectively.

Content analysis of press coverage during the H1N1 influenza pandemic in Germany 2009-2010.

PubMed

Husemann, Sabine; Fischer, Florian

2015-04-15

The H1N1 influenza pandemic occurred in Germany between April 2009 and August 2010. Pandemics often lead to uncertainty amongst the public and so risk communication on health-related issues is one of the key areas of action for health authorities and other healthcare institutions. The mass media may contribute to risk communication, so this study analysed press coverage during the H1N1 pandemic in Germany. A comprehensive analysis of the press coverage during the H1N1 pandemic was conducted in two steps. First, a temporal analysis was carried out of newspaper articles over the entire course of the pandemic, a total of 15,353 articles. The newspaper articles were obtained from the database Nexis. The total number of articles about the influenza pandemic during each individual week was plotted against the number of incident influenza cases during that week. Second, a quantitative content analysis of 140 newspaper articles from selected dates was conducted. This study indicates that media awareness seems to be strongly related to the actual situation in the pandemic, because changes in the number of infected people were associated with nearly identical changes in the number of newspaper articles. Few articles contained information on the agent of the influenza or support measures. Information on vaccination was included in 32.9% of all articles. Almost half of the articles (48.6%) used case reports. Fear appeals were used in only 10.7% of the newspaper articles; 32.9% of the articles contained the message characteristic "self-efficacy". The newspaper articles that were analysed in the content analysis included different information and message characteristics. The extent of information provided differed during the pandemic. As current research indicates, the use of message characteristics such as fear appeals and self-efficacy, which were also included in the analysed newspaper articles, can help to make health messages effective.

The Galloyl Catechins Contributing to Main Antioxidant Capacity of Tea Made from Camellia sinensis in China

PubMed Central

Zhao, Chunjian; Li, Chunying; Liu, Shuaihua; Yang, Lei

2014-01-01

Total polyphenol content, catechins content, and antioxidant capacities of green, dark, oolong, and black teas made from Camellia sinensis in China were evaluated. The total polyphenol content of 20 samples of tea was in the range of 7.82–32.36%. Total catechins content was in the range of 4.34–24.27%. The antioxidant capacity of tea extract was determined by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) test and the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging test. Total polyphenol content, catechins content, and antioxidant capacity decreased in the following order: green > oolong > black > dark tea. A positive correlation existed between the antioxidant capacity and total polyphenol content or catechins content (R 2 = 0.67–0.87). The antioxidant capacities of five major catechins (epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epicatechin gallate (ECG), epicatechin, epigallocatechin, and catechin) were determined by online HPLC DPPH radical-scavenging; the antioxidant activity of tea was mainly attributed to the esterified catechins (EGCG or ECG). PMID:25243234

Comparative study of the nutritional composition and toxic elements of farmed and wild Chanodichthys mongolicus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Haifeng; Cheng, Xiaofei; Geng, Longwu; Tang, Shizhan; Tong, Guangxiang; Xu, Wei

2017-07-01

Information of the difference in quality between farmed and wild fish is central to better ensuring fish products produced in aquaculture meet regulatory and consumer requirements. Proximate composition, amino acid and fatty acid profiles, and toxic elements contents of farmed and wild Chanodichthys mongolicus were established and compared. Significantly higher crude protein content while lower moisture content in farmed fish compared to wild fish were observed ( P<0.05). The percentages of total amino acids (TAA), total essential amino acids (TEAA), total non-essential amino acids (TNEAA) and total delicious amino acids (TDAA) in farmed fish were all significantly higher than those in the wild equivalent ( P<0.05). Compared to the FAO/WHO recommended reference values, the ratios of TEAA/TAA (39.84%-40.33%) were comparable to 40% and TEAA / TNEAA (66.22%-67.60%) were above 60%. Fatty acid profiles in both farmed and wild C. mongolicus were dominated by monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA), with farmed fish contained much more MUFA content compared to wild counterpart ( P<0.05). Notably, wild fish exhibited significantly higher levels of total polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) than farmed fish ( P<0.05). The EPA (C20:5n3) and linoleic acid (C18:2n6) were the predominant PUFA in wild and farmed C. mongolicus, respectively. Moreover, farmed fish displayed an overall lower toxic element levels (As, Cd, Pb and Hg) in comparison with wild fish, and both were far lower than the established limit standard. In conclusion, our results suggest that the nutritional quality of farmed C. mongolicus was inferior to their wild counterpart with respect to fatty acids nutrition, and therefore further studies should focus on the improving C. mongolicus diet in order to enhance the overall nutritional composition.

[Seasonal changes and response to stress of total flavonoids content of Farfugium japonicum].

PubMed

Cui, Dalian; Ma, Yuxin

2013-05-01

To investigate the seasonal variation of total flavonoid content of Farfugium japonicum and its response to stress. The total flavonoids of Farfugium japonicum were determined by spectrophotometry in different seasons and under various stressful factors. The total flavonoid content in Farfugium japonicum leaves was the highest, followed by the petiole, and rhizomes (P<0.05). The total flavonoid content in the leaves in December was higher than that in other months; that in the petiole and rhizome fluctuated in different seasons (P<0.05). As the light intensity enhanced, the total flavonoids in Farfugium japonicum leaves, petioles, rhizomes showed a downward trend. With the increase of water stress, the total flavonoid content in Farfugium japonicum leaves gradually increased, that in petiole first increased and then decreased,while that in rhizomes decreased (P<0.05). With the salt stress, the total flavonoid content in leaves, petioles and rhizomes of Farfugium japonicum showed a decreasing trend (P<0.05). With the increasing of temperature, the total flavonoid content in the leaves showed a gradually increasing trend; that in petiole first decreased and then increased,while that in the rhizomes first increased and then decreased (P<0.05). The total flavonoids of Farfugium japonicum fluctuate with the change of seasons and that in different parts of the plant has different responses to ecological stressful factors.

40 CFR 60.4360 - How do I determine the total sulfur content of the turbine's combustion fuel?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... content of the turbine's combustion fuel? 60.4360 Section 60.4360 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... Standards of Performance for Stationary Combustion Turbines Monitoring § 60.4360 How do I determine the total sulfur content of the turbine's combustion fuel? You must monitor the total sulfur content of the...

40 CFR 60.4360 - How do I determine the total sulfur content of the turbine's combustion fuel?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... content of the turbine's combustion fuel? 60.4360 Section 60.4360 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... Standards of Performance for Stationary Combustion Turbines Monitoring § 60.4360 How do I determine the total sulfur content of the turbine's combustion fuel? You must monitor the total sulfur content of the...

40 CFR 60.4360 - How do I determine the total sulfur content of the turbine's combustion fuel?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... content of the turbine's combustion fuel? 60.4360 Section 60.4360 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... Standards of Performance for Stationary Combustion Turbines Monitoring § 60.4360 How do I determine the total sulfur content of the turbine's combustion fuel? You must monitor the total sulfur content of the...

40 CFR 60.4360 - How do I determine the total sulfur content of the turbine's combustion fuel?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... content of the turbine's combustion fuel? 60.4360 Section 60.4360 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... Standards of Performance for Stationary Combustion Turbines Monitoring § 60.4360 How do I determine the total sulfur content of the turbine's combustion fuel? You must monitor the total sulfur content of the...

40 CFR 60.4360 - How do I determine the total sulfur content of the turbine's combustion fuel?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... content of the turbine's combustion fuel? 60.4360 Section 60.4360 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL... Standards of Performance for Stationary Combustion Turbines Monitoring § 60.4360 How do I determine the total sulfur content of the turbine's combustion fuel? You must monitor the total sulfur content of the...

Surfing for scoliosis: the quality of information available on the Internet.

PubMed

Mathur, Sameer; Shanti, Nael; Brkaric, Mario; Sood, Vivek; Kubeck, Justin; Paulino, Carl; Merola, Andrew A

2005-12-01

A cross section of Web sites accessible to the general public was surveyed. To evaluate the quality and accuracy of information on scoliosis that a patient might access on the Internet. The Internet is a rapidly expanding communications network with an estimated 765 million users worldwide by the year 2005. Medical information is one of the most common sources of inquires on the Web. More than 100 million Americans accessed the Internet for medical information in the year 2000. Undoubtedly, the use of the Internet for patient information needs will continue to expand as Internet access becomes more readily available. This expansion combined with the Internet's poorly regulated format can lead to problems in the quality of information available. Since the Internet operates on a global scale, implementing and enforcing standards have been difficult. The largely uncontrolled information can potentially negatively influence consumer health outcomes. To identify potential sites, five search engines were selected and the word "scoliosis" was entered into each search engine. A total of 50 Web sites were chosen for review. Each Web site was evaluated according to the type of Web site, quality content, and informational accuracy by three board-certified academic orthopedic surgeons, fellowship trained in spinal surgery, who each has been in practice for a minimum of 8 years. Each Web site was categorized as academic, commercial, physician, nonphysician health professional, and unidentified. In addition, each Web site was evaluated according to scoliosis-specific content using a point value system of 32 disease-specific key words pertinent to the care of scoliosis on an ordinal scale. A list of these words is given. Point values were given for the use of key words related to disease summary, classifications, treatment options, and complications. The accuracy of the individual Web site was evaluated by each spine surgeon using a scale of 1 to 4. A score of 1 represents that the examiner agreed with less than 25% of the information while a score of 4 represents greater than 75% agreement. Of the total 50 Web sites evaluated, 44% were academic, 18% were physician based, 16% were commercial, 12% were unidentified, and 10% were nonphysician health professionals. The quality content score (maximum, 32 points) for academic sites was 12.6 +/- 3.8, physician sites 11.3 +/- 4.0, commercial sites 11 +/- 4.2, unidentified 7.6 +/- 3.9, and nonphysician health professional site 7.0 +/- 1.8. The accuracy score (maximum, 12 points) was 6.6 +/- 2.4 for academic sites, 6.3 +/- 3.0 for physician-professional sites, 6.0 +/- 2.7 for unidentified sites, 5.5 +/- 3.8 for nonphysician professional sites, and 5.0 +/- 1.5 for commercial Web sites. The academic Web sites had the highest mean scores in both quality and accuracy content scores. The information about scoliosis on the Internet is of limited quality and poor information value. Although the majority of the Web sites were academic, the content quality and accuracy scores were still poor. The lowest scoring Web sites were the nonphysician professionals and the unidentified sites, which were often message boards. Overall, the highest scoring Web site related to both quality and accuracy of information was www.srs.org. This Web site was designed by the Scoliosis Research Society. The public and the medical communities need to be aware of these existing limitations of the Internet. Based on our review, the physician must assume primary responsibility of educating and counseling their patients.

Evaluation of educational content of YouTube videos relating to neurogenic bladder and intermittent catheterization.

PubMed

Ho, Matthew; Stothers, Lynn; Lazare, Darren; Tsang, Brian; Macnab, Andrew

2015-01-01

Many patients conduct internet searches to manage their own health problems, to decide if they need professional help, and to corroborate information given in a clinical encounter. Good information can improve patients' understanding of their condition and their self-efficacy. Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) featuring neurogenic bladder (NB) require knowledge and skills related to their condition and need for intermittent catheterization (IC). Information quality was evaluated in videos accessed via YouTube relating to NB and IC using search terms "neurogenic bladder intermittent catheter" and "spinal cord injury intermittent catheter." Video content was independently rated by 3 investigators using criteria based on European Urological Association (EAU) guidelines and established clinical practice. In total, 71 videos met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 12 (17%) addressed IC and 50 (70%) contained information on NB. The remaining videos met inclusion criteria, but did not contain information relevant to either IC or NB. Analysis indicated poor overall quality of information, with some videos with information contradictory to EAU guidelines for IC. High-quality videos were randomly distributed by YouTube. IC videos featuring a healthcare narrator scored significantly higher than patient-narrated videos, but not higher than videos with a merchant narrator. About half of the videos contained commercial content. Some good-quality educational videos about NB and IC are available on YouTube, but most are poor. The videos deemed good quality were not prominently ranked by the YouTube search algorithm, consequently user access is less likely. Study limitations include the limit of 50 videos per category and the use of a de novo rating tool. Information quality in videos with healthcare narrators was not higher than in those featuring merchant narrators. Better material is required to improve patients' understanding of their condition.

Improving semi-text-independent method of writer verification using difference vector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xin; Ding, Xiaoqing

2009-01-01

The semi-text-independent method of writer verification based on the linear framework is a method that can use all characters of two handwritings to discriminate the writers in the condition of knowing the text contents. The handwritings are allowed to just have small numbers of even totally different characters. This fills the vacancy of the classical text-dependent methods and the text-independent methods of writer verification. Moreover, the information, what every character is, is used for the semi-text-independent method in this paper. Two types of standard templates, generated from many writer-unknown handwritten samples and printed samples of each character, are introduced to represent the content information of each character. The difference vectors of the character samples are gotten by subtracting the standard templates from the original feature vectors and used to replace the original vectors in the process of writer verification. By removing a large amount of content information and remaining the style information, the verification accuracy of the semi-text-independent method is improved. On a handwriting database involving 30 writers, when the query handwriting and the reference handwriting are composed of 30 distinct characters respectively, the average equal error rate (EER) of writer verification reaches 9.96%. And when the handwritings contain 50 characters, the average EER falls to 6.34%, which is 23.9% lower than the EER of not using the difference vectors.

Comparison of the Proximate Composition, Total Carotenoids and Total Polyphenol Content of Nine Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato Varieties Grown in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Alam, Mohammad Khairul; Rana, Ziaul Hasan; Islam, Sheikh Nazrul

2016-09-14

In an attempt to develop the food composition table for Bangladesh, the nutritional composition of nine varieties of orange-fleshed sweet potato was analyzed together with total carotenoids (TCC) and total polyphenol content (TPC). Each variety showed significant variation in different nutrient contents. The quantification of the TCC and TPC was done by spectrophotometric measurement, and the proximate composition was done by the AOAC method. The obtained results showed that total polyphenol content varied from 94.63 to 136.05 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/100 g fresh weight. Among the selected sweet potatoes, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Sweet Potato 7 (SP7) contained the highest, whereas BARI SP6 contained the lowest amount of total polyphenol content. The obtained results also revealed that total carotenoids content ranged from 0.38 to 7.24 mg/100 g fresh weight. BARI SP8 showed the highest total carotenoids content, whereas BARI SP6 showed the lowest. Total carotenoids content was found to be higher in dark orange-colored flesh varieties than their light-colored counterparts. The results of the study indicated that selected sweet potato varieties are rich in protein and carbohydrate, low in fat, high in polyphenol and carotenoids and, thus, could be a good source of dietary antioxidants to prevent free radical damage, which leads to chronic diseases, and also to prevent vitamin A malnutrition.

Comparison of the Proximate Composition, Total Carotenoids and Total Polyphenol Content of Nine Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato Varieties Grown in Bangladesh

PubMed Central

Alam, Mohammad Khairul; Rana, Ziaul Hasan; Islam, Sheikh Nazrul

2016-01-01

In an attempt to develop the food composition table for Bangladesh, the nutritional composition of nine varieties of orange-fleshed sweet potato was analyzed together with total carotenoids (TCC) and total polyphenol content (TPC). Each variety showed significant variation in different nutrient contents. The quantification of the TCC and TPC was done by spectrophotometric measurement, and the proximate composition was done by the AOAC method. The obtained results showed that total polyphenol content varied from 94.63 to 136.05 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/100 g fresh weight. Among the selected sweet potatoes, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Sweet Potato 7 (SP7) contained the highest, whereas BARI SP6 contained the lowest amount of total polyphenol content. The obtained results also revealed that total carotenoids content ranged from 0.38 to 7.24 mg/100 g fresh weight. BARI SP8 showed the highest total carotenoids content, whereas BARI SP6 showed the lowest. Total carotenoids content was found to be higher in dark orange-colored flesh varieties than their light-colored counterparts. The results of the study indicated that selected sweet potato varieties are rich in protein and carbohydrate, low in fat, high in polyphenol and carotenoids and, thus, could be a good source of dietary antioxidants to prevent free radical damage, which leads to chronic diseases, and also to prevent vitamin A malnutrition. PMID:28231159

Polyamines in foods: development of a food database

PubMed Central

Ali, Mohamed Atiya; Poortvliet, Eric; Strömberg, Roger; Yngve, Agneta

2011-01-01

Background Knowing the levels of polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) in different foods is of interest due to the association of these bioactive nutrients to health and diseases. There is a lack of relevant information on their contents in foods. Objective To develop a food polyamine database from published data by which polyamine intake and food contribution to this intake can be estimated, and to determine the levels of polyamines in Swedish dairy products. Design Extensive literature search and laboratory analysis of selected Swedish dairy products. Polyamine contents in foods were collected using an extensive literature search of databases. Polyamines in different types of Swedish dairy products (milk with different fat percentages, yogurt, cheeses, and sour milk) were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with a UV detector. Results Fruits and cheese were the highest sources of putrescine, while vegetables and meat products were found to be rich in spermidine and spermine, respectively. The content of polyamines in cheese varied considerably between studies. In analyzed Swedish dairy products, matured cheese had the highest total polyamine contents with values of 52.3, 1.2, and 2.6 mg/kg for putrescine, spermidine, and spermine, respectively. Low fat milk had higher putrescine and spermidine, 1.2 and 1.0 mg/kg, respectively, than the other types of milk. Conclusions The database aids other researchers in their quest for information regarding polyamine intake from foods. Connecting the polyamine contents in food with the Swedish Food Database allows for estimation of polyamine contents per portion. PMID:21249159

Patient information materials in general practices and promotion of health literacy: an observational study of their effectiveness.

PubMed

Protheroe, Joanne; Estacio, Emee Vida; Saidy-Khan, Sirandou

2015-03-01

Government policy in the UK emphasises providing patients with good health information to encourage participation in their health care. Patient information leaflets (PILs) form part of this policy and have been shown to affect patient health outcomes; however, many are poorly written. To describe the PILs in general practice surgeries in Stoke-on-Trent in terms of readability and variety of content. An observational study of randomly selected GP practices (n = 17) across Stoke-on-Trent. PILs were assessed for readability (Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level) and compared with national skills level data and with the recommended level for medical information. The PILs were also categorised for content using the Rudd (2007) health material classification framework. A total of 345 PILs were collected and assessed. Only 24.3% meet recommended reading-level criteria. Compared with national skills levels, over 75% of the PILs collected were too complex for at least 15% of the English population. Of the PILs, 47.8% were classified as 'systems navigation' (information regarding services); 22.9% were disease prevention (screening and immunisations); 14.2% personal and public safety; and less than 10% were for managing illness or health promotion. Current PILs in general practices do not all promote health literacy. Information only accessible to a proportion of higher skilled patients may increase inequalities in health. Less than 10% of PILs promote managing illness or healthy lifestyles. Processes must be put in place to improve the readability and variety of content of PILs in GP practices. © British Journal of General Practice 2015.

The effect of temperature and extraction period of time on the chemicals content of emprit ginger ethanol extract (Zingiber officinale var. Rubrum)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ratnaningrum, Diah; Endah, Een Sri; Pudjiraharti, Sri

2017-01-01

Research on extraction method of emprit ginger using ethanol with agitation of 100 rpm at different temperatures (ambient temperature, 40, and 50°C) and various extraction period of times (30, 60, and 90 minutes) was conducted. Analysis of chemicals content i.e. total phenolic and total flavonoid. The objective of this work was to study the effect of temperatures and extraction period of times on the chemicals content of its ethanol extract. Based on the results of the test, the highest content total flavonoid (5.17% w/w) was resulted at 40°C for 90 minutes, while the total phenolic content was not affected by either temperature or extraction period of times used. The content of total phenolic was around 2.39% to 2.65% w/w.

Evaluation of seed chemical quality traits and sensory properties of natto soybean.

PubMed

Yoshikawa, Yoko; Chen, Pengyin; Zhang, Bo; Scaboo, Andrew; Orazaly, Moldir

2014-06-15

Natto is a popular soyfood in Japan, and the U.S. is the largest supplier of natto soybeans. However, information on natto seed chemical and sensory properties is very limited. The objectives of this study were to evaluate differences of seed chemical and sensory properties among natto types and determine heritability and correlation. A total of 15 small-seeded natto genotypes (three superior, nine moderate and three inferior) were evaluated for protein, oil, calcium, manganese, boron and sugar content and processed into a natto product to evaluate appearance, stickiness, flavor, texture and shelf-life. The superior natto group had a higher sugar content but lower protein plus oil, calcium, manganese and boron content than other two groups. Most seed quality traits exhibited high heritability. The natto sensory preference was positively correlated with sucrose and oil content, but negatively correlated with seed hardness, protein, protein plus oil, calcium, manganese, and boron contents. Selecting soybean lines with low protein, protein plus oil, calcium, manganese, and boron content while with high sucrose will be an effective approach for soybean breeding for natto production. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Preparation of black soybean (Glycine max L) extract with enhanced levels of phenolic compound and estrogenic activity using high hydrostatic pressure and pre-germination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Min Young; Jang, Gwi Yeong; Lee, Sang Hoon; Kim, Kyung Mi; Lee, Junsoo; Jeong, Heon Sang

2018-04-01

We investigated the influence of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment on the estrogenic properties and conversion of the phenolic compounds in germinated black soybean. The black soybean was germinated for two- or four-days, and then subjected to HHP at 0.1, 50, 100, or 150 MPa for 12 or 24 h. The highest total polyphenol content (3.9 mg GAE/g), flavonoid content (0.8 mg CE/g), phenolic acid content (940 ± 18.96 μg/g), and isoflavonone content (2600 μg/g) were observed after germination for four days and HHP treatment at 100 MPa for 24 h. In terms of isoflavone composition, the malonyl, acetyl and β-glycoside contents decreased, while the aglycone content increased with HHP. The highest proliferative effect (150%) is observed at four days germination and HHP treatment at 100 MPa. These results suggest that application of HHP may provide useful information regarding the utility of black soybean as alternative hormone replacement therapy.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR METABOLIC ASSAY

DOEpatents

Tolbert, B.M.; Kirk, M.R.; Baker, E.M.

1961-09-19

A method and instrumentation are described for producing an instuntuneous and continuous curve of the rate at which any selected carbon- containing substance is metabolized by a living subject. The substance is prepared with a known proportion of C/sup 14/ and, after administration, the C/ sup 14/ content of the subject's exhalations is continuously monitored along with the total C0/sub 2/ content thereof. The resulting data are continuously compared and displayed in graphical form to give the desired metabolic information. The invention includes specialized radiation counting means as well as means for assuring exact synchronization of the C/sup 14/ and C0/sub 2/ signals.

Effect of cold storage on total phenolics content, antioxidant activity and vitamin C level of selected potato clones.

PubMed

Külen, Oktay; Stushnoff, Cecil; Holm, David G

2013-08-15

Twelve Colorado-grown specialty potato clones were evaluated for total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and ascorbic acid content at harvest and after 2, 4, 6 and 7 months cold storage at 4 °C. Potato clones were categorized as pigmented ('CO97226-2R/R', 'CO99364-3R/R', 'CO97215-2P/P', 'CO97216-3P/P', 'CO97227-2P/P', 'CO97222-1R/R', 'Purple Majesty', 'Mountain Rose' and 'All Blue'), yellow ('Yukon Gold') and white fleshed ('Russet Nugget', 'Russet Burbank'). Folin-Ciocalteu reagent was used to estimate total phenolic content, and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS(•+) ) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH(•) ) radical scavenging assays were used to estimate antioxidant capacity. Pigmented potato genotypes had significantly higher total phenolic content and antioxidant activity at all data points than yellow- and white-fleshed cultivars. Vitamin C content was higher in 'Yukon Gold' than in the other clones. The highest level of vitamin C in all clones was at harvest and after 2 months in cold storage. Vitamin C content in all potato clones dropped rapidly with longer intervals of cold storage. Although total phenolic content and antioxidant activity fluctuated during cold storage, after 7 months of cold storage their levels were slightly higher than at harvest. Total phenolic content was better correlated with Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC)/ABTS(•+) than the TEAC/DPPH(•) radical scavenging assay. Pigmented potato clones had significantly higher total phenolic content and antioxidant activity, while the yellow-fleshed potato cultivar 'Yukon Gold' had significantly higher vitamin C content. Vitamin C content decreased in all potato clones during cold storage, while total phenolics increased in pigmented clones. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Accessibility, availability, and quality of online information for US radiation oncology residencies.

PubMed

Wakefield, Daniel V; Manole, Bogdan A; Jethanandani, Amit; May, Michael E; Marcrom, Samuel R; Farmer, Michael R; Ballo, Matthew T; VanderWalde, Noam A

2016-01-01

Radiation oncology (RO) residency applicants commonly use Internet resources for information on residency programs. The purpose of this study is to assess the accessibility, availability, and quality of online information for RO graduate medical education. Accessibility of online information was determined by surveying databases for RO residency programs within the Fellowship Residency Electronic Interactive Data Access System (FREIDA) of the American Medical Association, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and Google search. As of June 30, 2015, websites were assessed for presence, accessibility, and overall content availability based on a 55-item list of desired features based on 13 program features important to previously surveyed applicants. Quality scoring of available content was performed based on previously published Likert scale variables deemed desirable to RO applicants. Quality score labels were given based on percentage of desired information presented. FREIDA and ACGME databases listed 89% and 98% of program websites, respectively, but only 56% and 52% of links routed to a RO department-specific website, respectively. Google search obtained websites for 98% of programs and 95% of links routed to RO department-specific websites. The majority of websites had program descriptions (98%) and information on staff. However, resident information was more limited (total number [42%], education [47%], previous residents [28%], positions available [35%], contact information [13%]). Based on quality scoring, program websites contained only 47% of desired information on average. Only 13% of programs had superior websites containing 80% or more of desired information. Compared with Google, the FREIDA and ACGME program databases provide limited access to RO residency websites. The overall information availability and quality of information within RO residency websites varies widely. Applicants and programs may benefit from improved content accessibility and quality from US RO program websites in the residency application process. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A New Method to Classify Injury Severity by Diagnosis: Validation using Workers' Compensation and Trauma Registry Data

PubMed Central

Sears, Jeanne M.; Bowman, Stephen M.; Rotert, Mary; Hogg-Johnson, Sheilah

2015-01-01

Purpose Acute work-related trauma is a leading cause of death and disability among U.S. workers. Existing methods to estimate injury severity have important limitations. This study assessed a severe injury indicator constructed from a list of severe traumatic injury diagnosis codes previously developed for surveillance purposes. Study objectives were to: (1) describe the degree to which the severe injury indicator predicts work disability and medical cost outcomes; (2) assess whether this indicator adequately substitutes for estimating Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS)-based injury severity from workers' compensation (WC) billing data; and (3) assess concordance between indicators constructed from Washington State Trauma Registry (WTR) and WC data. Methods WC claims for workers injured in Washington State from 1998-2008 were linked to WTR records. Competing risks survival analysis was used to model work disability outcomes. Adjusted total medical costs were modeled using linear regression. Information content of the severe injury indicator and AIS-based injury severity measures were compared using Akaike Information Criterion and R2. Results Of 208,522 eligible WC claims, 5% were classified as severe. Among WC claims linked to the WTR, there was substantial agreement between WC-based and WTR-based indicators (kappa=0.75). Information content of the severe injury indicator was similar to some AIS-based measures. The severe injury indicator was a significant predictor of WTR inclusion, early hospitalization, compensated time loss, total permanent disability, and total medical costs. Conclusions Severe traumatic injuries can be directly identified when diagnosis codes are available. This method provides a simple and transparent alternative to AIS-based injury severity estimation. PMID:25900409

Craniofacial Surgery Fellowship Websites.

PubMed

Silvestre, Jason; Agarwal, Divyansh; Taylor, Jesse A

2016-06-01

Applicants for craniofacial surgery fellowships utilize Internet-based resources like the San Francisco (SF) Match to manage applications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accessibility and content of craniofacial surgery fellowship websites (CSFWs). A list of available craniofacial surgery fellowships was compiled from directories of the American Society of Craniofacial Surgery (ACSFS) and SF Match. Accessibility of CSFWs was assessed via links from these directories and a Google search. Craniofacial surgery fellowship websites were evaluated on education and recruitment content and compared via program characteristics. Twenty-four of the 28 US-based craniofacial surgery fellowship programs had a CSFW (86%). The ACSFS and SF Match databases had limited CSFW accessibility, but a Google search revealed most CSFWs had the top search result (76%). In total, CSFWs provided an average of 39% of education and recruitment variables. While most programs provided fellowship program descriptions (96%), application links (96%), and faculty listings (83%), relatively few provided rotation schedules (13%), fellow selection process information (13%), or interview dates (8%). CSFW content did not vary by program location, faculty size, accreditation status, or institutional affiliations (P > 0.05). Craniofacial surgery fellowships often lack readily accessible websites from national program lists and have limited information for interested applicants. The consistent lack of online information across programs suggests future opportunities exist to improve these educational resources.

Analysis of phenolic composition of Noble muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia) by HPLC-MS and the relationship to its antioxidant capacity.

PubMed

You, Qi; Chen, Feng; Wang, Xi; Sharp, Julia L; You, Yuru

2012-10-01

Phenolic compounds and anthocyanins in muscadines have attracted much attention due to their diverse biological activities. With bioassays of antioxidant activities in terms of total phenolic content (TPC), total anthocyanin content (TAC), total procyanidin content (TPA), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) of different parts of the Noble muscadine, the butanol (BuOH) extract of the muscadine skin showed the highest TPC (317.91 ± 1.83 mg GAE/100 g FW), which might be ascribed to its high TAC of 227.06 ± 1.29 mg/100 g fresh weight (FW). The ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract of the muscadine seed contained the highest TPA (55.30 ± 0.63 mg CE/100 g FW). Correlation analyses demonstrated a significant linear relationship of TPC and TAC compared to their ORAC and FRAP values within the range of R(2) from 0.9283 to 0.9936, which suggested that phenolics and anthocyanins in the extracts contributed significantly to their antioxidant potential. Nineteen individual phenolics and 5 anthocyanins were identified by HPLC-MS, which indicated different chemical profiles of anthocyanins and other phenolics in the muscadine extracts. The paper has provided rich information of bioactive phytochemical profiles in different solvent extracts and their correlation with the antioxidant activity in the muscadine that is a very special regional fruit in U.S. Its high content of phenolic compounds demonstrates that muscadine could be beneficial to human health. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

Mobility and storage sinks for chromium and other metals in soils impacted by leather tannery wastes.

PubMed

Chen, Hualin; Arocena, Joselito M; Li, Jianbing; Thring, Ronald W; Zhou, Jiangmin

2012-12-01

Leather tanneries around the world, including China, introduce chromium (Cr) and other metals into the environment. In China, the population pressure compels the utilization of every piece of available land for food production. In this study, we investigated the content, leachability and possible storage sinks for Cr and other metals in soils around facilities of leather industry in southern China. It was found that Cr in soils impacted by tannery can be as high as 2484 mg Cr kg⁻¹ soil, and the mean contents of other metals such as Zn (214 mg Zn kg⁻¹ soil), Cd (5.4 mg Cd kg⁻¹ soil), As (17 mg As kg⁻¹ soil) exceeded the soil quality standards and guidelines in China and Canada. Simulated leaching studies (i.e., Synthetic Precipitation Leaching Procedure) indicated that these soils could release Cr and other metals in concentrations above the environmental quality guidelines and standards for water in China and Canada. As a result, the mobility of metals from these soils can potentially contaminate both groundwater and surface water. We also found differential leachability of metals with soil properties such as total metal and total carbon contents. Principal component analysis of the total contents of 32 elements showed that the possible major sinks for Cr are organic matter and oxides of Fe/Mn/Al, while sulfates and phosphates are potential storage of Cd, Zn, Cu and Pb. The information obtained from this study can be valuable for the restoration of ecosystem functions (i.e., food production) in the study area.

The Effects of Television Advertising on Children. Report No. 3: Exploring the Relationship Between Television Viewing and Language Development. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milkovich, Mark; And Others

This report, the third in a series of six reports on television advertising and children, describes a study designed to determine how the massive exposure to television affects children's language development. A total of 153 children in grades K-6 were interviewed about the entertainment, informational, and advertising content of 24 programs…

Using forest health monitoring data to integrate above and below ground carbon information

Treesearch

Barbara L. Conkling; Coeli M. Hoover; William D. Smith; Craig J. Palmer

2002-01-01

The national Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) program conducted a remeasurement study in 1999 to evaluate the usefulness and feasibility of collecting data needed for investigating carbon budgets in forests. This study indicated that FHM data are adequate for detecting a 20% change over 10 years (2% change per year) in percent total carbon and carbon content (MgC/ha)...

Determination of the floral origin of some Romanian honeys on the basis of physical and biochemical properties.

PubMed

Cimpoiu, Claudia; Hosu, Anamaria; Miclaus, Vasile; Puscas, Anitta

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine the physical and biochemical properties of some Romanian honeys in order to discriminate between their floral origins. The evaluated properties were total phenolic content, total protein content, total free amino acids content, color intensity (ABS(450)), pH, ash content, antioxidant activity. Twenty-six commercial honeys from six types of flowers (acacia, sunflower, forest, polyfloral, lime and Sea Buckthorn) were investigated. All samples showed considerable variations with reference to their properties. The properties values were in the range of approved limits (according to EU legislation). The total phenolic, total protein and total free amino acids contents and color intensity varied considerably. Similarly, forest honey had the highest antioxidant activity while the lowest was found in acacia honey. Correlation between the floral origin of honeys and the physical and biochemical properties, respectively, was observed. Moreover, this study demonstrates remarkable variation in DPPH scavenging activity and content of total phenols in honey, depending on its botanic source. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Content Analysis of Health and Safety Communications Among Internet-Based Sex Work Advertisements: Important Information for Public Health.

PubMed

Kille, Julie; Bungay, Vicky; Oliffe, John; Atchison, Chris

2017-04-13

The capacity to advertise via the Internet continues to contribute to the shifting dynamics in adult commercial sex work. eHealth interventions have shown promise to promote Internet-based sex workers' health and safety internationally, yet minimal attention has been paid in Canada to developing such interventions. Understanding the information communicated in Internet-based sex work advertisements is a critical step in knowledge development to inform such interventions. The purpose of this content analysis was to increase our understanding of the health and safety information within the Internet advertisements among women, men, and transgender sex workers and to describe how this information may be utilized to inform eHealth service development for this population. A total of 75 Internet-based sex worker advertisements (45 women, 24 men, and 6 transgender persons) were purposefully selected from 226 advertisements collected as part of a larger study in Western Canada. Content analysis was employed to guide data extraction about demographic characteristics, sexual services provided, service restrictions, health practices and concerns, safety and security, and business practices. Frequencies for each variable were calculated and further classified by gender. Thematic analysis was then undertaken to situate the communications within the social and commercialized contexts of the sex industry. Four communications themes were identified: (1) demographic characteristics; (2) sexual services; (3) health; and (4) safety and security. White was the most common ethnicity (46/75, 61%) of advertisements. It was found that 20-29 years of age accounted for 32 of the 51 advertisements that provided age. Escort, the only legal business title, was the most common role title used (48/75, 64%). In total, 85% (64/75) of advertisements detailed lists of sexual services provided and 41% (31/75) of advertisements noted never offering uncovered services (ie, no condom). Gender and the type of Web-based platform mattered for information communicated. It was found that 35 of the 45 women's advertisements were situated in personal websites and hosted details about nonsexual aspects of an appointment. Men and transworkers used Internet classified advertisement platforms with predetermined categories. Communications about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occurred in only 16% (12/75) of advertisements with men accounting for 7. Women's advertisements accounted for 26 of the 37 advertisements noting safety restrictions. Zero men or transpersons restricted alcohol or drug use. In total, 75% (56/75) of advertisements offered out-call services and the average minimal hourly rate ranged from Can $140/h to Can $200/h. The study findings contribute to understandings about the diverse platforms used in commercial sex advertisements, and how sex workers frame information for potential clients. This information affords health care providers and policy makers insights to how they might assist with promoting the health of Internet-based sex workers and their clients. ©Julie Kille, Vicky Bungay, John Oliffe, Chris Atchison. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 13.04.2017.

A Content Analysis of Health and Safety Communications Among Internet-Based Sex Work Advertisements: Important Information for Public Health

PubMed Central

Atchison, Chris

2017-01-01

Background The capacity to advertise via the Internet continues to contribute to the shifting dynamics in adult commercial sex work. eHealth interventions have shown promise to promote Internet-based sex workers’ health and safety internationally, yet minimal attention has been paid in Canada to developing such interventions. Understanding the information communicated in Internet-based sex work advertisements is a critical step in knowledge development to inform such interventions. Objective The purpose of this content analysis was to increase our understanding of the health and safety information within the Internet advertisements among women, men, and transgender sex workers and to describe how this information may be utilized to inform eHealth service development for this population. Methods A total of 75 Internet-based sex worker advertisements (45 women, 24 men, and 6 transgender persons) were purposefully selected from 226 advertisements collected as part of a larger study in Western Canada. Content analysis was employed to guide data extraction about demographic characteristics, sexual services provided, service restrictions, health practices and concerns, safety and security, and business practices. Frequencies for each variable were calculated and further classified by gender. Thematic analysis was then undertaken to situate the communications within the social and commercialized contexts of the sex industry. Results Four communications themes were identified: (1) demographic characteristics; (2) sexual services; (3) health; and (4) safety and security. White was the most common ethnicity (46/75, 61%) of advertisements. It was found that 20-29 years of age accounted for 32 of the 51 advertisements that provided age. Escort, the only legal business title, was the most common role title used (48/75, 64%). In total, 85% (64/75) of advertisements detailed lists of sexual services provided and 41% (31/75) of advertisements noted never offering uncovered services (ie, no condom). Gender and the type of Web-based platform mattered for information communicated. It was found that 35 of the 45 women’s advertisements were situated in personal websites and hosted details about nonsexual aspects of an appointment. Men and transworkers used Internet classified advertisement platforms with predetermined categories. Communications about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occurred in only 16% (12/75) of advertisements with men accounting for 7. Women’s advertisements accounted for 26 of the 37 advertisements noting safety restrictions. Zero men or transpersons restricted alcohol or drug use. In total, 75% (56/75) of advertisements offered out-call services and the average minimal hourly rate ranged from Can $140/h to Can $200/h. Conclusions The study findings contribute to understandings about the diverse platforms used in commercial sex advertisements, and how sex workers frame information for potential clients. This information affords health care providers and policy makers insights to how they might assist with promoting the health of Internet-based sex workers and their clients. PMID:28408364

Microbial Biofertilizer Decreases Nicotine Content by Improving Soil Nitrogen Supply.

PubMed

Shang, Cui; Chen, Anwei; Chen, Guiqiu; Li, Huanke; Guan, Song; He, Jianmin

2017-01-01

Biofertilizers have been widely used in many countries for their benefit to soil biological and physicochemical properties. A new microbial biofertilizer containing Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Bacillus thuringiensis was prepared to decrease nicotine content in tobacco leaves by regulating soil nitrogen supply. Soil NO 3 - -N, NH 4 + -N, nitrogen supply-related enzyme activities, and nitrogen accumulation in plant leaves throughout the growing period were investigated to explore the mechanism of nicotine reduction. The experimental results indicated that biofertilizer can reduce the nicotine content in tobacco leaves, with a maximum decrement of 16-18 % in mature upper leaves. In the meantime, the total nitrogen in mature lower and middle leaves increased with the application of biofertilizer, while an opposite result was observed in upper leaves. Protein concentration in leaves had similar fluctuation to that of total nitrogen in response to biofertilizer. NO 3 - -N content and nitrate reductase activity in biofertilizer-amended soil increased by 92.3 and 42.2 %, respectively, compared to those in the control, whereas the NH 4 + -N and urease activity decreased by 37.8 and 29.3 %, respectively. Nitrogen uptake was improved in the early growing stage, but this phenomenon was not observed during the late growth period. Nicotine decrease is attributing to the adjustment of biofertilizer in soil nitrogen supply and its uptake in tobacco, which result in changes of nitrogen content as well as its distribution in tobacco leaves. The application of biofertilizer containing P. chrysosporium and B. thuringiensis can reduce the nicotine content and improve tobacco quality, which may provide some useful information for tobacco cultivation.

[Study on variation of main ingredients from spores and fruiting bodies of Ganoderma lucidum].

PubMed

Li, Jing-Jing; Hu, Xiao-Qin; Zhang, Xin-Feng; Liu, Jing-Jing; Cao, Long-Shu

2014-11-01

To reveal the quality variation of polysaccharides, triterpenoids and proteins in spores and fruiting bodies of Ganoderma lucidum from producing areas, different varieties, harvesting parts and periods, and wall-breaking treatments. Spores and fruiting bodies from varieties of Longzhi No. 1 and Hunong No. 1 were collected as test samples, together with wall-broken spores sold in domestic main producing areas. The anthrone-sulfuric acid colorimetric method was used to determine the content of total polysaccharides. The vanillin-glacial acetic acid-perchloric acid colorimetric method was used to determine the content of total triterpenoids. The Lowry method was used to determine the content of total proteins. The content ranges of total polysaccharides, total triterpenoids, and total proteins from 6 domestic main producing areas were 0.40% - 2.25%, 1.36%-3.15% and 0.74% -1.91% respectively. The content ranges of total polysaccharides, triterpenoids, and proteins in the fruiting bodies from 2 varieties cultured in Zhejiang were 0.25% -1.42%, 0.44% -1.42% and 1.82% -3.67% respectively. In addition, the ranges of samples from wall-unbroken spores were 0.41% - 0.91%, 0.09% - 0.12%, 0.78% - 0.90% respectively and wall-broken spores are 1.03% - 2.25%, 1.89% - 3.15%, 0.96% - 1.04% respectively. There are significant differences in the contents of main chemical ingredients of wall-broken G. lucidum spores saled in the markets. The samples from Zhejiang contain high content of total polysaccharides and triterpenoids, and samples from Fujian contains more proteins. Between the 2 major varieties cultured in Zhejiang, Longzhi No. 1 contains higher content of triterpenoids, but Hunong No. 1 has more polysaccharides. Contents of triterpenoids and polysaccharides from wall-broken spores are much higher than those of fruiting bodies. The stipes from fruiting bodies contains more polysaccharides than those of the pileus, while the triterpenoids contents are higher in the pileus than stipes. The pileus and stipes collected in the second year contain higher content of polysaccharides than the first year's samples, but the contents of triterpenoids are lower. Wall-breaking treatment would significantly improve the extraction and dissolution rate of total triterpenoids and polysaccharides.

[How are the websites of pharmaceutical companies directed at users?].

PubMed

López Hidalgo, María Jesús; Aguado Gómez, Alicia; Sánchez Ruiz, Marceliana; García-Moreno Rodríguez, Gregoria; Alejandre Lázaro, Gemma

2010-05-01

To describe the content and structure of the websites of pharmaceutical companies (PC) with health information to patients. Descriptive, cross-sectional. health topics treated, and 9 sections: objectives and target population; editorial policy, authoring, updating of content, personal data protection, interactivity, accessibility, advertising labels. Internet. All PC websites with patient health information in Spanish. We studied 60 sites found. Most common: 19.3% neurology, mental health and 12% digestive diseases. Few specify the address of the person responsible for the site (51.7%), responsible for quality (10%) or the authors of the text (15%). Nearly 2/3 show the date of publication of content (66.7%), but only 13.3% updated. Privacy and data protection are mentioned in 65%, with only 28.3% allowing control of the use of personal data. Only 10% allow expressing doubts online and 1/3 of the sites have frequently asked questions. A total of 41.7% omitted to say their information does not replace medical advice. Educational materials (for children) can be downloaded in 11.7%. Almost all (93.3%) adapted their language to the recipient, but none are accessible to disabled people. The majority (86.7%) have the company logo on all pages. Only 16.7% are fronts for advertising, and only 9 sites have a quality seal (HONcode). Pages are designed to give superficial information on a disease than directly advertise a particular brand or active ingredient. However, their reliability has to be low due to the authors and sources of information being unknown. If Internet health information was truthful and backed up by authors or appropriate information sources, the Internet could well be a genuine health education tool. Copyright 2009 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Transmissibility of the Campaign for Colorectal Cancer Awareness in Korea Among Twitter Users

PubMed Central

Lee, Keun Chul; Park, Gibeom; Park, SoHyun; Bae, Woo Kyung; Kim, Jin Won; Yoon, Hyuk; Kim, Myung Jo; Kang, Sung-Il; Son, Il Tae; Kim, Duck-Woo; Kang, Sung-Bum

2016-01-01

Purpose The Korean Society of Coloproctology holds its annual colorectal awareness month every September. This study analyzed the users and the contents of Korean tweets regarding colorectal cancer and estimated the transmissibility of the awareness campaign among Twitter users. Methods Prospective data collection was employed to accumulate Korean tweets containing the keywords "colorectal cancer," "colorectal cancer awareness campaign," "gold ribbon," and/or "love handle," from August 1 to September 30, 2014. Twitter users and contents were analyzed, and the credibility of information-sharing tweets throughout the study period was evaluated. Results In total, 10,387 tweets shared by 1,452 unique users were analyzed. As for users, 57.8% were individuals whereas 5.8% were organizations/communities; spambots accounted for a considerable percentage (36.4%). As for content, most tweets were spam (n = 8,736, 84.1%), repetitively advertising unverified commercial folk remedies, followed by tweets that shared information (n = 1,304, 12.6%) and non-information (n = 347, 3.3%). In the credibility assessment, only 80.6% of the information-sharing tweets were medically correct. After spam tweets had been excluded, a significant increase was seen in the percentage of information-sharing tweets (77.1% to 81.1%, P = 0.045) during the awareness campaign month. Conclusion Most Korean tweets regarding colorectal cancer during the study months were commercial spam tweets; informative public tweets accounted for an extremely small percentage. The transmissibility of the awareness campaign among Twitter users was questionable at best. To expand the reach of credible medical information on colorectal cancer, public health institutions and organizations must pay greater attention to social media. PMID:27847789

Color, anthocyanin, and antioxidant characteristics of young wines produced from spine grapes (Vitis davidii Foex) in China.

PubMed

Han, Fuliang; Ju, Yanlun; Ruan, Xianrui; Zhao, Xianfang; Yue, Xiaofeng; Zhuang, Xifu; Qin, Minyang; Fang, Yulin

2017-01-01

Background : Spine grape has gained attention in the field of wine science due to its good growth characteristics. Spine grape wine has been made by local residents for a long time. However, the scientific evaluation of spine wine has not been systemically documented compared to Vitis vinifera grape wines Methods : We compared 11 spine wines from south China (W1-W11) with 7 high-quality international wines (W12-W18). The total phenolic content, the total anothcyanin content and the antioxidant activity of these wines were analyzed and compared. Meanwhile, anthocyanin profiles of these wines were also documented. Results : Compared with other wines most of the spine wines had a strong red intensity with a blue hue. Malvidin-3,5- O -diglucoside and malvidin-3- O -(6- O -coumaroyl)-glucoside-5-glucoside appeared to be the major anthocyanins in these wines. The scavenging capacity analyses of these wines using ABTS, DPPH, and CUPRAC assays indicated that spine wines possessed high antioxidant properties, especially spine wine W3, W4, W6 and W8. Their high antioxidant properties were mainly related to the high levels of the total phenolic content and anthocyanins. Conclusion : These results suggested that spine wine might be considered a good wine source for the Chinese wine industry and provided useful information on the knowledge of spine grape.

Color, anthocyanin, and antioxidant characteristics of young wines produced from spine grapes (Vitis davidii Foex) in China

PubMed Central

Han, Fuliang; Ju, Yanlun; Ruan, Xianrui; Zhao, Xianfang; Yue, Xiaofeng; Zhuang, Xifu; Qin, Minyang; Fang, Yulin

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Background: Spine grape has gained attention in the field of wine science due to its good growth characteristics. Spine grape wine has been made by local residents for a long time. However, the scientific evaluation of spine wine has not been systemically documented compared to Vitis vinifera grape wines Methods: We compared 11 spine wines from south China (W1–W11) with 7 high-quality international wines (W12–W18). The total phenolic content, the total anothcyanin content and the antioxidant activity of these wines were analyzed and compared. Meanwhile, anthocyanin profiles of these wines were also documented. Results: Compared with other wines most of the spine wines had a strong red intensity with a blue hue. Malvidin-3,5-O-diglucoside and malvidin-3-O-(6-O-coumaroyl)-glucoside-5-glucoside appeared to be the major anthocyanins in these wines. The scavenging capacity analyses of these wines using ABTS, DPPH, and CUPRAC assays indicated that spine wines possessed high antioxidant properties, especially spine wine W3, W4, W6 and W8. Their high antioxidant properties were mainly related to the high levels of the total phenolic content and anthocyanins. Conclusion: These results suggested that spine wine might be considered a good wine source for the Chinese wine industry and provided useful information on the knowledge of spine grape. PMID:28804435

Improving informed consent: Stakeholder views

PubMed Central

Anderson, Emily E.; Newman, Susan B.; Matthews, Alicia K.

2017-01-01

Purpose Innovation will be required to improve the informed consent process in research. We aimed to obtain input from key stakeholders—research participants and those responsible for obtaining informed consent—to inform potential development of a multimedia informed consent “app.” Methods This descriptive study used a mixed-methods approach. Five 90-minute focus groups were conducted with volunteer samples of former research participants and researchers/research staff responsible for obtaining informed consent. Participants also completed a brief survey that measured background information and knowledge and attitudes regarding research and the use of technology. Established qualitative methods were used to conduct the focus groups and data analysis. Results We conducted five focus groups with 41 total participants: three groups with former research participants (total n = 22), and two groups with researchers and research coordinators (total n = 19). Overall, individuals who had previously participated in research had positive views regarding their experiences. However, further discussion elicited that the informed consent process often did not meet its intended objectives. Findings from both groups are presented according to three primary themes: content of consent forms, experience of the informed consent process, and the potential of technology to improve the informed consent process. A fourth theme, need for lay input on informed consent, emerged from the researcher groups. Conclusions Our findings add to previous research that suggests that the use of interactive technology has the potential to improve the process of informed consent. However, our focus-group findings provide additional insight that technology cannot replace the human connection that is central to the informed consent process. More research that incorporates the views of key stakeholders is needed to ensure that multimedia consent processes do not repeat the mistakes of paper-based consent forms. PMID:28949896

Improving informed consent: Stakeholder views.

PubMed

Anderson, Emily E; Newman, Susan B; Matthews, Alicia K

2017-01-01

Innovation will be required to improve the informed consent process in research. We aimed to obtain input from key stakeholders-research participants and those responsible for obtaining informed consent-to inform potential development of a multimedia informed consent "app." This descriptive study used a mixed-methods approach. Five 90-minute focus groups were conducted with volunteer samples of former research participants and researchers/research staff responsible for obtaining informed consent. Participants also completed a brief survey that measured background information and knowledge and attitudes regarding research and the use of technology. Established qualitative methods were used to conduct the focus groups and data analysis. We conducted five focus groups with 41 total participants: three groups with former research participants (total n = 22), and two groups with researchers and research coordinators (total n = 19). Overall, individuals who had previously participated in research had positive views regarding their experiences. However, further discussion elicited that the informed consent process often did not meet its intended objectives. Findings from both groups are presented according to three primary themes: content of consent forms, experience of the informed consent process, and the potential of technology to improve the informed consent process. A fourth theme, need for lay input on informed consent, emerged from the researcher groups. Our findings add to previous research that suggests that the use of interactive technology has the potential to improve the process of informed consent. However, our focus-group findings provide additional insight that technology cannot replace the human connection that is central to the informed consent process. More research that incorporates the views of key stakeholders is needed to ensure that multimedia consent processes do not repeat the mistakes of paper-based consent forms.

Application of Synchrotron Techniques in Environmental Science

EPA Science Inventory

The complexity of metal contaminated sites has and continues to be simplified to a measure of the total metal content. While total metal content is a critical measure in assessing risk of a contaminated site, total metal content alone does not provide predictive insights on the b...

Plant Stem Bark Extractivism in the Northeast Semiarid Region of Brazil: A New Aport to Utilitarian Redundancy Model

PubMed Central

Ferreira Júnior, Washington Soares; Siqueira, Clarissa Fernanda Queiroz; de Albuquerque, Ulysses Paulino

2012-01-01

We use the model of utilitarian redundancy as a basis for research. This model provides predictions that have not been tested by other research. In this sense, we sought to investigate the stem bark extraction between preferred and less-preferred species by a rural community in Caatinga environment. In addition, we sought to explain local preferences to observe if preferred plants have a higher content of tannins than less-preferred species. For this, we selected seven preferred species and seven less-preferred species from information obtained from semistructured interviews applied to 49 informants. Three areas of vegetation around the community were also selected, in which individuals were tagged, and were measured the diameter at ground level (DGL) diameter at breast height (DBH), and measurements of available and extracted bark areas. Samples of bark of the species were also collected for the evaluation of tannin content, obtained by the method of radial diffusion. From the results, the preferred species showed a greater area of bark removed. However, the tannin content showed no significant differences between preferred and less-preferred plants. These results show there is a relationship between preference and use, but this preference is not related to the total tannins content. PMID:22319546

Characterization of Edible Pork By-products by Means of Yield and Nutritional Composition

PubMed Central

Moon, Sung Sil

2014-01-01

Basic information regarding the yield and nutritional composition of edible pork by-products, namely heart, liver, lung, stomach, spleen, uterus, pancreas, and small and large intestines, was studied. Our results revealed that the yields varied widely among the pork by-products examined; in particular, liver had the highest yield (1.35%); whereas, spleen had the lowest yield (0.16%). The approximate composition range (minimum to maximum) of these by-products was found to be: moisture 71.59-82.48%; fat 0.28-19.54%; ash 0.155-1.34%, and protein 8.45-22.05%. The highest protein, vitamin A, B2, B6, and total essential amino acid (EAA) contents were found in liver. Large intestine had the highest fat content and lowest EAA content. Heart had the highest vitamin B1 content, whereas pancreas had the highest niacin and vitamin B3 contents. The concentrations of Fe and Zn were highest in liver and pancreas. Total saturated fatty acids (SFA) levels and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) levels between the by-products ranged from 43.15-50.48%, and 14.92-30.16%, respectively. Furthermore, with the exception of large intestine, all the by-products showed favorable PUFA/SFA ratios. The study indicated that almost all of the pork by-products examined were good sources of important nutrients, and that these data will be of great importance in the promotion of the consumption of edible pork by-products, as well as their utilization in meat processing. PMID:26761170

Yoghurt and dairy snacks presented for sale to an Australian consumer: are they becoming less healthy?

PubMed

Walker, Karen Z; Woods, Julie; Ross, Jamie; Hechtman, Rachel

2010-07-01

To assess the nutrient profile of yoghurts and dairy desserts. Nutrition information panels and product labels on yoghurts and dairy desserts offered for sale were surveyed in 2005 and 2008 and nutrients analysed by two nutrient profiling systems. A large supermarket in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. In total, 248 and 140 dairy snacks (yoghurt, fromage frais or dairy desserts) were surveyed in 2005 and 2008, respectively. Over this time, median packet size rose significantly (P < or = 0.001). In yoghurts, median energy and total fat content also increased while protein decreased (all P < 0.05). The proportion of 'full-fat' products rose from 36 % to 46%. Because of the addition of sugar, most 'reduced-fat' yoghurts had energy content similar to many 'full-fat' yoghurts. Overall, the proportion of yoghurts and dairy desserts that were 'less healthy' (i.e. displaying one or more 'red traffic lights' for high fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar content) rose from 12% in 2005 to 23% in 2008. Only 1-2% could be deemed 'healthy' by the most stringent criterion (displaying four 'green traffic lights'), while 21% (2005) or 28% (2008) were 'healthy' by a nutrient profiling system that included a score for protein. Sucrose, the most common sweetener, was found in levels up to 29 g/100 g. Claims on packaging mainly related to Ca, fat or protein content. Few labels referred to sugar content. The deterioration in nutrient quality of yoghurts needs to be redressed.

Content Sharing Based on Personal Information in Virtually Secured Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sohn, Hosik; Ro, Yong Man; Plataniotis, Kostantinos N.

User generated contents (UGC) are shared in an open space like social media where users can upload and consume contents freely. Since the access of contents is not restricted, the contents could be delivered to unwanted users or misused sometimes. In this paper, we propose a method for sharing UGCs securely based on the personal information of users. With the proposed method, virtual secure space is created for contents delivery. The virtual secure space allows UGC creator to deliver contents to users who have similar personal information and they can consume the contents without any leakage of personal information. In order to verify the usefulness of the proposed method, the experiment was performed where the content was encrypted with personal information of creator, and users with similar personal information have decrypted and consumed the contents. The results showed that UGCs were securely shared among users who have similar personal information.

The influence of caloric information on cafeteria food choices

PubMed Central

Dubbert, Patricia M.; Johnson, William G.; Schlundt, David G.; Montague, Noni Ward

1984-01-01

We evaluated the effect of posting caloric information on food purchases at a cafeteria. Purchases of more than 14,300 entrees, vegetables, and salads by 6,970 customers were unobtrusively monitored via the cash register inventory control system during 15 evening observations. A quasi-multiple-baseline design across food groups was used to test the additive effect of labeling the three lowest caloric choices for vegetables, salads, and entrees. A linear logit analysis confirmed that labeling increased the probability of low calorie selections for vegetables and salads, but not for entrees. Observations of meals purchased by a subsample of 413 customers indicated labeling did not change the total caloric content of meals. The number of customers and total sales per evening were unaffected by the labeling intervention. The results suggest that manipulating environmental cues may be an effective method for changing food purchases in a cafeteria, but labeling individual items may not be the best way to decrease total calories purchased. PMID:16795673

Activity and contents of polyphenolic antioxidants in the whole fruit, flesh and peel of three apple cultivars.

PubMed

Vieira, Francilene Gracieli Kunradi; Borges, Graciele da Silva Campelo; Copetti, Cristiane; Gonzaga, Luciano Valdemiro; Nunes, Eduardo da Costa; Fett, Roseane

2009-03-01

The concentration of polyphenolic compounds, such as flavanols and anthocyanins, and the antioxidant activity in apples (Malus domestica Borkh) seem to differ with cultivar, maturity stage, environmental conditions and the part of the fruit. In this work, the total phenolic, flavanol and anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity were measured in the flesh, whole fruit and peel from apple cultivars Fuji, Epagri COOP24 and Epagri F5P283 cultivated in Southern Brazil. Total phenolic content assayed by Folin-Ciocalteu method, flavanol by modified p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde method, anthocyanin content by pH differential method and antioxidant activity measured using ABTS assay. One-way analysis of variance, Tukey's test and correlation analysis were performed. Within each cultivar, the total phenolic, flavanol and anthocyanin contents and antioxidant activity were highest in the peels, followed by the whole fruit and the flesh. In the peel, whole fruit and flesh the Epagri F5P283 apple had the highest total phenolic contents and the highest total antioxidant activity, while that Epagri COOP24 was highest in flavanols and anthocyanins. Total phenolic content was positively associated with total antioxidant activity in flesh, whole fruit and peel. These results demonstrate that phenolic compounds have a significant contribution to the total antioxidant activity which varies considerably depending of the part of the fruit and of the apple cultivar analyzed.

Total flavonoid concentrations of bryophytes from Tianmu Mountain, Zhejiang Province (China): Phylogeny and ecological factors

PubMed Central

Cao, Jianguo; Dai, Xiling; Xiao, Jianbo; Wu, Yuhuan; Wang, Quanxi

2017-01-01

The flavonoids in bryophytes may have great significance in phylogeny and metabolism research. However, to date there has been little research on bryophyte metabolites, especially flavonoids. To redress this somewhat, we determined flavonoid concentrations of bryophytes from Tianmu Mountain through a colorimetric assay and considered the factors influencing the results. This is the first time that the flavonoid contents of bryophytes have been examined in detail. The results revealed a range of total flavonoid concentrations in 90 samples collected from Tianmu Mountain from 1.8 to 22.3 mg/g (w/w). The total flavonoid contents of liverworts were generally higher than those of mosses; acrocarpous mosses had generally higher values than that of pleurocarpous mosses. The total flavonoid contents of bryophytes growing at lower light levels were general higher than those growing in full-sun. The total flavonoid contents of epiphytic bryophytes were highest, while those of aquatic bryophytes were the lowest. Total flavonoid contents of species growing at low-latitudes were much higher than those at high-latitude individuals. In conclusion, total flavonoid contents of bryophytes have some connection with plant phylogeny; more flavonoids might be contained in relatively primitive bryophytes. Meanwhile, the effects of ecological factors on total flavonoid contents of bryophytes exist; light and habitat (especially tree habitat and river habitat) might be representative factor. PMID:28263997

Determination of total flavonoids content in fresh Ginkgo biloba leaf with different colors using near infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Ji-yong; Zou, Xiao-bo; Zhao, Jie-wen; Mel, Holmes; Wang, Kai-liang; Wang, Xue; Chen, Hong

Total flavonoids content is often considered an important quality index of Ginkgo biloba leaf. The feasibility of using near infrared (NIR) spectra at the wavelength range of 10,000-4000 cm-1 for rapid and nondestructive determination of total flavonoids content in G. biloba leaf was investigated. 120 fresh G. biloba leaves in different colors (green, green-yellowish and yellow) were used to spectra acquisition and total flavonoids determination. Partial least squares (PLS), interval partial least squares (iPLS) and synergy interval partial least squares (SiPLS) were used to develop calibration models for total flavonoids content in two colors leaves (green-yellowish and yellow) and three colors leaves (green, green-yellowish and yellow), respectively. The level of total flavonoids content for green, green-yellowish and yellow leaves was in an increasing order. Two characteristic wavelength regions (5840-6090 cm-1 and 6620-6880 cm-1), which corresponded to the absorptions of two aromatic rings in basic flavonoid structure, were selected by SiPLS. The optimal SiPLS model for total flavonoids content in the two colors leaves (r2 = 0.82, RMSEP = 2.62 mg g-1) had better performance than PLS and iPLS models. It could be concluded that NIR spectroscopy has significant potential in the nondestructive determination of total flavonoids content in fresh G. biloba leaf.

"It's Totally Okay to Be Sad, but Never Lose Hope": Content Analysis of Infertility-Related Videos on YouTube in Relation to Viewer Preferences.

PubMed

Kelly-Hedrick, Margot; Grunberg, Paul H; Brochu, Felicia; Zelkowitz, Phyllis

2018-05-23

Infertility patients frequently use the internet to find fertility-related information and support from people in similar circumstances. YouTube is increasingly used as a source of health-related information and may influence health decision making. There have been no studies examining the content of infertility-related videos on YouTube. The purpose of this study was to (1) describe the content of highly viewed videos on YouTube related to infertility and (2) identify video characteristics that relate to viewer preference. Using the search term "infertility," the 80 top-viewed YouTube videos and their viewing statistics (eg, views, likes, and comments) were collected. Videos that were non-English, unrelated to infertility, or had age restrictions were excluded. Content analysis was used to examine videos, employing a coding rubric that measured the presence or absence of video codes related to purpose, tone, and demographic and fertility characteristics (eg, sex, parity, stage of fertility treatment). A total of 59 videos, with a median of 156,103 views, met the inclusion criteria and were categorized into 35 personal videos (35/59, 59%) and 24 informational-educational videos (24/59, 41%). Personal videos did not differ significantly from informational-educational videos on number of views, dislikes, subscriptions driven, or shares. However, personal videos had significantly more likes (P<.001) and comments (P<.001) than informational-educational videos. The purposes of the videos were treatment outcomes (33/59, 56%), sharing information (30/59, 51%), emotional aspects of infertility (20/59, 34%), and advice to others (6/59, 10%). The tones of the videos were positive (26/59, 44%), neutral (25/59, 42%), and mixed (8/59, 14%); there were no videos with negative tone. No videos contained only male posters. Videos with a positive tone did not differ from neutral videos in number of views, dislikes, subscriptions driven, or shares; however, positive videos had significantly more likes (P<.001) and comments (P<.001) than neutral videos. A majority (21/35, 60%) of posters of personal videos shared a pregnancy announcement. YouTube is a source of both technical and personal experience-based information about infertility. However, videos that include personal experiences may elicit greater viewer engagement. Positive videos and stories of treatment success may provide hope to viewers but could also create and perpetuate unrealistic expectations about the success rates of fertility treatment. ©Margot Kelly-Hedrick, Paul H Grunberg, Felicia Brochu, Phyllis Zelkowitz. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 23.05.2018.

How are we communicating about clinical trials?: an assessment of the content and readability of recruitment resources.

PubMed

Friedman, Daniela B; Kim, Sei-Hill; Tanner, Andrea; Bergeron, Caroline D; Foster, Caroline; General, Kevin

2014-07-01

Clinical trials (CTs) are important for advancing public health and medical research, however, CT recruitment is challenging. The high reading level of CT information and the technical language of providers or researchers can serve as barriers to recruitment. Prior studies on the informed consent process found that consent documents often contain complicated terms. Limited research has examined resources specifically used to recruit individuals into CTs. The purpose of this study was to examine the content and readability of CT recruitment education resources in one U.S. state. Convenience sampling was employed for the collection of CT recruitment materials. A codebook was developed based on previous content analyses and emergent themes from statewide focus groups about CTs. A total of 127 materials were collected and analyzed (37.8% print; 62.2% Web). Most content was focused on treatment-related CTs (60.6%). Inclusion criteria related to specific disease conditions (88.9%) and age (73.6%) were described most often. Only 30% of resources had an explicit call to action. Overall mean readability level was Grade 11.7. Web-based materials were significantly more likely to be written at a higher grade level than print materials (p ≤ .0001). Readability also differed significantly according to resource distributor/creator, CT type, person quoted, and presence or absence of inclusion criteria and an explicit call to action. Our study provides insight into the content and difficulty level of recruitment materials intended to provide initial information about a CT. Future studies should examine individuals' comprehension of recruitment materials and how participation intentions are associated with recruitment messages. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of quality of internet pages on human papillomavirus immunization in Italian and in English.

PubMed

Tozzi, Alberto Eugenio; Buonuomo, Paola Sabrina; Ciofi degli Atti, Marta Luisa; Carloni, Emanuela; Meloni, Marco; Gamba, Fiorenza

2010-01-01

Information available on the Internet about immunizations may influence parents' perception about human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization and their attitude toward vaccinating their daughters. We hypothesized that the quality of information on HPV available on the Internet may vary with language and with the level of knowledge of parents. To this end we compared the quality of a sample of Web pages in Italian with a sample of Web pages in English. Five reviewers assessed the quality of Web pages retrieved with popular search engines using criteria adapted from the Good Information Practice Essential Criteria for Vaccine Safety Web Sites recommended by the World Health Organization. Quality of Web pages was assessed in the domains of accessibility, credibility, content, and design. Scores in these domains were compared through nonparametric statistical tests. We retrieved and reviewed 74 Web sites in Italian and 117 in English. Most retrieved Web pages (33.5%) were from private agencies. Median scores were higher in Web pages in English compared with those in Italian in the domain of accessibility (p < .01), credibility (p < .01), and content (p < .01). The highest credibility and content scores were those of Web pages from governmental agencies or universities. Accessibility scores were positively associated with content scores (p < .01) and with credibility scores (p < .01). A total of 16.2% of Web pages in Italian opposed HPV immunization compared with 6.0% of those in English (p < .05). Quality of information and number of Web pages opposing HPV immunization may vary with the Web site language. High-quality Web pages on HPV, especially from public health agencies and universities, should be easily accessible and retrievable with common Web search engines. Copyright 2010 Society for Adolescent Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[An evaluation of web-based information about Barrett's esophagus in Korea].

PubMed

Park, Sung Hyun; Lee, Jun Haeng; Kim, Kap Hyun; Kang, Ki Joo; Kim, Sang Jung; Lee, Seung Chul; Kim, Jin Yong; Rhee, Poong-Lyul; Kim, Jae J; Rhee, Jong Chul

2009-05-01

Internet has become an important source of medical information not only for doctors but also patients. However, information available in the Internet may provide wrong or even harmful knowledge to the public. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of Internet-based medical information about Barrett's esophagus in Korea. The first 50 Internet links were retrieved from the Google using the key word Barrett's esophagus. The quality of information from a total of 49 websites was evaluated using a checklist. Among total 49 sites related to Barrett's esophagus, only 4 sites (8.2%) were made by hospitals or clinics, and 11 sites (22.4%) were for patients. Of the 49 sites, only one web site (2.0%) had all HON CODE principles (authority, complementarity, confidentiality, attribution, justifiability, transparency of authorship, transparency of sponsorship, honesty in advertising and editorial policy). Sixteen Internet links (32.0%) had fair contents for the definition, and 24 links (48.0%) for the diagnosis, and 15 links (30.0%) for the treatment. Information about Barrett's esophagus was incomplete in the majority of medical web sites. It will bring about confusion in patients who want to get information about Barrett's esophagus from the Internet. There is a need for better evidence-based information about Barrett's esophagus on the web.

An analysis of sodium, total fat and saturated fat contents of packaged food products advertised in Bronx-based supermarket circulars.

PubMed

Samuel, L; Basch, C H; Ethan, D; Hammond, R; Chiazzese, K

2014-08-01

Americans' consumption of sodium, fat, and saturated fat exceed federally recommended limits for these nutrients and has been identified as a preventable leading cause of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. More than 40% of the Bronx population comprises African-Americans, who have increased risk and earlier onset of hypertension and are also genetically predisposed to salt-sensitive hypertension. This study analyzed nutrition information for packaged foods advertised in Bronx-based supermarket circulars. Federally recommended limits for sodium, saturated fat and total fat contents were used to identify foods that were high in these nutrients. The proportion of these products with respect to the total number of packaged foods was calculated. More than a third (35%) and almost a quarter (24%) of the 898 advertised packaged foods were high in saturated fat and sodium respectively. Such foods predominantly included processed meat and fish products, fast foods, meals, entrees and side dishes. Dairy and egg products were the greatest contributors of high saturated fat. Pork and beef products, fast foods, meals, entrees and side dishes had the highest median values for sodium, total fat and saturated fat content. The high proportion of packaged foods that are high in sodium and/or saturated fat promoted through supermarket circulars highlights the need for nutrition education among consumers as well as collaborative public health measures by the food industry, community and government agencies to reduce the amounts of sodium and saturated fat in these products and limit the promotion of foods that are high in these nutrients.

Mapping SOC content and bulk density of a disturbed peatland relict with electromagnetic induction and DEM data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altdorff, Daniel; Bechtold, Michel; van der Kruk, Jan; Tiemeyer, Bärbel; von Hebel, Christian; Huisman, Johan Alexander

2014-05-01

Peatlands represent a huge storage of soil organic carbon (SOC), and there is considerable interest to assess the total amount of carbon stored in these ecosystems. However, reliable field-scale information about peat properties, particularly SOC content and bulk density (BD) necessary to estimate C stocks, remains difficult to obtain. A potential way to acquire information on these properties and its spatial variation is the non-invasive mapping of easily recordable physical variables that correlate with peat properties, such as bulk electrical conductivity (ECa) measured with electromagnetic induction (EMI). However, ECa depends on a range of soil properties, including BD, soil and water chemistry, and water content, and thus results often show complex and site-specific relationships. Therefore, a reliable prediction of SOC and BD from ECa data is not necessarily given. In this study, we aim to explore the usefulness of Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) models to predict the peat soil properties SOC and BD from multi-offset EMI and high-resolution DEM data. The quality of the MLR models is assessed by cross-validation. We use data from a medium-scale disturbed peat relict (approximately 35ha) in Northern Germany. The potential explanatory variables considered in MLR were: EMI data of six different integral depths (approximately 0.25, 0.5, 0.6, 0.9, 1, and 1.80 m), their vertical heterogeneity, as well as several topographical variables extracted from the DEM. Ground truth information for SOC, BD content and peat layer thickness was obtained from 34 soil cores of 1 m depth. Each core was divided into several 5 to 20 cm thick layers so that integral information of the upper 0.25, 0.5, and 1 m as well as from the total peat layer was obtained. For cross-validation of results, we clustered the 34 soil cores into 4 classes using K-means clustering and selected 8 cores for validation from the clusters with a probability that depended on the size of the cluster. With the remaining 26 samples, we performed a stepwise MLR and generated separate models for each depth and soil property. Preliminary results indicate reliable model predictions for SOC and BD (R² = 0.83- 0.95). The RMSE values of the validation ranged between 3.5 and 7.2 vol. % for SOC and 0.13 and 0.37 g/cm³ for BD for the independent samples. This equates roughly the quality of SOC predictions obtained by field application of vis-NIR (visible-near infrared) presented in literature for a similar peatland setting. However, the EMI approach offers the potential to derive information from deeper depths and allows non-invasive mapping of BD variability, which is not possible with vis-NIR. Therefore, this new approach potentially provides a more useful tool for total carbon stock assessment in peatlands.

Antioxidant activity, phenolic content, and peroxide value of essential oil and extracts of some medicinal and aromatic plants used as condiments and herbal teas in Turkey.

PubMed

Ozcan, Mehmet Musa; Erel, Ozcan; Herken, Emine Etöz

2009-02-01

The antioxidant activity, total peroxide values, and total phenol contents of several medicinal and aromatic plant essential oil and extracts from Turkey were examined. Total phenolic contents were determined using a spectrophotometric technique and calculated as gallic acid equivalents. Total antioxidant activity of essential oil and extracts varied from 0.6853 to 1.3113 and 0.3189 to 0.6119 micromol of Trolox equivalents/g, respectively. The total phenolic content of essential oil ranged from 0.0871 to 0.5919 mg of gallic acid/g dry weight. However, the total phenolic contents of extracts were found to be higher compared with those of essential oils. The amount of total peroxide values of oils varied from 7.31 (pickling herb) to 58.23 (bitter fennel flower) mumol of H(2)O(2)/g. As a result, it is shown that medicinal plant derivatives such as extract and essential oils can be useful as a potential source of total phenol, peroxide, and antioxidant capacity for protection of processed foods.

Comparison of patients' needs for information on prostate surgery with printed materials provided by surgeons.

PubMed Central

Meredith, P; Emberton, M; Wood, C; Smith, J

1995-01-01

OBJECTIVES--To identify strengths, weaknesses, and omissions in existing leaflets and factsheets on prostatectomy given by surgeons to patients. DESIGN--Comparison of content of leaflets and factsheets with patients' needs and discontents in a questionnaire survey as part of the national prostatectomy audit. SETTING--All NHS and independent hospitals performing prostatectomy in four health regions. SUBJECTS--87 surgeons, 53 of whom used printed material to inform patients about their operations; a total of 25 different factsheets being used. 5361 men undergoing prostatectomy were sent a closed response questionnaire about their treatment; 4226 men returned it completed. A random sample of 2000 patients was asked for further comments, of whom 807 supplied pertinent comments. MAIN MEASURES--Content of the 25 factsheets compared with patients' needs identified in the questionnaires. RESULTS--Much of the information distributed had considerable shortcomings: it lacked uniformity in form and content, topics of relevance to patients were omitted, terminology was often poor, and patients' experience was at variance with what their surgeons said. For example, only one factsheet discussed the potential consequences of malignancy. Patients wanted more information on prostate cancer (1250(29%)) and some thought that the explanation of biopsy results was inadequate (29(4%)). Only six factsheets discussed the possible changes in sexual sensation after transurethral resection of the prostate, stating that patients would feel no change. However, 1490(35%) patients reported a change and 500(12%) were worried about it. CONCLUSION--Current standards of printed information do not meet the needs and requirements of patients undergoing prostatectomy. PMID:10142031

Media coverage of cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine: implications for geographic health inequities.

PubMed

Krieger, Janice L; Katz, Mira L; Eisenberg, Dana; Heaner, Sarah; Sarge, Melanie; Jain, Parul

2013-09-01

To describe the content of newspaper articles about cervical cancer and the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine published in Appalachia and identify potential differences in coverage as compared to the content of newspaper articles published in non-Appalachia Ohio. Individuals rely on media as an important source of health information. Inadequate coverage of health issues may reinforce health inequities such as the elevated cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates in Appalachia Ohio. A content analysis was conducted of all newspaper articles about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine published in Appalachia and non-Appalachia Ohio during 2006. A total of 121 published newspaper articles (42 in Appalachia and 79 in non-Appalachia) about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine were identified. Articles published in Appalachia Ohio were significantly less likely than articles published in non-Appalachia Ohio to provide information about the threat of cervical cancer and the efficacy of the HPV vaccine. Specifically, few articles published in Appalachia included information about the ability of the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, the cost of the vaccine and the availability of assistance programmes for the un- and underinsured. Newspaper articles printed in the Appalachia region lacked vital information that could help promote uptake of the HPV vaccine. Health educators and healthcare providers should be aware that women from underserved geographic regions like Appalachia may have greater information needs regarding their risk of cervical cancer and the potential benefits of the HPV vaccine as compared to the general patient population. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Study of total phenol, flavonoids contents and phytochemical screening of various leaves crude extracts of locally grown Thymus vulgaris.

PubMed

Hossain, Mohammad Amzad; AL-Raqmi, Khulood Ahmed Salim; AL-Mijizy, Zawan Hamood; Weli, Afaf Mohammed; Al-Riyami, Qasim

2013-09-01

To prepare various crude extracts using different polarities of solvent and to quantitatively evaluate their total phenol, flavonoids contents and phytochemical screening of Thymus vulgaris collected from Al Jabal Al Akhdar, Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman. The leave sample was extracted with methanol and evaporated. Then it was defatted with water and extracted with different polarities organic solvents with increasing polarities. The prepare hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol and methanol crude extracts were used for their evaluation of total phenol, flavonoids contents and phytochemical screening study. The established conventional methods were used for quantitative determination of total phenol, flavonoids contents and phytochemical screening. Phytochemical screening for various crude extracts were tested and shown positive result for flavonoids, saponins and steroids compounds. The result for total phenol content was the highest in butanol and the lowest in methanol crude extract whereas the total flavonoids contents was the highest in methanol and the lowest hexane crude extract. The crude extracts from locally grown Thymus vulgaris showed high concentration of flavonoids and it could be used as antibiotics for different curable and uncurable diseases.

Polyphenol content and antioxidant properties of colored soybean seeds from central Europe.

PubMed

Malenčić, Djordje; Cvejić, Jelena; Miladinović, Jegor

2012-01-01

The antioxidant activity and contents of various polyphenol classes in the seeds of seven soybean varieties of different seed color and one yellow seed cultivar, representing a reference genotype, were evaluated. Total polyphenols and tannins were determined after extraction of plant material with 70% aqueous acetone, and total flavonoids were extracted with methanol and acetic acid, whereas anthocyanins were extracted with 20% aqueous ethanol. In addition, isoflavone content and composition were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. Antioxidant activity of seed extracts was evaluated by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity assay. A positive linear correlation between antioxidant activity and contents of total polyphenols and anthocyanins was established. The highest antioxidant activity was observed in the extracts of black and brown varieties, which also showed high levels of all polyphenol classes examined. Yellow seed had the highest total isoflavone content (3.62 mg/g of dry material). The highest concentration of total daidzein was determined in black seeds (>2.0 mg/g of dry material), and the highest total glycitein and genistein contents occurred in the yellow cultivar (0.53 and 1.49 mg/g of dry material, respectively). According to our results, varieties of black and brown seeds could be of special interest not only for their large content of total polyphenols, ranging from 4.94 to 6.22 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of dry material, but also for their high content of natural antioxidants such as anthocyanins.

Measuring the level of public understanding of total solar eclipse from the mass media: Palembang as sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Purwati, F. G.; Ekawanti, N.; Luthfiandari; Premadi, P. W.

2016-11-01

The Total Solar Eclipse (TSE) on the 9th March 2016 received a huge attention from the mass media. Some of them intensively write articles about it even months before the TSE day. As we know media plays strategic role not only in raising public awareness but also interest. The aim of this project is to study the relation between the number of accesses to the media information and how well public learned the information delivered by the media. We prepared questionnaire consisting of seven semi-multiple choices on how public got information about TSE. We gave them choices of what they had heard to measure their basic understanding of TSE. Furthermore we add two “wrong” choices in the last questions to identify less serious respondents. We analyze 60 respondents of Palembang who visited Ampera bridge area. Our result shows no correlation between the number of information access and the level of understanding about TSE. We also found that local media did not provide the scientific content of TSE as well as the national media.

Project ArchimedeZ

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-18

of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering...describe the proposed content of Project ArchimedeZ, 4 ) describe incentives that Project ArchimedeZ will give to Total Force Airmen to participate and...engaged, most of the time, in some sort of PME but at a manageable level. Rather than a three- hour block, for example, Project ArchimedeZ would deliver

Students' Attitudes to Information in the Press: Critical Reading of a Newspaper Article with Scientific Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliveras, B.; Márquez, C.; Sanmartí, N.

2014-01-01

This research analyses what happens when a critical reading activity based on a press article dealing with an energy-related problem is implemented with two groups of students of 13-14 years old and 16-17 years old in the same school (a total of 117 students). Specifically, the research analyses the students' profiles from the standpoint of…

What Are Women Being Exposed to? A Review of the Quality, Content and Ownership of Websites on Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder.

PubMed

Hardy, Claire; Sillence, Elizabeth

2016-01-01

An increasing number of people are now turning to the Internet for health information. Internet use is especially likely in women with the clinical condition premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which affects approximately 8% of premenopausal women. However, to date, there has not been a review of the quality of these online resources on PMDD. The aim of the present study was to address this gap by reviewing websites containing PMDD information. A search was conducted on three commonly used search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing). The first 50 results were extracted and compared across each search engine results to determine unique resources. After removing inaccessible links, a total of 69 unique websites were reviewed to evaluate their general quality, condition-specific content quality, and ownership. The websites varied widely in terms of their quality and ownership. Most returned websites were from web providers, U.S. health care providers, and media companies. General quality (e.g., design) was modest; yet, condition-specific content quality was far poorer. Women are being exposed to a varying degree of quality information about PMDD. Health professionals and website owners of this information should consider this and encourage better online resources to help this patient group. The paper presents the five highest scoring websites that may be used by those with a vested interest in PMDD, such as health professionals or women with PMDD. Copyright © 2016 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the isoflavone and total phenolic contents of kefir-fermented soymilk storage and after the in vitro digestive system simulation.

PubMed

da Silva Fernandes, Meg; Sanches Lima, Fernando; Rodrigues, Daniele; Handa, Cintia; Guelfi, Marcela; Garcia, Sandra; Ida, Elza Iouko

2017-08-15

This study aimed to evaluate the isoflavone and total phenolic contents in kefir-fermented soymilk storage and after the in vitro digestive system simulation (DSS). Soymilk was fermented with kefir culture (0.02UC/L) at 25°C for 15h and stored at 4°C for 4days. After the fermentation and storage, the isoflavone and total phenolic contents were quantified by high performance liquid chromatography and spectrophotometry, respectively. The cell viability of lactic acid bacteria and yeast was evaluated. Fermentation promoted an increase of approximately 3log CFU/g cycles of the microorganisms and the storage process did not alter the aglycone isoflavones and total phenolic contents. The content of aglycone isoflavones increased 2-fold, and the total phenolic content increased 9-fold. Therefore, kefir-fermented soymilk is a good source of aglycone isoflavones and phenolics, since the content of these substances was increased significantly after the in vitro digestive system simulation of the product. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Content analysis of oncology-related pharmaceutical advertising in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

PubMed

Yonemori, Kan; Hirakawa, Akihiro; Ando, Masashi; Hirata, Taizo; Yunokawa, Mayu; Shimizu, Chikako; Tamura, Kenji; Fujiwara, Yasuhiro

2012-01-01

The oncology market represents one of the largest pharmaceutical markets in any medical field, and printed advertising in medical journals is an important channel by which pharmaceutical companies communicate with healthcare professionals. The aim of the present study was to analyze the volume and content of and trends and changes in oncology-related advertising intended for healthcare professionals in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Information that could be included in advertisements to promote drug development and improve treatment strategies for cancer patients is discussed on the basis of the results of the analysis. Overall, 6,720 advertisements covering 13,039 pages in a leading oncology medical journal published (by the American Society of Clinical Oncology) between January 2005 and December 2009 were analyzed. The advertisements targeting pharmaceuticals and clinical trials, in particular, were reviewed. A total of 6,720 advertisements covering 13,039 pages were included in the analysis. For the years 2005-2009, the percentages of total journal pages dedicated to advertising were 24.0%, 45.7%, 49.8%, 46.8%, and 49.8%, respectively. Package insert information and efficacy and safety explanations appeared in more than 80% of advertisements intended for pharmaceutical promotion. From 2005 to 2009, the overall quantity of drug advertisements decreased by approximately 13%, whereas advertisements calling for the enrollment of patients into registration trials increased by approximately 11%. Throughout the study period, oncology-related pharmaceutical advertisements occupied a considerable number of pages relative to other journal content. The proportion of advertisements on ongoing clinical trials increased progressively throughout the study period.

Content Analysis of Oncology-Related Pharmaceutical Advertising in a Peer-Reviewed Medical Journal

PubMed Central

Yonemori, Kan; Hirakawa, Akihiro; Ando, Masashi; Hirata, Taizo; Yunokawa, Mayu; Shimizu, Chikako; Tamura, Kenji; Fujiwara, Yasuhiro

2012-01-01

Background The oncology market represents one of the largest pharmaceutical markets in any medical field, and printed advertising in medical journals is an important channel by which pharmaceutical companies communicate with healthcare professionals. The aim of the present study was to analyze the volume and content of and trends and changes in oncology-related advertising intended for healthcare professionals in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Information that could be included in advertisements to promote drug development and improve treatment strategies for cancer patients is discussed on the basis of the results of the analysis. Methods/Principal Findings Overall, 6,720 advertisements covering 13,039 pages in a leading oncology medical journal published (by the American Society of Clinical Oncology) between January 2005 and December 2009 were analyzed. The advertisements targeting pharmaceuticals and clinical trials, in particular, were reviewed. A total of 6,720 advertisements covering 13,039 pages were included in the analysis. For the years 2005–2009, the percentages of total journal pages dedicated to advertising were 24.0%, 45.7%, 49.8%, 46.8%, and 49.8%, respectively. Package insert information and efficacy and safety explanations appeared in more than 80% of advertisements intended for pharmaceutical promotion. From 2005 to 2009, the overall quantity of drug advertisements decreased by approximately 13%, whereas advertisements calling for the enrollment of patients into registration trials increased by approximately 11%. Conclusion/Significance Throughout the study period, oncology-related pharmaceutical advertisements occupied a considerable number of pages relative to other journal content. The proportion of advertisements on ongoing clinical trials increased progressively throughout the study period. PMID:22952970

Social media patient testimonials in implant dentistry: information or misinformation?

PubMed

Ho, Adrian; McGrath, Colman; Mattheos, Nikos

2017-07-01

This study aims to assess the educational value of YouTube patient testimonial videos in implant dentistry and qualitatively analyse the themes mentioned. Videos were sampled consecutively on YouTube, using the keywords "dental implant patients' testimonials experience," sorted "by relevance." Patient testimonials on dental implant treatment were examined. Inaudible or non-English videos were excluded. Four calibrated investigators scored the videos for educational content, using a matrix derived from the European Association for Osseointegration information booklet, and demographic details were recorded. Data were analysed qualitatively through inductive thematic analysis. A total of 202 videos were analysed (48 exclusions). Inter-examiner reliability was fair to moderate for informative statements and poor to substantial for misleading statements. A mean of 1.8 informative statements were made per video, compared with misleading, 0.5. Many topics were rarely mentioned, with 19/30 themes appearing fewer than 5% of videos. Patients often informed that implants could improve aesthetics and function, but were misleading on aspects of pain control. Some statements may heighten expectations or imply permanency of treatment. Balanced presentation in YouTube testimonials may be limited by bias of clinician-uploaded content. Greater magnitude and breadth of information would improve educational value. Many important parameters of implant therapy were overlooked, whilst information was often potentially misleading. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Physical characters and antioxidant, sugar, and mineral nutrient contents in fruit from 29 apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars and hybrids.

PubMed

Drogoudi, Pavlina D; Vemmos, Stavros; Pantelidis, Georgios; Petri, Evangelia; Tzoutzoukou, Chrysoula; Karayiannis, Irene

2008-11-26

Fruit physical and chemical characters of 29 apricot cultivars of Greek and American origin and their hybrids were evaluated using correlation and principal component analysis. A remarkable variation was observed in the total phenol content (0.3-7.4 mg gallic acid equivalent g(-1) FW) and total antioxidant capacity (0.026-1.858 mg ascorbic acid equivalent g(-1) FW), with the American origin cultivars Robada and NJA(2) and the new cultivar Nike exhibiting the greatest values. The cultivar Tomcot and hybrid 467/99 had the highest content of total carotene (37.8 microg beta-carotene equivalent g(-1) FW), which was up to four times greater as compared with the rest of studied genotypes. The dominant sugar in fruit tissue was sucrose, followed second by glucose and third by sorbitol and fructose-inositol. The new cultivars Nike, Niobe, and Neraida contained relatively higher contents of sucrose and total sugars, while Ninfa and P. Tirynthos contained relatively higher contents of K, Ca, and Mg. Correlation analysis suggested that late-harvesting cultivars/hybrids had greater fruit developmental times (r = 0.817) and contained higher sugar (r = 0.704) and less Mg contents (r= -0.742) in fruit tissue. The total antioxidant capacity was better correlated with the total phenol content (r = 0.954) as compared with the total carotenoid content (r = 0.482). Weak correlations were found between the fruit skin color and the antioxidant contents in flesh tissue. Multivariate analysis allowed the grouping of variables, with more important variables being the harvest date, fruit developmental time, skin Chroma, sorbitol, and total sugar, K and Mg contents. Plotting the genotypes in a dendrogram revealed cases of homonymy between parents and hybrids, although independent segregation of the measured traits after hybridization was also found.

A Content Analysis of E-mail Communication between Patients and Their Providers: Patients Get the Message

PubMed Central

White, Casey B.; Moyer, Cheryl A.; Stern, David T.; Katz, Steven J.

2004-01-01

Objective: E-mail use in the clinical setting has been slow to diffuse for several reasons, including providers' concerns about patients' inappropriate and inefficient use of the technology. This study examined the content of a random sample of patient–physician e-mail messages to determine the validity of those concerns. Design: A qualitative analysis of patient–physician e-mail messages was performed. Measurements: A total of 3,007 patient–physician e-mail messages were collected over 11 months as part of a randomized, controlled trial of a triage-based e-mail system in two primary care centers (including 98 physicians); 10% of messages were randomly selected for review. Messages were coded across such domains as message type, number of requests per e-mail, inclusion of sensitive content, necessity of a physician response, and message tone. Results: The majority (82.8%) of messages addressed a single issue. The most common message types included information updates to the physicians (41.4%), prescription renewals (24.2%), health questions (13.2%), questions about test results (10.9%), referrals (8.8%), “other” (including thank yous, apologies) (8.8%), appointments (5.4%), requests for non-health-related information (4.8%), and billing questions (0.3%). Overall, messages were concise, formal, and medically relevant. Very few (5.1%) included sensitive content, and none included urgent messages. Less than half (43.2%) required a physician response. Conclusion: A triage-based e-mail system promoted e-mail exchanges appropriate for primary care. Most patients adhered to guidelines aimed at focusing content, limiting the number of requests per message, and avoiding urgent requests or highly sensitive content. Thus, physicians' concerns about the content of patients' e-mails may be unwarranted. PMID:15064295

Volatile Concentrations in Pyroclastic Obsidian: Two Case Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wearn, K. M.; Cashman, K. V.; Wallace, P. J.

2002-12-01

Pyroclastic obsidian is abundant in fall deposits associated with Mt. Mazama's Cleetwood eruption and South Sister's Rock Mesa eruption. Measured concentrations of H2Ototal and CO2 in >300 obsidian samples from these two eruptions provide important information about both the style of degassing (open- vs. closed-system) and changes in eruptive conditions through the course of both eruptions. Obsidian clasts preserve a range of total H2O contents, with samples from lower stratigraphic levels displaying a wider range of water concentrations than those from the uppermost tephra layer sampled. All samples from the Cleetwood section contain <=1 wt% water, with those from the top of that deposit containing <0.4 wt%. Obsidian from the basal ash layer of the subsequent climactic eruption contains 0.1 - 0.8 wt% water. Obsidian fragments from the Rock Mesa eruption show a broader range in H2Ototal contents (from 0.1 to >3 wt%) than those from the Cleetwood eruption. At Rock Mesa, maximum total water contents generally decrease with increased stratigraphic height. However, this decrease is not strictly monotonic: fluctuations in maximum total water contents correspond to stratigraphic unit boundaries. In addition, the Rock Mesa event produced abundant obsidian with very low H2Ototal concentrations throughout the eruption. Dissolved molecular CO2 levels are below the detection limit in all of the Cleetwood and Mazama samples. This is not surprising, given the low initial CO2 measured in Cleetwood and Mazama melt inclusions by Bacon et al. (1992). CO2 concentrations in the Rock Mesa clasts range from <5 ppm to ~44 ppm, and are positively correlated with H2Ototal concentrations. Fluorine concentrations in Cleetwood and Mazama climactic obsidian clasts vary between ~510 and ~695 ppm, with climactic samples averaging slightly lower concentrations than Cleetwood samples. Fluorine concentrations in Rock Mesa obsidians are uniformly low (~300 to ~510 ppm). Chlorine contents of Cleetwood and Mazama climactic samples range from ~1400 ppm to ~1610 ppm. The Rock Mesa samples all contain less chlorine (~510 to ~1120 ppm) than the Cleetwood and climactic samples, and in the Rock Mesa obsidian, chlorine and total water are positively correlated. Stratigraphic variations in the volatile contents of pyroclastic obsidian support previous work suggesting that obsidian forms along the margins of the volcanic conduit and is eroded from the conduit walls by fragmenting magma. Both the Cleetwood and the Rock Mesa deposits indicate initial evacuation of shallow vanguard magma followed by a rapid increase in fragmentation depth. Both deposits also show a gradual decrease in the fragmentation depth through time, consistent with subsequent effusive activity in both cases. More puzzling is the apparent closed-system degassing trend defined by the H2O-CO2-Cl relations in the Rock Mesa obsidian samples, despite the loss of volatiles required for obsidian formation. This suggests that volatile data may also provide information on the relative time scales of volatile exsolution and loss and obsidian formation.

[Determination of polyphenolic complex in wines by electrochemical methods and using the enzymes tyrosinase and laccase].

PubMed

Shleev, S V; Chekanova, S A; Koroleva, O V; Stepanova, E V; Telegin, Iu A; Sen'kina, Z E

2004-01-01

Several red wines were studied to find a correlation between physicochemical parameters characterizing the antioxidant status of wine and total content of phenols in samples. The content of dissolved oxygen (its value varied from 0.75 to 3.28 mg/ml), pH (3.10-3.63), redox potential (-186 to -106 mV), mass concentration of free and total sulfur dioxide (10-30 and 36-200 mg/dm3, respectively), absorption spectra, and total phenol content were determined. The wines fell into two main groups-with a relatively low (1850-2050 mg/dm3) and high (2300-2900 mg/dm3) contents of polyphenols. It was demonstrated that physicochemical parameters (except for the content of sulfur dioxide) correlate with the total phenol content in the wines studied.

Comparison of Cocoa Beans from China, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea

PubMed Central

Gu, Fenglin; Tan, Lehe; Wu, Huasong; Fang, Yiming; Xu, Fei; Chu, Zhong; Wang, Qinghuang

2013-01-01

A survey on five kinds of cocoa beans from new cocoa planting countries was conducted to analyze each kind’s basic quality. The average bean weight and butter content of Hainan cocoa beans were the lowest, at less than 1.1 g, and 39.24% to 43.44%, respectively. Cocoa beans from Indonesia where shown to be about 8.0% and 9.0% higher in average bean weight and butter content, respectively, than that of Papua New Guinea and about 20.0% and 25.0% higher in average bean weight and butter content than Chinese dried beans, respectively. The average total polyphenolic content ranged from 81.22 mg/10 g to 301.01 mg/10 g. The Hainan 2011 sample had the highest total polyphenolic content, followed by the unfermented sample from Indonesia and the Papua New Guinea sample. The polyphenolic levels found in the Hainan 2010 sample were 123.61 mg/10 g and lower than the other three samples, but the Indonesian fermented sample had the lowest total polyphenolic content of 81.22 mg/10 g. The average total amino acid content ranged from 11.58 g/100 g to 18.17 g/100 g. The total amino acid content was the highest in the Indonesian unfermented sample, followed by the Hainan 2011 sample and the Papua New Guinea sample. The levels found in the Hainan 2010 sample were lower; the Indonesian fermented sample had the lowest total amino acid content. PMID:28239108

Effects of Different Growing Regions on Quality Characteristics, Bioactive Compound Contents, and Antioxidant Activity of Aronia (Aronia melanocarpa) in Korea.

PubMed

Hwang, Eun-Sun; Thi, Nhuan Do

2016-09-01

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different growing regions on quality characteristics, total bioactive compound contents, and in vitro antioxidant activity in aronia. Aronia grown in 3 different regions (Sangjoo, Ulju, and Youngcheon) in Korea was obtained and used fresh or as a freeze-dried powder. No statistically significant differences were observed for moisture, ash, crude lipid, and crude protein contents in aronia sampled from the 3 different regions. Aronia grown in Sangjoo had the highest total acid content and the lowest sugar content and pH value. Conversely, aronia grown in Youngcheon possessed the lowest total acid content and the highest sugar content and pH value. Aronia grown in Sangjoo possessed relatively high levels of polyphenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins, as well as high antioxidant activity in comparison with aronia produced in other regions. Aronia grown in Youngcheon scored the highest for taste and overall acceptability in sensory evaluations, which may be related to the high sugar content and pH, and the low total acidity of the fruits. It is possible that higher sugar contents and pH, and lower total acidity in the aronia grown in Youngcheon result in more preferable sensory characteristics. However, they also contain relatively low levels of total polyphenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins, and have low antioxidant activity as measured by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging assays.

Effects of Different Growing Regions on Quality Characteristics, Bioactive Compound Contents, and Antioxidant Activity of Aronia (Aronia melanocarpa) in Korea

PubMed Central

Hwang, Eun-Sun; Thi, Nhuan Do

2016-01-01

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different growing regions on quality characteristics, total bioactive compound contents, and in vitro antioxidant activity in aronia. Aronia grown in 3 different regions (Sangjoo, Ulju, and Youngcheon) in Korea was obtained and used fresh or as a freeze-dried powder. No statistically significant differences were observed for moisture, ash, crude lipid, and crude protein contents in aronia sampled from the 3 different regions. Aronia grown in Sangjoo had the highest total acid content and the lowest sugar content and pH value. Conversely, aronia grown in Youngcheon possessed the lowest total acid content and the highest sugar content and pH value. Aronia grown in Sangjoo possessed relatively high levels of polyphenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins, as well as high antioxidant activity in comparison with aronia produced in other regions. Aronia grown in Youngcheon scored the highest for taste and overall acceptability in sensory evaluations, which may be related to the high sugar content and pH, and the low total acidity of the fruits. It is possible that higher sugar contents and pH, and lower total acidity in the aronia grown in Youngcheon result in more preferable sensory characteristics. However, they also contain relatively low levels of total polyphenols, flavonoids, and anthocyanins, and have low antioxidant activity as measured by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging assays. PMID:27752502

The use of websites for disseminating health information in developing countries: an experience from Sri Lanka.

PubMed

Kommalage, Mahinda; Thabrew, Anoj

2008-01-01

This study was designed to investigate the use of websites as a health education medium in Sri Lanka. Approximately 87.2% of the websites contained less than 100 webpages. The quality score was higher in the websites owned by local nonbusiness organisations compared to the websites owned by business organisations. Only 8.1% of the websites provided health education content for the general public as their main content. The total number of websites has not increased compared to the increase in internet usage in Sri Lanka during the last few years. The internet is an underutilised health education tool despite the growth of internet usage in Sri Lanka.

Estimating conformation content of a protein using citrate-stabilized Au nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deka, Jashmini; Paul, Anumita; Chattopadhyay, Arun

2010-08-01

Herein we report the use of the optical properties of citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) for estimation of native or denatured conformation content in a mixture of a protein in solution. The UV-vis extinction spectrum of citrate-stabilized Au NPs is known to broaden differently in the presence of native and denatured states of α-amylase, bovine serum albumin (BSA) or amyloglucosidase (AMG). On the other hand, herein we show that when a mixture of native and denatured protein was present in the medium, the broadening of the spectrum differed for different fractional content of the conformations. Also, the total area under the extinction spectrum varied linearly with the change in the mole fraction content of a state and for a constant total protein concentration. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements revealed different levels of agglomeration for different fractional contents of the native or denatured state of a protein. In addition, time-dependent denaturation of a protein could be followed using the present method. The rate constants calculated for denaturation indicated a possible fast change in conformation of a protein before complete thermal denaturation. The observations have been explained based on the changes in extinction coefficient (thereby oscillator strength) upon interaction of citrate-stabilized NPs with proteins being in different states and levels of agglomeration.Herein we report the use of the optical properties of citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) for estimation of native or denatured conformation content in a mixture of a protein in solution. The UV-vis extinction spectrum of citrate-stabilized Au NPs is known to broaden differently in the presence of native and denatured states of α-amylase, bovine serum albumin (BSA) or amyloglucosidase (AMG). On the other hand, herein we show that when a mixture of native and denatured protein was present in the medium, the broadening of the spectrum differed for different fractional content of the conformations. Also, the total area under the extinction spectrum varied linearly with the change in the mole fraction content of a state and for a constant total protein concentration. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements revealed different levels of agglomeration for different fractional contents of the native or denatured state of a protein. In addition, time-dependent denaturation of a protein could be followed using the present method. The rate constants calculated for denaturation indicated a possible fast change in conformation of a protein before complete thermal denaturation. The observations have been explained based on the changes in extinction coefficient (thereby oscillator strength) upon interaction of citrate-stabilized NPs with proteins being in different states and levels of agglomeration. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Additional UV-vis and fluorescence spectra and graphs based on UV-vis studies. See DOI: 10.1039/c0nr00154f

Vertical distribution of soil extractable organic C and N contents and total C and N stocks in 78-year-old tree plantations in subtropical Australia.

PubMed

Zhou, Xiaoqi; Dong, Haibo; Lan, Zhongming; Bacon, Gary; Hao, Yanbin; Chen, Chengrong

2017-10-01

Few studies have focused on the effects of long-term forest plantations on the soil profile of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks. In this study, we selected 78-year-old tree plantations that included three coniferous tree species (i.e., slash pine, hoop pine and kauri pine) and a Eucalyptus species in subtropical Australia. We measured soil extractable organic C (EOC) and N (EON) contents and total C and N stocks under different tree species on the forest floor and along a soil profile to 100 cm depth. The results showed that Eucalyptus had significantly higher soil EOC contents (3.3 Mg ha -1 ) than the other tree species (EOC of 1.9-2.3 Mg ha -1 ) and had significantly higher EON (156 kg ha -1 ) contents than slash pine (107 kg ha -1 ). Eucalyptus had significantly higher soil C (58.9 Mg ha -1 ) and N (2.03 Mg ha -1 ) stocks than the other tree species (22.3-27.6 Mg C ha -1 and 0.71-1.23 Mg N ha -1 ) at 0-100 cm depth. There were no differences in soil C stocks at the 0-100 cm depth among the coniferous tree species. Forest floor C stocks had stronger effects on mineral soil total N stocks than fine root biomass, whereas fine root biomass exerted stronger effects on soil total C stocks at the 0-100 cm depth than forest floor C and N stocks. Our results addressed large differences in soil C and N stocks under different tree species, which can provide useful information for local forest management practices in this region.

An analysis of state legislation on community trails.

PubMed

Eyler, Amy; Lankford, Tina; Chriqui, Jamie; Evenson, Kelly R; Kruger, Judy; Tompkins, Nancy; Voorhees, Carolyn; Zieff, Susan; Aytur, Semra; Brownson, Ross

2010-03-01

Trails provide opportunities for recreation, transportation and activity. The purpose of this article is to describe state legislation related to community trails, to analyze legislation content, and to evaluate legislation on inclusion of evidence-informed elements. State trail legislation from 2001 to 2008 was identified using online legislative databases. An analysis of evidence-informed elements included in the legislation was conducted. These elements included: funding, liability, accessibility, connectivity, and maintenance. Of the total 991 trail bills, 516 (52.0%) were appropriations bills, of which 167 (32.2%) were enacted. We analyzed 475 (48%) nonappropriation trail bills of which 139 (29.3%) were enacted. The percentage of enactment of appropriations bills decreased over time while enactment of nonappropriations trail bills increased. Over half of the nonappropriations trail bills included at least 1 evidence-informed element, most commonly funding. Few bills contained liability, connectivity, accessibility, or maintenance. There is opportunity for providing evidence-informed information to policy-makers to potentially influence bill content. The number of bills with a funding element demonstrates that fiscal support for trails is an important policy lever that state legislatures may use to support trails. Lastly, trails should be considered in over-all state-level physical activity legislation to provide opportunities for communities to be active.

Results and implications of the EU-project CARERS ‘Content materials to raise employability and reinforce skills of carers’

PubMed Central

Weber, Germain; Zeilinger, Elisabeth; Oppenauer, Claudia; Brehmer, Barbara

2009-01-01

Purpose The population, and needs, of informal carers is changing, reflecting not only the changing demographics across Europe, but also the unequal challenges and opportunities for education and training—and official approval of competences—across Europe for people involved in the care sector, formal as well as informal carers. Theory The objective of this European project (Austria, France, Lithuania Luxembourg, Poland and Spain) was to create, offer and evaluate an education and training programme specifically aimed at informal carers (e.g. family members), providing answers to meet their real needs in their support work as well as for their own emotional well-being. Therefore, project partners produced six innovative, online supported training modules (total 60 hours) for face-to-face delivery. Methods The presentation will highlight the development and the content of one training Module for older people with ‘intellectual disabilities’ more detailed. Results and conclusions All trainings were evaluated by the participants through pre/post questionnaires. The results of the trainings will be presented. Discussion The importance of trainings and support for informal carers will be discussed with special emphasis given on the fact that informal carers represent a most substantial economic resource for every country and its care system.

The total antioxidant content of more than 3100 foods, beverages, spices, herbs and supplements used worldwide

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background A plant-based diet protects against chronic oxidative stress-related diseases. Dietary plants contain variable chemical families and amounts of antioxidants. It has been hypothesized that plant antioxidants may contribute to the beneficial health effects of dietary plants. Our objective was to develop a comprehensive food database consisting of the total antioxidant content of typical foods as well as other dietary items such as traditional medicine plants, herbs and spices and dietary supplements. This database is intended for use in a wide range of nutritional research, from in vitro and cell and animal studies, to clinical trials and nutritional epidemiological studies. Methods We procured samples from countries worldwide and assayed the samples for their total antioxidant content using a modified version of the FRAP assay. Results and sample information (such as country of origin, product and/or brand name) were registered for each individual food sample and constitute the Antioxidant Food Table. Results The results demonstrate that there are several thousand-fold differences in antioxidant content of foods. Spices, herbs and supplements include the most antioxidant rich products in our study, some exceptionally high. Berries, fruits, nuts, chocolate, vegetables and products thereof constitute common foods and beverages with high antioxidant values. Conclusions This database is to our best knowledge the most comprehensive Antioxidant Food Database published and it shows that plant-based foods introduce significantly more antioxidants into human diet than non-plant foods. Because of the large variations observed between otherwise comparable food samples the study emphasizes the importance of using a comprehensive database combined with a detailed system for food registration in clinical and epidemiological studies. The present antioxidant database is therefore an essential research tool to further elucidate the potential health effects of phytochemical antioxidants in diet. PMID:20096093

Correlation of quinone reductase activity and allyl isothiocyanate formation among different genotypes and grades of horseradish roots.

PubMed

Ku, Kang-Mo; Jeffery, Elizabeth H; Juvik, John A; Kushad, Mosbah M

2015-03-25

Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) is a perennial crop and its ground root tissue is used in condiments because of the pungency of the glucosinolate (GS)-hydrolysis products allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) and phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) derived from sinigrin and gluconasturtiin, respectively. Horseradish roots are sold in three grades: U.S. Fancy, U.S. No. 1, and U.S. No. 2 according to the USDA standards. These grading standards are primarily based on root diameter and length. There is little information on whether root grades vary in their phytochemical content or potential health promoting properties. This study measured GS, GS-hydrolysis products, potential anticancer activity (as quinone reductase inducing activity), total phenolic content, and antioxidant activities from different grades of horseradish accessions. U.S. Fancy showed significantly higher sinigrin and AITC concentrations than U.S. No. 1 ,whereas U.S. No. 1 showed significantly higher concentrations of 1-cyano 2,3-epithiopropane, the epithionitrile hydrolysis product of sinigrin, and significantly higher total phenolic concentrations than U.S. Fancy.

Sibsonian and non-Sibsonian natural neighbour interpolation of the total electron content value

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotulak, Kacper; Froń, Adam; Krankowski, Andrzej; Pulido, German Olivares; Henrandez-Pajares, Manuel

2017-03-01

In radioastronomy the interferometric measurement between radiotelescopes located relatively close to each other helps removing ionospheric effects. Unfortunately, in case of networks such as LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), due to long baselines (currently up to 1500 km), interferometric methods fail to provide sufficiently accurate ionosphere delay corrections. Practically it means that systems such as LOFAR need external ionosphere information, coming from Global or Regional Ionospheric Maps (GIMs or RIMs, respectively). Thanks to the technology based on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), the scientific community is provided with ionosphere sounding virtually worldwide. In this paper we compare several interpolation methods for RIMs computation based on scattered Vertical Total Electron Content measurements located on one thin ionospheric layer (Ionospheric Pierce Points—IPPs). The results of this work show that methods that take into account the topology of the data distribution (e.g., natural neighbour interpolation) perform better than those based on geometric computation only (e.g., distance-weighted methods).

Preparation of S-Allylcysteine-Enriched Black Garlic Juice and Its Antidiabetic Effects in Streptozotocin-Induced Insulin-Deficient Mice.

PubMed

Kim, Jun Ho; Yu, Su Hyun; Cho, Yun Jeong; Pan, Jeong Hoon; Cho, Hyung Taek; Kim, Jeong Ho; Bong, Hyejin; Lee, Yeojin; Chang, Moon Han; Jeong, Ye Jin; Choi, Garam; Kim, Young Jun

2017-01-18

S-Allylcysteine (SAC), produced in large amounts during the aging process of garlic via enzymatic hydrolysis, is known as a key compound responsible for the multiple pharmacological activities of aged black garlic. This study investigated the effects of enzyme- and high hydrostatic pressure (HHP)-assisted extraction on the content of the bioactive compounds, including SAC, in black garlic juice (BGJ) and evaluated the antidiabetic effects of SAC-enriched BGJ in streptozotocin (STZ)-treated mice. The aging process increased the contents of SAC, total polyphenols, and total flavonoids in garlic juice. More importantly, pretreatment of pectinase cocktail with HHP resulted in a greater increase in those compounds during aging. Enzyme-treated BGJ reduced hyperglycemia and improved islet architecture and β-cell function in STZ-treated mice. Moreover, these effects were more potent than those of BGJ prepared by the conventional aging process. These findings provide useful information for the production of black garlic with improved bioactivities.

Antioxidant Capacity, Cytotoxicity and Antimycobacterial Activity of Madeira Archipelago Endemic Helichrysum Dietary and Medicinal Plants.

PubMed

Gouveia-Figueira, Sandra C; Gouveia, Carla A; Carvalho, Maria J; Rodrigues, Ana I; Nording, Malin L; Castilho, Paula C

2014-10-31

The potential bioactivity of dietary and medicinal endemic Helichrysum plants from Madeira Archipelago was explored, for the first time, in order to supply new information for the general consumer. In vitro antioxidant properties were investigated using DPPH, ABTS(•+), FRAP and β-Carotene assays, and the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were also determined. Although the results generally showed a large variation among the three analyzed plants, the methanolic extracts showed the highest antioxidant capacity. Exception is made for H. devium n-hexane extract that showed good radical scavenger capacity associated to compounds with good reducing properties. In the Artemia salina toxicity assay and antimycobaterial activity, H. devium was the most potent plant with the lowest LD50 at 216.7 ± 10.4 and MIC ≤ 50 μg·mL(-1). Chemometric evaluation (Principal Component Analysis-PCA) showed close interdependence between the ABTS, TPC and TFC methods and allowed to group H. devium samples.

Antioxidant Capacity, Cytotoxicity and Antimycobacterial Activity of Madeira Archipelago Endemic Helichrysum Dietary and Medicinal Plants

PubMed Central

Gouveia-Figueira, Sandra C.; Gouveia, Carla A.; Carvalho, Maria J.; Rodrigues, Ana I.; Nording, Malin L.; Castilho, Paula C.

2014-01-01

The potential bioactivity of dietary and medicinal endemic Helichrysum plants from Madeira Archipelago was explored, for the first time, in order to supply new information for the general consumer. In vitro antioxidant properties were investigated using DPPH, ABTS•+, FRAP and β-Carotene assays, and the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were also determined. Although the results generally showed a large variation among the three analyzed plants, the methanolic extracts showed the highest antioxidant capacity. Exception is made for H. devium n-hexane extract that showed good radical scavenger capacity associated to compounds with good reducing properties. In the Artemia salina toxicity assay and antimycobaterial activity, H. devium was the most potent plant with the lowest LD50 at 216.7 ± 10.4 and MIC ≤ 50 μg·mL−1. Chemometric evaluation (Principal Component Analysis—PCA) showed close interdependence between the ABTS, TPC and TFC methods and allowed to group H. devium samples. PMID:26785236

External cavity-quantum cascade laser (EC-QCL) spectroscopy for protein analysis in bovine milk.

PubMed

Kuligowski, Julia; Schwaighofer, Andreas; Alcaráz, Mirta Raquel; Quintás, Guillermo; Mayer, Helmut; Vento, Máximo; Lendl, Bernhard

2017-04-22

The analytical determination of bovine milk proteins is important in food and non-food industrial applications and yet, rather labour-intensive wet-chemical, low-throughput methods have been employed since decades. This work proposes the use of external cavity-quantum cascade laser (EC-QCL) spectroscopy for the simultaneous quantification of the most abundant bovine milk proteins and the total protein content based on the chemical information contained in mid-infrared (IR) spectral features of the amide I band. Mid-IR spectra of protein standard mixtures were used for building partial least squares (PLS) regression models. Protein concentrations in commercial bovine milk samples were calculated after chemometric compensation of the matrix contribution employing science-based calibration (SBC) without sample pre-processing. The use of EC-QCL spectroscopy together with advanced multivariate data analysis allowed the determination of casein, α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin and total protein content within several minutes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of predictive models for total phenolics and free p-coumaric acid contents in barley grain by near-infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Han, Zhigang; Cai, Shengguan; Zhang, Xuelei; Qian, Qiufeng; Huang, Yuqing; Dai, Fei; Zhang, Guoping

2017-07-15

Barley grains are rich in phenolic compounds, which are associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases. Development of barley cultivars with high phenolic acid content has become one of the main objectives in breeding programs. A rapid and accurate method for measuring phenolic compounds would be helpful for crop breeding. We developed predictive models for both total phenolics (TPC) and p-coumaric acid (PA), based on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analysis. Regressions of partial least squares (PLS) and least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) were compared for improving the models, and Monte Carlo-Uninformative Variable Elimination (MC-UVE) was applied to select informative wavelengths. The optimal calibration models generated high coefficients of correlation (r pre ) and ratio performance deviation (RPD) for TPC and PA. These results indicated the models are suitable for rapid determination of phenolic compounds in barley grains. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Precise measurement method for ionospheric total electron content using signals from GPS satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Imae, Michito; Kiuchi, Hitoshi; Kaneko, Akihiro; Hama, Shinichi; Miki, Chihiro

1990-01-01

A GPS codeless receiver called GTR-2 was for measuring total electron content (TEC) along the line of sight to the GPS satellite by using the cross correlation amplitude of the received P-code signals carried by L1(1575.42 MHz) and L2(1227.6 MHz). This equipment has the performance of uncertainty in the measurement of TEC of about 2 X 10(exp 16) electrons/sq m when a 10 dBi gain antenna was used. To increase the measurement performance, an upper version of GTR-2 called GTR-3 is planned which uses the phase information of the continuous signals obtained by making a cross correlation or multiplication of the received L1 and L2 P-code signals. By using the difference of these measured phases values, the ionospheric delay with the ambiguities of the periods of L1+L2 and L1-L2 signals can be estimated.

Temperature-dependent studies on the total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activities, and sugar content in six onion varieties.

PubMed

Sharma, Kavita; Ko, Eun Young; Assefa, Awraris D; Ha, Soyoung; Nile, Shivraj H; Lee, Eul Tai; Park, Se Won

2015-06-01

Heating effect on total phenol, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, and sugar content of six onion varieties has been quantitatively investigated to explore the effect of different temperatures. The onion varieties comprised one red-skinned variety, two white-skinned varieties, and three yellow-skinned varieties. The heating temperature was scanned at 80°C, 100°C, 120°C, and 150°C for 30 minutes each, and quantitative analysis was performed relative to the powdered onion at ambient temperature. Quercetin, glucosides and sugar content were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography. The total phenolic and antioxidant content increased in all six varieties. The total flavonoid levels showed a considerable change. On heating the onion samples at 120°C for 30 minutes, the red-skinned variety showed the highest level of total phenolic content [13712.67 ± 1034.85 μg of gallic acid equivalent/g dry weight (μg GAE/g DW)] and total flavonoids [3456.00 ± 185.82 μg of quercetin equivalents/g dry weight (μg Q/g DW)], whereas the content of total phenolics and total flavonoids were 13611.83 ± 341.61 μg GAE/g DW and 3482.87 ± 117.17 μg Q/g DW, respectively, for the yellow-skinned (Sunpower) variety. Quercetin and its glucoside contents increased up to 120°C and then decreased at 150°C, whereas the sugar content continuously decreased with heating. All cultivars showed the same pattern in the heating effect, and the predominant flavonoids were destroyed at higher temperatures. Therefore, it is improper to expose onion powder to a temperature higher than 120°C. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

What are cancer centers advertising to the public?: a content analysis.

PubMed

Vater, Laura B; Donohue, Julie M; Arnold, Robert; White, Douglas B; Chu, Edward; Schenker, Yael

2014-06-17

Although critics have expressed concerns about cancer center advertising, analyses of the content of these advertisements are lacking. To characterize the informational and emotional content of direct-to-consumer cancer center advertisements. Content analysis. Top U.S. consumer magazines (n = 269) and television networks (n = 44) in 2012. Types of clinical services promoted; information provided about clinical services, including risks, benefits, costs, and insurance availability; use of emotional advertising appeals; and use of patient testimonials were assessed. Two investigators independently coded advertisements using ATLAS.ti, and κ values ranged from 0.77 to 1.00. A total of 102 cancer centers placed 409 unique clinical advertisements in top media markets in 2012. Advertisements promoted treatments (88%) more often than screening (18%) or supportive services (13%). Benefits of advertised therapies were described more often than risks (27% vs. 2%) but were rarely quantified (2%). Few advertisements mentioned coverage or costs (5%), and none mentioned specific insurance plans. Emotional appeals were frequent (85%), evoking hope for survival (61%), describing cancer treatment as a fight or battle (41%), and inducing fear (30%). Nearly one half of advertisements included patient testimonials, which were usually focused on survival, rarely included disclaimers (15%), and never described the results that a typical patient may expect. Internet advertisements were not included. Clinical advertisements by cancer centers frequently promote cancer therapy with emotional appeals that evoke hope and fear while rarely providing information about risks, benefits, costs, or insurance availability. Further work is needed to understand how these advertisements influence patient understanding and expectations of benefit from cancer treatments. National Institutes of Health.

Physico-chemical properties, antioxidant activity and mineral contents of pineapple genotypes grown in china.

PubMed

Lu, Xin-Hua; Sun, De-Quan; Wu, Qing-Song; Liu, Sheng-Hui; Sun, Guang-Ming

2014-06-23

The fruit physico-chemical properties, antioxidant activity and mineral contents of 26 pineapple [Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.] genotypes grown in China were measured. The results showed great quantitative differences in the composition of these pineapple genotypes. Sucrose was the dominant sugar in all 26 genotypes, while citric acid was the principal organic acid. Potassium, calcium and magnesium were the major mineral constituents. The ascorbic acid (AsA) content ranged from 5.08 to 33.57 mg/100 g fresh weight (FW), while the total phenolic (TP) content varied from 31.48 to 77.55 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/100 g FW. The two parameters in the predominant cultivars Comte de Paris and Smooth Cayenne were relative low. However, MD-2 indicated the highest AsA and TP contents (33.57 mg/100 g and 77.55 mg GAE/100 g FM, respectively), and it also showed the strongest antioxidant capacity 22.85 and 17.30 μmol TE/g FW using DPPH and TEAC methods, respectively. The antioxidant capacity of pineapple was correlated with the contents of phenolics, flavonoids and AsA. The present study provided important information for the further application of those pineapple genotypes.

Spatial variability of chlorophyll and nitrogen content of rice from hyperspectral imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moharana, Shreedevi; Dutta, Subashisa

2016-12-01

Chlorophyll and nitrogen are the most essential parameters for paddy crop growth. Spectroradiometric measurements were collected at canopy level during critical growth period of rice. Chemical analysis was performed to quantify the total leaf content. By exploiting the ground based measurements, regression models were established for chlorophyll and nitrogen aimed indices with their corresponding crop growth variables. Vegetation index models were developed for mapping these parameters from Hyperion imagery in an agriculture system. It was inferred that the present Simple Ratio (SR) and Leaf Nitrogen Concentration (LNC) indices, which followed a linear and nonlinear relationship respectively, were completely different from published Tian et al. (2011). The nitrogen content varied widely from 1 to 4% and only 2 to 3% for paddy crop using present modified index models and Tian et al. (2011) respectively. The modified LNC index model performed better than the established Tian et al. (2011) model as far as estimated nitrogen content from Hyperion imagery was concerned. Furthermore, within the observed chlorophyll range obtained from the studied rice varieties grown in the rice agriculture system, the index models (LNC, OASVI, Gitelson, mSR and MTCI) performed well in the spatial distribution of rice chlorophyll content from Hyperion imagery. Spatial distribution of total chlorophyll content varied widely from 1.77 to 5.81 mg/g (LNC), 3.0 to 13 mg/g (OASVI), 0.5 to 10.43 mg/g (Gitelson), 2.18 to 10.61 mg/g (mSR) and 2.90 to 5.40 mg/g (MTCI). The spatial information of these parameters will help in proper nutrient management, yield forecasting, and will serve as inputs for crop growth and forecasting models for a precision rice agriculture system.

Effect of concentration temperature on some bioactive compounds and antioxidant proprieties of date syrup.

PubMed

Abbès, Fatma; Besbes, Souhail; Brahim, Bchir; Kchaou, Wissal; Attia, Hamadi; Blecker, Christophe

2013-08-01

The effect of the concentration temperature on the antioxidant activity, carotenoid and phenolic compounds of date syrup was investigated. Date juice was concentrated at 100  and at "60  in vacuum". After concentration, total phenolic, tannin, non-tannin, flavonoid and carotenoid content were determined spectrophotometrically and high-performance liquid chromatography was used for determination of 5-Hydroxymethyl-2-furfuraldehyde content. The antioxidant activity of date syrup was evaluated by various antioxidant methods including total antioxidant, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging test, ferric reducing antioxidant power and β-carotene bleaching. All date syrups showed strong antioxidant activity accompanied by high total phenolic contents. Results showed that concentration at 100  significantly enhanced the antioxidant activities and total phenolic contents of date syrups compared to vacuum concentration at 60 . A good correlation between the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content and flavonoid was observed.

Contrasting effects of ammonium and nitrate additions on the biomass of soil microbial communities and enzyme activities in subtropical China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chuang; Zhang, Xin-Yu; Zou, Hong-Tao; Kou, Liang; Yang, Yang; Wen, Xue-Fa; Li, Sheng-Gong; Wang, Hui-Min; Sun, Xiao-Min

2017-10-01

The nitrate to ammonium ratios in nitrogen (N) compounds in wet atmospheric deposits have increased over the recent past, which is a cause for some concern as the individual effects of nitrate and ammonium deposition on the biomass of different soil microbial communities and enzyme activities are still poorly defined. We established a field experiment and applied ammonium (NH4Cl) and nitrate (NaNO3) at monthly intervals over a period of 4 years. We collected soil samples from the ammonium and nitrate treatments and control plots in three different seasons, namely spring, summer, and fall, to evaluate the how the biomass of different soil microbial communities and enzyme activities responded to the ammonium (NH4Cl) and nitrate (NaNO3) applications. Our results showed that the total contents of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) decreased by 24 and 11 % in the ammonium and nitrate treatments, respectively. The inhibitory effects of ammonium on Gram-positive bacteria (G+) and bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) PLFA contents ranged from 14 to 40 % across the three seasons. We also observed that the absolute activities of C, N, and P hydrolyses and oxidases were inhibited by ammonium and nitrate, but that nitrate had stronger inhibitory effects on the activities of acid phosphatase (AP) than ammonium. The activities of N-acquisition specific enzymes (enzyme activities normalized by total PLFA contents) were about 21 and 43 % lower in the ammonium and nitrate treatments than in the control, respectively. However, the activities of P-acquisition specific enzymes were about 19 % higher in the ammonium treatment than in the control. Using redundancy analysis (RDA), we found that the measured C, N, and P hydrolysis and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities were positively correlated with the soil pH and ammonium contents, but were negatively correlated with the nitrate contents. The PLFA biomarker contents were positively correlated with soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), and total N contents, but were negatively correlated with the ammonium contents. The soil enzyme activities varied seasonally, and were highest in March and lowest in October. In contrast, the contents of the microbial PLFA biomarkers were higher in October than in March and June. Ammonium may inhibit the contents of PLFA biomarkers more strongly than nitrate because of acidification. This study has provided useful information about the effects of ammonium and nitrate on soil microbial communities and enzyme activities.

Using UNIX, Part 2.

PubMed

Mann, J

2001-01-01

We talked about using 3 UNIX commands. In UNIX, there are many other options for using them. But for the most part, if you can use them like I have shown, you will be able to do everything you need. If you can learn these few points well, I think you will be better off than if I give you 50 options and leave you totally confused about when to do what. On some UNIX systems, an electronic version of the UNIX manual is on the system. This gives a lot more information about each command. However, it is a bit difficult to understand. If you want more information about any command, you can type man COMMAND, e.g., man ls. This will give you more ways to use the ls command. And remember, the command pwd tells what directory you are in, cd/directory changes to another directory, ls lists the contents of the directory you are in, ls more displays the directory contents 1 page at a time (the space bar gives you the next page), ls-al gives a detailed listing of the contents of the directory you are in, ls-al more displays them 1 page at a time (the space bar gives you the next page).

Assessment of multiple geophysical techniques for the characterization of municipal waste deposit sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaël, Dumont; Tanguy, Robert; Nicolas, Marck; Frédéric, Nguyen

2017-10-01

In this study, we tested the ability of geophysical methods to characterize a large technical landfill installed in a former sand quarry. The geophysical surveys specifically aimed at delimitating the deposit site horizontal extension, at estimating its thickness and at characterizing the waste material composition (the moisture content in the present case). The site delimitation was conducted with electromagnetic (in-phase and out-of-phase) and magnetic (vertical gradient and total field) methods that clearly showed the transition between the waste deposit and the host formation. Regarding waste deposit thickness evaluation, electrical resistivity tomography appeared inefficient on this particularly thick deposit site. Thus, we propose a combination of horizontal to vertical noise spectral ratio (HVNSR) and multichannel analysis of the surface waves (MASW), which successfully determined the approximate waste deposit thickness in our test landfill. However, ERT appeared to be an appropriate tool to characterize the moisture content of the waste, which is of prior information for the organic waste biodegradation process. The global multi-scale and multi-method geophysical survey offers precious information for site rehabilitation studies, water content mitigation processes for enhanced biodegradation or landfill mining operation planning.

Recounting a Common Experience: On the Effectiveness of Instructing Eyewitness Pairs

PubMed Central

Vredeveldt, Annelies; van Koppen, Peter J.

2018-01-01

Pairs of eyewitnesses with a content-focused interaction style remember significantly more about witnessed incidents. We examined whether content-focused retrieval strategies can be taught. Seventy-five pairs of witnesses were interviewed thrice about an event. The first and third interview were conducted individually for all witnesses. The second interview was individual, collaborative without instruction, or collaborative with instruction. Pairs in the latter condition were instructed to actively listen to and elaborate upon each other's contributions. The strategy instruction had no effect on retrieval strategies used, nor on the amount or accuracy of reported information. However, pairs who spontaneously adopted a content-focused interaction style during the collaborative interview remembered significantly more. Thus, our findings show that effective retrieval strategies cannot be taught, at least not with the current instructions. During the second interview, we observed collaborative inhibition and error pruning. When considering the total amount of information reported across the first two interviews, however, collaboration had no inhibitory effect on correct recall, yet the error pruning benefits remained. These findings suggest that investigative interviewers should interview witnesses separately first, and then interview pairs of witnesses collaboratively. PMID:29593599

Constraining pre-eruptive volatile contents and degassing histories in submarine lavas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, M.; Soule, S. A.; Liao, Y.; Le Roux, V.; Brodsky, H.; Kurz, M. D.

2017-12-01

Vesicle textures in submarine lavas have been used to calculate total (pre-eruption) volatile concentrations in mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB), which provide constraints on upper mantle volatile contents and CO2 fluxes along the global MOR. In this study, we evaluate vesicle size distributions and volatile contents in a suite of 20 MORB samples, which span the range of typical vesicularities and bubble number densities observed in global MORB. We demonstrate that 2D imaging coupled with traditional stereological methods closely reproduces vesicle size distributions and vesicularities measured using 3D x-ray micro-computed tomography (μ-CT). We further demonstrate that x-ray μ-CT provides additional information about bubble deformation and clustering that are linked to bubble nucleation and lava emplacement dynamics. The validation of vesicularity measurements allows us to evaluate the methods for calculating total CO2 concentrations in MORB using dissolved volatile content (SIMS), vesicularity, vesicle gas density, and equations of state. We model bubble and melt contraction during lava quenching and show that the melt viscosity prevents bubbles from reaching equilibrium at the glass transition temperature. Thus, we suggest that higher temperatures should be used to calculate exsolved volatile concentrations based on observed vesicularities. Our revised method reconciles discrepancies between exsolved volatile contents measured by gas manometry and calculated from vesicularity. In addition, our revised method suggests that some previous studies may have overestimated MORB volatile concentrations by up to a factor of two, with the greatest differences in samples with the highest vesicularities (e.g., `popping rock' 2πD43). These new results have important implications for CO2/Nb of `undegassed' MORB and global ridge CO2 fluxes. Lastly, our revised method yields constant total CO2 concentrations in sample suites from individual MOR eruptions that experienced syn-eruptive degassing. These results imply closed-system degassing during magma ascent and emplacement following equilibration at the depth of melt storage in the crust.

Horizontal and vertical variability of soil properties in a trace element contaminated area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burgos, Pilar; Madejón, Engracia; Pérez-de-Mora, Alfredo; Cabrera, Francisco

2008-02-01

The spatial distribution of some soil chemical properties and trace element contents of a plot affected by the Aznalcóllar mine spill were investigated using statistical and geostatistical methods to assess the extent of soil contamination. Total and EDTA-extractable soil trace element concentrations and total S content showed great variability and high coefficients of variation in the three examined depths. Soil in the plot was found to be significantly contaminated by As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn within a wide range of pH. Total trace element concentrations at all depths (0-60 cm) were much higher than background values of non-affected soil, indicating that despite the clean-up operations, the concentration of trace elements in the experimental plot was still high. The spatial distribution of the different variables was estimated by kriging to design contour maps. These maps allowed the identification of specific zones with high metal concentrations and low pH values corresponding to spots of residual sludge. Moreover, kriged maps showed distinct spatial distribution and hence different behaviour for the elements considered. This information may be applied to optimise remediation strategies in highly and moderately contaminated areas.

Polyphenol Content and Antioxidant Properties of Colored Soybean Seeds from Central Europe

PubMed Central

Cvejić, Jelena; Miladinović, Jegor

2012-01-01

Abstract The antioxidant activity and contents of various polyphenol classes in the seeds of seven soybean varieties of different seed color and one yellow seed cultivar, representing a reference genotype, were evaluated. Total polyphenols and tannins were determined after extraction of plant material with 70% aqueous acetone, and total flavonoids were extracted with methanol and acetic acid, whereas anthocyanins were extracted with 20% aqueous ethanol. In addition, isoflavone content and composition were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. Antioxidant activity of seed extracts was evaluated by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity assay. A positive linear correlation between antioxidant activity and contents of total polyphenols and anthocyanins was established. The highest antioxidant activity was observed in the extracts of black and brown varieties, which also showed high levels of all polyphenol classes examined. Yellow seed had the highest total isoflavone content (3.62 mg/g of dry material). The highest concentration of total daidzein was determined in black seeds (>2.0 mg/g of dry material), and the highest total glycitein and genistein contents occurred in the yellow cultivar (0.53 and 1.49 mg/g of dry material, respectively). According to our results, varieties of black and brown seeds could be of special interest not only for their large content of total polyphenols, ranging from 4.94 to 6.22 mg of gallic acid equivalents/g of dry material, but also for their high content of natural antioxidants such as anthocyanins. PMID:21861721

Citrate, malate and alkali content in commonly consumed diet sodas: implications for nephrolithiasis treatment.

PubMed

Eisner, Brian H; Asplin, John R; Goldfarb, David S; Ahmad, Ardalanejaz; Stoller, Marshall L

2010-06-01

Citrate is a known inhibitor of calcium stone formation. Dietary citrate and alkali intake may have an effect on citraturia. Increasing alkali intake also increases urine pH, which can help prevent uric acid stones. We determined citrate, malate and total alkali concentrations in commonly consumed diet sodas to help direct dietary recommendations in patients with hypocitraturic calcium or uric acid nephrolithiasis. Citrate and malate were measured in a lemonade beverage commonly used to treat hypocitraturic calcium nephrolithiasis and in 15 diet sodas. Anions were measured by ion chromatography. The pH of each beverage was measured to allow calculation of the unprotonated anion concentration using the known pK of citric and malic acid. Total alkali equivalents were calculated for each beverage. Statistical analysis was done using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Several sodas contained an amount of citrate equal to or greater than that of alkali and total alkali as a lemonade beverage commonly used to treat hypocitraturic calcium nephrolithiasis (6.30 mEq/l citrate as alkali and 6.30 as total alkali). These sodas were Diet Sunkist Orange, Diet 7Up, Sprite Zero, Diet Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Sierra Mist Free, Diet Orange Crush, Fresca and Diet Mountain Dew. Colas, including Caffeine Free Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke with Lime, had the lowest total alkali (less than 1.0 mEq/l). There was no significant correlation between beverage pH and total alkali content. Several commonly consumed diet sodas contain moderate amounts of citrate as alkali and total alkali. This information is helpful for dietary recommendations in patients with calcium nephrolithiasis, specifically those with hypocitraturia. It may also be useful in patients with low urine pH and uric acid stones. Beverage malate content is also important since malate ingestion increases the total alkali delivered, which in turn augments citraturia and increases urine pH. Copyright 2010 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Nutritional and Functional Bioactivity Value of Selected Azorean Macroalgae: Ulva compressa, Ulva rigida, Gelidium microdon, and Pterocladiella capillacea.

PubMed

Paiva, Lisete; Lima, Elisabete; Neto, Ana Isabel; Marcone, Massimo; Baptista, José

2017-07-01

This study presents information on the biochemical composition (dry weight basis), nutritional aspects, and angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory properties of selected macroalgae (Ulva compressa, Ulva rigida, Gelidium microdon, and Pterocladiella capillacea) from Azores. Moisture content was very high (83.2% to 90.0% of fresh weight). Total dietary fiber (33.7% to 41.0%) that presented a good balance of both soluble and insoluble fibers (15.5% to 19.2% and 18.2% to 21.8%, respectively) was the most abundant component in these macroalgae. Protein and ash (ranged from 15.7% to 23.4% and 10.7% to 20.7%, respectively) were the 2nd most abundant components in red and green macroalgae, respectively. Moderate soluble carbohydrate contents (14.5% to 19.8%) were found in all species. Lipid contents were low (1.0% to 4.3%), particularly in Ulva species (1.0% to 1.7%), but contained higher unsaturated fatty acids (FAs) (7.5% to 32.9% and 29.6% to 69.2% of total FA for monounsaturated fatty acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid groups, respectively) than saturated fatty acid (23.3% to 46.8% of total FA) contents. All the macroalgal proteins had high digestibility in vitro (82.2% to 89.4%, relatively to sodium caseinate), contained high quantity of essential amino acids (45.3% to 58.1% of total amino acids), but in different proportions, and were rich in aspartic and glutamic acids that together account for 17.2% to 36.2% of the total amino acids. These results suggested that regular consumption of the selected macroalgae may improve human health and revealed that they can be used for producing food supplements for human and animal nutrition and/or pharmaceuticals with potential effect on the regional economy. Furthermore, the ACE-inhibitory IC 50 values of 0.095 to 0.695 mg/mL for the <1 kDa protein hydrolysate fraction revealed a potential impact on hypertension disorder. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Show More Distinct Biogeographic Distribution Patterns than Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria across the Black Soil Zone of Northeast China.

PubMed

Liu, Junjie; Yu, Zhenhua; Yao, Qin; Sui, Yueyu; Shi, Yu; Chu, Haiyan; Tang, Caixian; Franks, Ashley E; Jin, Jian; Liu, Xiaobing; Wang, Guanghua

2018-01-01

Black soils (Mollisols) of northeast China are highly productive and agriculturally important for food production. Ammonia-oxidizing microbes play an important role in N cycling in the black soils. However, the information related to the composition and distribution of ammonia-oxidizing microbes in the black soils has not yet been addressed. In this study, we used the amoA gene to quantify the abundance and community composition of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) across the black soil zone. The amoA abundance of AOA was remarkably larger than that of AOB, with ratios of AOA/AOB in the range from 3.1 to 91.0 across all soil samples. The abundance of AOA amoA was positively correlated with total soil C content ( p < 0.001) but not with soil pH ( p > 0.05). In contrast, the abundance of AOB amoA positively correlated with soil pH ( p = 0.009) but not with total soil C. Alpha diversity of AOA did not correlate with any soil parameter, however, alpha diversity of AOB was affected by multiple soil factors, such as soil pH, total P, N, and C, available K content, and soil water content. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that the AOA community was mainly affected by the sampling latitude, followed by soil pH, total P and C; while the AOB community was mainly determined by soil pH, as well as total P, C and N, water content, and sampling latitude, which highlighted that the AOA community was more geographically distributed in the black soil zone of northeast China than AOB community. In addition, the pairwise analyses showed that the potential nitrification rate (PNR) was not correlated with alpha diversity but weakly positively with the abundance of the AOA community ( p = 0.048), whereas PNR significantly correlated positively with the richness ( p = 0.003), diversity ( p = 0.001) and abundance ( p < 0.001) of the AOB community, which suggested that AOB community might make a greater contribution to nitrification than AOA community in the black soils when ammonium is readily available.

Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Show More Distinct Biogeographic Distribution Patterns than Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria across the Black Soil Zone of Northeast China

PubMed Central

Liu, Junjie; Yu, Zhenhua; Yao, Qin; Sui, Yueyu; Shi, Yu; Chu, Haiyan; Tang, Caixian; Franks, Ashley E.; Jin, Jian; Liu, Xiaobing; Wang, Guanghua

2018-01-01

Black soils (Mollisols) of northeast China are highly productive and agriculturally important for food production. Ammonia-oxidizing microbes play an important role in N cycling in the black soils. However, the information related to the composition and distribution of ammonia-oxidizing microbes in the black soils has not yet been addressed. In this study, we used the amoA gene to quantify the abundance and community composition of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) across the black soil zone. The amoA abundance of AOA was remarkably larger than that of AOB, with ratios of AOA/AOB in the range from 3.1 to 91.0 across all soil samples. The abundance of AOA amoA was positively correlated with total soil C content (p < 0.001) but not with soil pH (p > 0.05). In contrast, the abundance of AOB amoA positively correlated with soil pH (p = 0.009) but not with total soil C. Alpha diversity of AOA did not correlate with any soil parameter, however, alpha diversity of AOB was affected by multiple soil factors, such as soil pH, total P, N, and C, available K content, and soil water content. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that the AOA community was mainly affected by the sampling latitude, followed by soil pH, total P and C; while the AOB community was mainly determined by soil pH, as well as total P, C and N, water content, and sampling latitude, which highlighted that the AOA community was more geographically distributed in the black soil zone of northeast China than AOB community. In addition, the pairwise analyses showed that the potential nitrification rate (PNR) was not correlated with alpha diversity but weakly positively with the abundance of the AOA community (p = 0.048), whereas PNR significantly correlated positively with the richness (p = 0.003), diversity (p = 0.001) and abundance (p < 0.001) of the AOB community, which suggested that AOB community might make a greater contribution to nitrification than AOA community in the black soils when ammonium is readily available. PMID:29497404

A genome-wide association study reveals novel elite allelic variations in seed oil content of Brassica napus.

PubMed

Liu, Sheng; Fan, Chuchuan; Li, Jiana; Cai, Guangqin; Yang, Qingyong; Wu, Jian; Yi, Xinqi; Zhang, Chunyu; Zhou, Yongming

2016-06-01

A set of additive loci for seed oil content were identified using association mapping and one of the novel loci on the chromosome A5 was validated by linkage mapping. Increasing seed oil content is one of the most important goals in the breeding of oilseed crops including Brassica napus, yet the genetic basis for variations in this important trait remains unclear. By genome-wide association study of seed oil content using 521 B. napus accessions genotyped with the Brassica 60K SNP array, we identified 50 loci significantly associated with seed oil content using three statistical models, the general linear model, the mixed linear model and the Anderson-Darling test. Together, the identified loci could explain approximately 80 % of the total phenotypic variance, and 29 of these loci have not been reported previously. Furthermore, a novel locus on the chromosome A5 that could increase 1.5-1.7 % of seed oil content was validated in an independent bi-parental linkage population. Haplotype analysis showed that the favorable alleles for seed oil content exhibit cumulative effects. Our results thus provide valuable information for understanding the genetic control of seed oil content in B. napus and may facilitate marker-based breeding for a higher seed oil content in this important oil crop.

Effects of Juice Processing on Oxalate Contents in Carambola Juice Products.

PubMed

Huynh, Nha K; Nguyen, Ha V H

2017-09-01

Effects of processing methods including pressing, enzyme-assisted extraction, lactic acid fermentation by Lactobacillus acidophilus, and alcohol fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae on total and soluble oxalate contents of carambola juices were studied. In comparison with pressing, the use of enzyme increased juice yields (15.89-17.29%), but resulted in higher total oxalate (1.60-1.73 times) and soluble oxalate contents (1.16-1.49 times). In addition, extension of enzyme incubation periods led to an increase in soluble oxalate contents in the products (p < 0.05). On the other hand, alcohol fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae from 1 to 5 weeks reduced 37-58% of total oxalate and 39-59% of soluble oxalate contents. Prolonged fermentation also demonstrated better reduction of oxalate contents. Meanwhile, lactic acid fermentation using Lactobacillus acidophilus had no effects on total and soluble oxalate contents in carambola juices. These results suggested that carambola juice products should only be consumed moderately, and that alcohol fermentation could be a potential method to reduce oxalate contents in foods in order to prevent the risks of forming kidney stones.

Information extraction from full text scientific articles: where are the keywords?

PubMed

Shah, Parantu K; Perez-Iratxeta, Carolina; Bork, Peer; Andrade, Miguel A

2003-05-29

To date, many of the methods for information extraction of biological information from scientific articles are restricted to the abstract of the article. However, full text articles in electronic version, which offer larger sources of data, are currently available. Several questions arise as to whether the effort of scanning full text articles is worthy, or whether the information that can be extracted from the different sections of an article can be relevant. In this work we addressed those questions showing that the keyword content of the different sections of a standard scientific article (abstract, introduction, methods, results, and discussion) is very heterogeneous. Although the abstract contains the best ratio of keywords per total of words, other sections of the article may be a better source of biologically relevant data.

Determination of Total Solids and Ash in Algal Biomass: Laboratory Analytical Procedure (LAP)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Van Wychen, Stefanie; Laurens, Lieve M. L.

2016-01-13

This procedure describes the methods used to determine the amount of moisture or total solids present in a freeze-dried algal biomass sample, as well as the ash content. A traditional convection oven drying procedure is covered for total solids content, and a dry oxidation method at 575 deg. C is covered for ash content.

Nuclear protein accumulation in cellular senescence and organismal aging revealed with a novel single-cell resolution fluorescence microscopy assay.

PubMed

De Cecco, Marco; Jeyapalan, Jessie; Zhao, Xiaoai; Tamamori-Adachi, Mimi; Sedivy, John M

2011-10-01

Replicative cellular senescence was discovered some 50 years ago. The phenotypes of senescent cells have been investigated extensively in cell culture, and found to affect essentially all aspects of cellular physiology. The relevance of cellular senescence in the context of age-associated pathologies as well as normal aging is a topic of active and ongoing interest. Considerable effort has been devoted to biomarker discovery to enable the microscopic detection of single senescent cells in tissues. One characteristic of senescent cells documented very early in cell culture studies was an increase in cell size and total protein content, but whether this occurs in vivo is not known. A limiting factor for studies of protein content and localization has been the lack of suitable fluorescence microscopy tools. We have developed an easy and flexible method, based on the merocyanine dye known as NanoOrange, to visualize and quantitatively measure total protein levels by high resolution fluorescence microscopy. NanoOrange staining can be combined with antibody-based immunofluorescence, thus providing both specific target and total protein information in the same specimen. These methods are optimally combined with automated image analysis platforms for high throughput analysis. We document here increasing protein content and density in nuclei of senescent human and mouse fibroblasts in vitro, and in liver nuclei of aged mice in vivo. Additionally, in aged liver nuclei NanoOrange revealed protein-dense foci that colocalize with centromeric heterochromatin.

Nuclear protein accumulation in cellular senescence and organismal aging revealed with a novel single-cell resolution fluorescence microscopy assay

PubMed Central

De Cecco, Marco; Jeyapalan, Jessie; Zhao, Xiaoai; Tamamori-Adachi, Mimi; Sedivy, John M.

2011-01-01

Replicative cellular senescence was discovered some 50 years ago. The phenotypes of senescent cells have been investigated extensively in cell culture, and found to affect essentially all aspects of cellular physiology. The relevance of cellular senescence in the context of age-associated pathologies as well as normal aging is a topic of active and ongoing interest. Considerable effort has been devoted to biomarker discovery to enable the microscopic detection of single senescent cells in tissues. One characteristic of senescent cells documented very early in cell culture studies was an increase in cell size and total protein content, but whether this occurs in vivo is not known. A limiting factor for studies of protein content and localization has been the lack of suitable fluorescence microscopy tools. We have developed an easy and flexible method, based on the merocyanine dye known as NanoOrange, to visualize and quantitatively measure total protein levels by high resolution fluorescence microscopy. NanoOrange staining can be combined with antibody-based immunofluorescence, thus providing both specific target and total protein information in the same specimen. These methods are optimally combined with automated image analysis platforms for high throughput analysis. We document here increasing protein content and density in nuclei of senescent human and mouse fibroblasts in vitro, and in liver nuclei of aged mice in vivo. Additionally, in aged liver nuclei NanoOrange revealed protein-dense foci that colocalize with centromeric heterochromatin. PMID:22006542

The content of soyasaponin and soyasapogenol in soy foods and their estimated intake in the Japanese.

PubMed

Kamo, Shuichi; Suzuki, Shunsuke; Sato, Toshiro

2014-05-01

Soyasaponins have been reported to promote various health functions. However, the total soyasaponin and soyasapogenol content in soy products and the daily intake remain to be fully elucidated. We developed a high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometric (HPLC-MS/MS) method to evaluate the content of group A and B soyasaponins and soyasapogenols. The total soyasaponin content was measured after pretreatment converted soyasaponins to soyasapogenols. The total soyasaponin content in soy foods was 200-1800 nmol g(-1), although that of soy sauce was 2-7 nmol g(-1). The soyasapogenol to total soyasaponin ratio was 30-50% in long-term matured miso. The majority of the soyasapogenol detected was soyasapogenol B rather than soyasapogenol A, resulting in speculation that further steps are required to liberate aglycones from glycoside-conjugated soyasaponins in soyasapogenol A. We estimated the daily intake of total soyasaponins and soyasapogenols by the Japanese, which was 50.3 and 0.59 μmol, respectively. The soyasapogenol content and the soyasapogenol to total soyasaponin ratio was considerably low in most soy products, except for long-term maturated miso. The major source of the daily intake of soyasaponins and soyasapogenols were tofu and miso, respectively.

Characterization of 12 Capsicum varieties by evaluation of their carotenoid profile and pungency determination.

PubMed

Giuffrida, Daniele; Dugo, Paola; Torre, Germana; Bignardi, Chiara; Cavazza, Antonella; Corradini, Claudio; Dugo, Giacomo

2013-10-15

In this research 12 different varieties of Capsicum cultivars belonging to three species (Capsicum chinense, Capsicum annuum, Capsicum frutescens) and of various colour, shape, and dimension have been characterised by their carotenoids and capsaicinoids content. The berries were cultivated in the region Emilia-Romagna, in Northern Italy. The native carotenoid composition was directly investigated by an HPLC-DAD-APCI-MS methodology, for the first time. In total, 52 carotenoids have been identified and considerable variation in carotenoid composition was observed among the various cultivars investigated. Among the cultivars with red colour, some Habanero, Naga morich and Sinpezon showed an high β-carotene content, whereas Serrano, Tabasco and Jalapeno showed an high capsanthin content and the absence of β-carotene. Habanero golden and Scotch Bonnet showed a high lutein, α-carotene and β-carotene amounts, and Habanero orange was rich in antheraxanthin, capsanthin and zeaxanthin. Cis-cryptocapsin was present in high amount in Habanero chocolate. The qualitative and quantitative determination of the capsaicinoids, alkaloids responsible for the pungency level, has also been estimated by a validated chromatographic procedure (HPLC-DAD) after a preliminary drying step and an opportune extraction procedure. Results have also been expressed in Scoville units. Dry matter and water activity have also been established on the fresh berries. The dried peppers of each variety were then submitted to the evaluation of the total nitrogen content, measured by a Dumas system, permitting to provide information on the protein content that was found to be in the range between 7 and 16%. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The application of two-step linear temperature program to thermal analysis for monitoring the lipid induction of Nostoc sp. KNUA003 in large scale cultivation.

PubMed

Kang, Bongmun; Yoon, Ho-Sung

2015-02-01

Recently, microalgae was considered as a renewable energy for fuel production because its production is nonseasonal and may take place on nonarable land. Despite all of these advantages, microalgal oil production is significantly affected by environmental factors. Furthermore, the large variability remains an important problem in measurement of algae productivity and compositional analysis, especially, the total lipid content. Thus, there is considerable interest in accurate determination of total lipid content during the biotechnological process. For these reason, various high-throughput technologies were suggested for accurate measurement of total lipids contained in the microorganisms, especially oleaginous microalgae. In addition, more advanced technologies were employed to quantify the total lipids of the microalgae without a pretreatment. However, these methods are difficult to measure total lipid content in wet form microalgae obtained from large-scale production. In present study, the thermal analysis performed with two-step linear temeperature program was applied to measure heat evolved in temperature range from 310 to 351 °C of Nostoc sp. KNUA003 obtained from large-scale cultivation. And then, we examined the relationship between the heat evolved in 310-351 °C (HE) and total lipid content of the wet Nostoc cell cultivated in raceway. As a result, the linear relationship was determined between HE value and total lipid content of Nostoc sp. KNUA003. Particularly, there was a linear relationship of 98% between the HE value and the total lipid content of the tested microorganism. Based on this relationship, the total lipid content converted from the heat evolved of wet Nostoc sp. KNUA003 could be used for monitoring its lipid induction in large-scale cultivation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of cooking, proving, and baking on the (poly)phenol content of wild blueberry.

PubMed

Rodriguez-Mateos, Ana; Cifuentes-Gomez, Tania; George, Trevor W; Spencer, Jeremy P E

2014-05-07

Accumulating evidence suggests that diets rich in (poly)phenols may have positive effects on human health. Currently there is limited information regarding the effects of processing on the (poly)phenolic content of berries, in particular in processes related to the baking industry. This study investigated the impact of cooking, proving, and baking on the anthocyanin, procyanidin, flavonol, and phenolic acid contents of wild blueberry using HPLC with UV and fluorescence detection. Anthocyanin levels decreased during cooking, proving, and baking, whereas no significant changes were observed for total procyanidins. However, lower molecular weight procyanidins increased and high molecular weight oligomers decreased during the process. Quercetin and ferulic and caffeic acid levels remained constant, whereas increases were found for chlorogenic acid. Due to their possible health benefits, a better understanding of the impact of processing is important to maximize the retention of these phytochemicals in berry-containing products.

Andean potato cultivars (Solanum tuberosum L.) as a source of antioxidant and mineral micronutrients.

PubMed

Andre, Christelle M; Ghislain, Marc; Bertin, Pierre; Oufir, Mouhssin; Herrera, María del Rosario; Hoffmann, Lucien; Hausman, Jean-François; Larondelle, Yvan; Evers, Danièle

2007-01-24

Potato tubers were evaluated as a source of antioxidants and minerals for the human diet. A genetically diverse sample of Solanum tuberosum L. cultivars native to the Andes of South America was obtained from a collection of nearly 1000 genotypes using microsatellite markers. This size-manageable collection of 74 landraces, representing at best the genetic diversity among potato germplasm, was analyzed for iron, zinc, calcium, total phenolic, total carotenoid, and total vitamin C contents. The hydrophilic antioxidant capacity of each genotype was also measured using the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay. The iron content ranged from 29.87 to 157.96 microg g-1 of dry weight (DW), the zinc content from 12.6 to 28.83 microg g-1 of DW, and the calcium content from 271.09 to 1092.93 microg g-1 of DW. Total phenolic content varied between 1.12 and 12.37 mg of gallic acid equiv g-1 of DW, total carotenoid content between 2.83 and 36.21 microg g-1 of DW, and total vitamin C content between 217.70 and 689.47 microg g-1 of DW. The range of hydrophilic ORAC values was 28.25-250.67 micromol of Trolox equiv g-1 of DW. The hydrophilic antioxidant capacity and the total phenolic content were highly and positively correlated (r = 0.91). A strong relationship between iron and calcium contents was also found (r = 0.67). Principal component analysis on the studied nutritional contents of the core collection revealed that most potato genotypes were balanced in terms of antioxidant and mineral contents, but some of them could be distinguished by their high level in distinct micronutrients. Correlations between the micronutrient contents observed in the sample and the genetic distances assessed by microsatellites were weakly significant. However, this study demonstrated the wide variability of health-promoting micronutrient levels within the native potato germplasm as well as the significant contribution that distinct potato tubers may impart to the intake in dietary antioxidants, zinc, and iron.

Can "YouTube" help students in learning surface anatomy?

PubMed

Azer, Samy A

2012-07-01

In a problem-based learning curriculum, most medical students research the Internet for information for their "learning issues." Internet sites such as "YouTube" have become a useful resource for information. This study aimed at assessing YouTube videos covering surface anatomy. A search of YouTube was conducted from November 8 to 30, 2010 using research terms "surface anatomy," "anatomy body painting," "living anatomy," "bone landmarks," and "dermatomes" for surface anatomy-related videos. Only relevant video clips in the English language were identified and related URL recorded. For each videotape the following information were collected: title, authors, duration, number of viewers, posted comments, and total number of days on YouTube. The data were statistically analyzed and videos were grouped into educationally useful and non-useful videos on the basis of major and minor criteria covering technical, content, authority, and pedagogy parameters. A total of 235 YouTube videos were screened and 57 were found to have relevant information to surface anatomy. Analysis revealed that 15 (27%) of the videos provided useful information on surface anatomy. These videos scored (mean ± SD, 14.0 ± 0.7) and mainly covered surface anatomy of the shoulder, knee, muscles of the back, leg, and ankle, carotid artery, dermatomes, and anatomical positions. The other 42 (73%) videos were not useful educationally, scoring (mean ± SD, 7.4 ± 1.8). The total viewers of all videos were 1,058,634. Useful videos were viewed by 497,925 (47% of total viewers). The total viewership per day was 750 for useful videos and 652 for non-useful videos. No video clips covering surface anatomy of the head and neck, blood vessels and nerves of upper and lower limbs, chest and abdominal organs/structures were found. Currently, YouTube is an inadequate source of information for learning surface anatomy. More work is needed from medical schools and educators to add useful videos on YouTube covering this area.

Information contents of drug advertisements: an Indian experience.

PubMed

Lal, A

1998-11-01

To critically analyze the drug information contained in Indian pharmaceutical advertisements. Analysis of pharmaceutical advertisements supplied by drug representatives (DRs) to prescribers from July 1, 1995, to June 30, 1996. A university-affiliated urban teaching hospital in India. 585 pharmaceutical ad pamphlets. The ads supplied by DRs to physicians in different clinical departments of the hospital were collected. These were distributed to different systems/categories and a special reference to fixed-dose drug combinations was given. The drug information contained in these ads was evaluated by using a checklist, framed by incorporating the World Health Organization ethical guidelines for medicinal drug promotion and some relevant items from other studies. The most frequently occurring ads were for antimicrobial agents. The ads on fixed-dose drug combinations constituted 37.9% of the total. More than 85% of the ads mentioned the generic name, brand name, contents, and pharmaceutical dosage forms, as well as the name and address of the company. The information concerning adverse effects, precautions, contraindications, warnings, major interactions, ingredients known to cause problems, pharmacology, drug overdose, references, drug storage, and cost was present in less than 40% of these ads. There has been inadequate information in pharmaceutical ads supplied by DRs to the physicians in India. The current scenario could be improved by formulating some definite legislative guidelines for the minimum level of information to be included in pharmaceutical ads and adhering to that legislation.

[Relativity among starch quantity, polysaccharides content and total alkaloid content of Dendrobium loddigesii].

PubMed

Zhu, Hua; Teng, Jianbei; Cai, Yi; Liang, Jie; Zhu, Yilin; Wei, Tao

2011-12-01

To find out the relativity among starch quantity, polysaccharides content and total alkaloid content of Dendrobium loddigesii. Microscopy-counting process was applied to starch quantity statistics, sulfuric acid-anthrone colorimetry was used to assay polysaccharides content and bromocresol green colorimetry was used to assay alkaloid content. Pearson product moment correlation analysis, Kendall's rank correlation analysis and Spearman's concordance coefficient analysis were applied to study their relativity. Extremely significant positive correlation was found between starch quantity and polysaccharides content, and significant negative correlation between alkaloid content and starch quantity was discovered, as well was between alkaloid content and polysaccharides content.

Preparing Brigade Combat Team Soldiers for Mission Readiness Through Research on Intangible Psychological Constructs and Their Applications: Phase 1

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-01

were randomly assigned to treatment groups and examined using a pretest , posttest , and follow-up to evaluate the impact of patient interview and...results of the literature review to inform interview and focus group protocol development for follow on data collection. Literature Review The...similar content or overlapped considerably with one another. Accordingly, similar constructs were grouped under meta- construct headings. A total of

Characteristics of clinical trial websites: information distribution between ClinicalTrials.gov and 13 primary registries in the WHO registry network.

PubMed

Ogino, Daisuke; Takahashi, Kunihiko; Sato, Hajime

2014-11-05

It is well known that information about clinical trials is not easily accessible by the public. In Japan, clinical trial information can be accessed by the general public through online registries; however, many people find these registries difficult to use. To improve current clinical trial registries, we propose that combining them with clinical information phrased in lay terms would be beneficial to other interested professionals such as journalists and clinicians, as well as the general public. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the current pattern of distribution of clinical trial information from the primary World Health Organization (WHO) registries. Based on the results of this assessment, we then aimed to build and evaluate a prototype of the Japan Primary Registries Network (JPRN) portal that would be easily accessible to patients and the public, while still remaining useful for professionals. We assessed a total of 14 primary clinical trial registries listed on the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform between January and February 2013. Website content was accessed and checked against a series of items that looked at usability, communication, design and accessibility of the sites. We excluded registries that were not active or were not on the approved WHO registry list at the time of our assessment. We also examined only the English versions of the websites as native-language registries may offer more functionality or different content than the English version of the same website. All registries examined had a function allowing users to search the registry data and that displayed the related information from the search, including the clinical trial registration data. However, few websites were found to be user-friendly, and there was little integration with social media. We confirmed that there are few websites providing useful clinical trial information to patients and their families. However, information gleaned from some of the more advanced online registries could be used to improve the content and functionality of the JPRN portal.

Evaluating the Accuracy and Quality of the Information in Kyphosis Videos Shared on YouTube.

PubMed

Erdem, Mehmet Nuri; Karaca, Sinan

2018-04-16

A quality-control YouTube-based study using the recognized quality scoring systems. In this study, our aim was to confirm the accuracy and quality of the information in kyphosis videos shared on YouTube. The Internet is a widely and increasingly used source for obtaining medical information both by patients and clinicians. YouTube, in particular, manifests itself as a leading source with its ease of access to information and visual advantage for Internet users. The first 50 videos returned by the YouTube search engine in response to 'kyphosis' keyword query were included in the study and categorized under seven and six groups, based on their source and content. The popularity of the videos were evaluated with a new index called the video power index (VPI). The quality, educational quality and accuracy of the source of information were measured using the JAMA score, Global Quality Score (GQS) and Kyphosis Specific Score (KSS). Videos had a mean duration of 397 seconds and a mean number of views of 131,644, with a total viewing number of 6,582,221. The source (uploader) in 36% of the videos was a trainer and the content in 46% of the videos was exercise training. 72% of the videos were about postural kyphosis. Videos had a mean JAMA score of 1.36 (range: 1 to 4), GQS of 1.68 (range: 1 to 5) and KSS of 3.02 (range:0 to 32). The academic group had the highest scores and the lowest VPIs. Online information on kyphosis is low quality and its contents are of unknown source and accuracy. In order to keep the balance in sharing the right information with the patient, clinicians should possess knowledge about the online information related to their field, and should contribute to the development of optimal medical videos. 3.

Evaluation of educational content of YouTube videos relating to neurogenic bladder and intermittent catheterization

PubMed Central

Ho, Matthew; Stothers, Lynn; Lazare, Darren; Tsang, Brian; Macnab, Andrew

2015-01-01

Introduction: Many patients conduct internet searches to manage their own health problems, to decide if they need professional help, and to corroborate information given in a clinical encounter. Good information can improve patients’ understanding of their condition and their self-efficacy. Patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) featuring neurogenic bladder (NB) require knowledge and skills related to their condition and need for intermittent catheterization (IC). Methods: Information quality was evaluated in videos accessed via YouTube relating to NB and IC using search terms “neurogenic bladder intermittent catheter” and “spinal cord injury intermittent catheter.” Video content was independently rated by 3 investigators using criteria based on European Urological Association (EAU) guidelines and established clinical practice. Results: In total, 71 videos met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 12 (17%) addressed IC and 50 (70%) contained information on NB. The remaining videos met inclusion criteria, but did not contain information relevant to either IC or NB. Analysis indicated poor overall quality of information, with some videos with information contradictory to EAU guidelines for IC. High-quality videos were randomly distributed by YouTube. IC videos featuring a healthcare narrator scored significantly higher than patient-narrated videos, but not higher than videos with a merchant narrator. About half of the videos contained commercial content. Conclusions: Some good-quality educational videos about NB and IC are available on YouTube, but most are poor. The videos deemed good quality were not prominently ranked by the YouTube search algorithm, consequently user access is less likely. Study limitations include the limit of 50 videos per category and the use of a de novo rating tool. Information quality in videos with healthcare narrators was not higher than in those featuring merchant narrators. Better material is required to improve patients’ understanding of their condition. PMID:26644803

Experience with a Spanish-language laparoscopy website.

PubMed

Moreno-Sanz, Carlos; Seoane-González, Jose B

2006-02-01

Although there are no clearly defined electronic tools for continuing medical education (CME), new information technologies offer a basic platform for presenting training content on the internet. Due to the shortage of websites about minimally invasive surgery in the Spanish language, we set up a topical website in Spanish. This study considers the experience with the website between April 2001 and January 2005. To study the activity of the website, the registry information was analyzed descriptively using the log files of the server. To study the characteristics of the users, we searched the database of registered users. We found a total of 107,941 visits to our website and a total of 624,895 page downloads. Most visits to the site were made from Spanish-speaking countries. The most frequent professional profile of the registered users was that of general surgeon. The development, implementation, and evaluation of Spanish-language CME initiatives over the internet is promising but presents challenges.

Can Physiological Endpoints Improve the Sensitivity of Assays with Plants in the Risk Assessment of Contaminated Soils?

PubMed Central

Gavina, Ana; Antunes, Sara C.; Pinto, Glória; Claro, Maria Teresa; Santos, Conceição; Gonçalves, Fernando; Pereira, Ruth

2013-01-01

Site-specific risk assessment of contaminated areas indicates prior areas for intervention, and provides helpful information for risk managers. This study was conducted in the Ervedosa mine area (Bragança, Portugal), where both underground and open pit exploration of tin and arsenic minerals were performed for about one century (1857 – 1969). We aimed at obtaining ecotoxicological information with terrestrial and aquatic plant species to integrate in the risk assessment of this mine area. Further we also intended to evaluate if the assessment of other parameters, in standard assays with terrestrial plants, can improve the identification of phytotoxic soils. For this purpose, soil samples were collected on 16 sampling sites distributed along four transects, defined within the mine area, and in one reference site. General soil physical and chemical parameters, total and extractable metal contents were analyzed. Assays were performed for soil elutriates and for the whole soil matrix following standard guidelines for growth inhibition assay with Lemna minor and emergence and seedling growth assay with Zea mays. At the end of the Z. mays assay, relative water content, membrane permeability, leaf area, content of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls and carotenoids), malondialdehyde levels, proline content, and chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm and ΦPSII) parameters were evaluated. In general, the soils near the exploration area revealed high levels of Al, Mn, Fe and Cu. Almost all the soils from transepts C, D and F presented total concentrations of arsenic well above soils screening benchmark values available. Elutriates of several soils from sampling sites near the exploration and ore treatment areas were toxic to L. minor, suggesting that the retention function of these soils was seriously compromised. In Z. mays assay, plant performance parameters (other than those recommended by standard protocols), allowed the identification of more phytotoxic soils. The results suggest that these parameters could improve the sensitivity of the standard assays. PMID:23565165

Study on Hyperspectral Estimation Model of Total Nitrogen Content in Soil of Shaanxi Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jinbao; Dong, Zhenyu; Chen, Xi

2018-01-01

The development of hyperspectral remote sensing technology has been widely used in soil nutrient prediction. The soil is the representative soil type in Shaanxi Province. In this study, the soil total nitrogen content in Shaanxi soil was used as the research target, and the soil samples were measured by reflectance spectroscopy using ASD method. Pre-treatment, the first order differential, second order differential and reflectance logarithmic transformation of the reflected spectrum after pre-treatment, and the hyperspectral estimation model is established by using the least squares regression method and the principal component regression method. The results show that the correlation between the reflectance spectrum and the total nitrogen content of the soil is significantly improved. The correlation coefficient between the original reflectance and soil total nitrogen content is in the range of 350 ~ 2500nm. The correlation coefficient of soil total nitrogen content and first deviation of reflectance is more than 0.5 at 142nm, 1963nm, 2204nm and 2307nm, the second deviation has a significant positive correlation at 1114nm, 1470nm, 1967nm, 2372nm and 2402nm, respectively. After the reciprocal logarithmic transformation of the reflectance with the total nitrogen content of the correlation analysis found that the effect is not obvious. Rc2 = 0.7102, RMSEC = 0.0788; Rv2 = 0.8480, RMSEP = 0.0663, which can achieve the rapid prediction of the total nitrogen content in the region. The results show that the principal component regression model is the best.

The distribution of organic carbon fractions in a typical loess-paleosol profile and its paleoenvironmental significance

PubMed Central

Hu, Feinan; Huo, Na; Shang, Yingni; Chang, Wenqian

2018-01-01

Background The loess-paleosol sequence on the Loess Plateau has been considered an important paleoclimatic archive to study global climatic and environmental changes in the Quaternary. So far, little attention has been paid to the characteristics of soil organic carbon fractions in loess-paleosol sequences, which may provide valuable information for exploring the evolution of climate and environment in the Quaternary on the Loess Plateau. Methods In order to explore the significance of mineral-associated organic carbon to total organic carbon (MOC/TOC) ratios in the loess-paleosol sequence for reconstructing paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic evolution in the Quaternary on the Loess Plateau, we selected a typical loess-paleosol profile in Chunhua county, Xianyang city, Shaanxi province, as the research object. The content of total organic carbon (TOC) and MOC/TOC ratio in each loess and paleosol layers of the Chunhua loess-paleosol profile were analyzed, together with the paleoclimatic proxies, such as soil grain size, CaCO3 content and their correlations with organic carbon parameters. Results The main results were as follows: (1) the total content of soil organic carbon and MOC/TOC ratios were generally higher in paleosol layers than in the underlying loess layers of the Chunhua loess-paleosol profile. Compared to total organic carbon content, MOC/TOC ratios changed more obviously in soil layers below a paleosol layer S8; (2) soil clay content and median grain size (Md (ϕ)) were higher in paleosol than in the underlying loess, while CaCO3 content showed an opposite tendency. In the Chunhua profile, the distribution characteristics of the three paleoclimatic proxies showed good indications of paleoclimate changes in the Quaternary; (3) in the Chunhua loess-paleosol profile, MOC/TOC ratios were positively correlated with clay content and median grain size (ϕ), while negatively correlated with CaCO3 content, and the correlations were more significant in soil layers below S8. Discussion Our results indicated that MOC/TOC ratios in the Chunhua loess-paleosol profile correlated with the cold dry-warm wet paleoclimatic cycle in the Quaternary. The high MOC/TOC ratios in the loess-paleosol profile might reflect warm and humid climate, while lower ratios indicated relatively cold and dry climate. That is because when the climate changed from warm-humid to cold-dry, the vegetation coverage and pedogenesis intensity decreased, which increased soil CaCO3 content and decreased soil clay content and Md (ϕ), leading to decreased MOC/TOC ratios. Compared to TOC, MOC/TOC ratios had greater significance in indicating paleoenvironmental evolution in the Quaternary on the Loess Plateau. Therefore, investigating MOC/TOC ratios in loess-paleosol profile can offer new evidence to reconstructing paleoenvironmental changes, and also provide a basis for predicting responses of soil organic carbon pools to vegetation and climate changes in the future. PMID:29666763

A different approach for the analysis of grapes: Using the skin as sensing element.

PubMed

Muñoz, Raquel; García-Hernández, Celia; Medina-Plaza, Cristina; García-Cabezón, Cristina; Fernández-Escudero, J A; Barajas, Enrique; Medrano, Germán; Rodriguez-Méndez, María Luz

2018-05-01

In this work, an alternative method to monitor the phenolic maturity of grapes was developed. In this approach, the skins of grapes were used to cover the surface of carbon paste electrodes and the voltammetric signals obtained with the skin-modified sensors were used to obtain information about the phenolic content of the skins. These sensors could easily detect differences in the phenolic composition of different Spanish varieties of grapes (Mencía, Prieto Picudo and Juan García). Moreover, sensors were able to monitor changes in the phenolic content throughout the ripening process from véraison until harvest. Using PLS-1 (Partial Least Squares), correlations were established between the voltammetric signals registered with the skin-modified sensors and the phenolic content measured by classical methods (Glories or Total Polyphenol Index). PLS-1 models provided additional information about Brix degree, density or sugar content, which usually used to establish the harvesting date. The quality of the correlations was influenced by the maturation process and the structural and mechanical skin properties. Thus the skin sensors fabricated with Juan García and Prieto Picudo grapes (that showed faster polyphenolic maturation and a higher amount of extractable polyphenols than Mencía), showed good correlations and therefore could be used to monitor the ripening. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Regional mapping of forest canopy water content and biomass using AIRSAR images over BOREAS study area

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Saatchi, Sasan; Rignot, Eric; Vanzyl, Jakob

1995-01-01

In recent years, monitoring vegetation biomass over various climate zones has become the primary focus of several studies interested in assessing the role of the ecosystem responses to climate change and human activities. Airborne and spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems provide a useful tool to directly estimate biomass due to its sensitivity to structural and moisture characteristics of vegetation canopies. Even though the sensitivity of SAR data to total aboveground biomass has been successfully demonstrated in many controlled experiments over boreal forests and forest plantations, so far, no biomass estimation algorithm has been developed. This is mainly due to the fact that the SAR data, even at lowest frequency (P-band) saturates at biomass levels of about 200 tons/ha, and the structure and moisture information in the SAR signal forces the estimation algorithm to be forest type dependent. In this paper, we discuss the development of a hybrid forest biomass algorithm which uses a SAR derived land cover map in conjunction with a forest backscatter model and an inversion algorithm to estimate forest canopy water content. It is shown that unlike the direct biomass estimation from SAR data, the estimation of water content does not depend on the seasonal and/or environmental conditions. The total aboveground biomass can then be derived from canopy water content for each type of forest by incorporating other ecological information. Preliminary results from this technique over several boreal forest stands indicate that (1) the forest biomass can be estimated with reasonable accuracy, and (2) the saturation level of the SAR signal can be enhanced by separating the crown and trunk biomass in the inversion algorithm. We have used the JPL AIRSAR data over BOREAS southern study area to test the algorithm and to generate regional scale water content and biomass maps. The results are compared with ground data and the sources of errors are discussed. Several SAR images in synoptic modes are used to generate the parameter maps. The maps are then combined to generate mosaic maps over the BOREAS modeling grid.

The psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II.

PubMed

Sun, Ning; Li, Qiu-Jie; Lv, Dong-Mei; Lu, Gui-Zhi; Lin, Ping; An, Xue-Mei

2014-10-01

The present study was conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of a newly adapted Chinese version of an instrument designed to measure structural empowerment among staff nurses. Structural empowerment has been shown to be important to nurses in Western cultures, but its importance in China is unknown. A convenience sample of 650 staff nurses was selected from six hospitals in Harbin, China. After linguistic adaptation using the forward-backward translation method, the 19-item Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II (CWEQ-II-CV) was answered by participants. Content validity, Cronbach's alpha, item-to-total correlation and exploratory factor analysis were used to assess the reliability and validity of the translated instrument. In the factor analysis, a six-factor solution was found to be reasonable with the sub-dimensions of structural empowerment that included support (three items), resources (three items), information (three items), opportunity (three items), formal power (three items) and informal power (four items). Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total instrument was 0.92 and ranged from 0.68 to 0.86 in the six subscales. The item-to-total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.48 to 0.80. The findings also gave support for content validity. Evidence was found to support the reliability and validity of the CWEQ-II-CV scale that measures the quality of the work environment for nurses from a structural empowerment perspective. The translated version of CWEQ-II-CV can provide an effective evaluation tool for structural empowerment in the Chinese nursing workplace. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Hyperspectral Imaging Analysis for the Classification of Soil Types and the Determination of Soil Total Nitrogen

PubMed Central

Jia, Shengyao; Li, Hongyang; Wang, Yanjie; Tong, Renyuan; Li, Qing

2017-01-01

Soil is an important environment for crop growth. Quick and accurately access to soil nutrient content information is a prerequisite for scientific fertilization. In this work, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology was applied for the classification of soil types and the measurement of soil total nitrogen (TN) content. A total of 183 soil samples collected from Shangyu City (People’s Republic of China), were scanned by a near-infrared hyperspectral imaging system with a wavelength range of 874–1734 nm. The soil samples belonged to three major soil types typical of this area, including paddy soil, red soil and seashore saline soil. The successive projections algorithm (SPA) method was utilized to select effective wavelengths from the full spectrum. Pattern texture features (energy, contrast, homogeneity and entropy) were extracted from the gray-scale images at the effective wavelengths. The support vector machines (SVM) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) methods were used to establish classification and prediction models, respectively. The results showed that by using the combined data sets of effective wavelengths and texture features for modelling an optimal correct classification rate of 91.8%. could be achieved. The soil samples were first classified, then the local models were established for soil TN according to soil types, which achieved better prediction results than the general models. The overall results indicated that hyperspectral imaging technology could be used for soil type classification and soil TN determination, and data fusion combining spectral and image texture information showed advantages for the classification of soil types. PMID:28974005

Pilot-scale comparison of four duckweed strains from different genera for potential application in nutrient recovery from wastewater and valuable biomass production.

PubMed

Zhao, Y; Fang, Y; Jin, Y; Huang, J; Bao, S; Fu, T; He, Z; Wang, F; Wang, M; Zhao, H

2015-01-01

The application potential of four duckweed strains from four genera, Wolffia globosa 0222, Lemna japonica 0223, Landoltia punctata 0224 and Spirodela polyrhiza 0225, were compared in four parallel pilot-scale wastewater treatment systems for more than 1 year. The results indicated that each duckweed strain had unique potential advantages. Unlike L. japonica 0223 and La. punctata 0224, which grow throughout the year, S. polyrhiza 0225 and W. globosa 0222 do not survive cold weather. For year round performance, L. japonica 0223 was best not only in dry biomass production (6.10 g·m(-2) ·day(-1) ), but also in crude protein (35.50%), total amino acid (26.83%) and phosphorus (1.38%) content, plus recovery rates of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) and CO2 (0.31, 0.085 and 7.76 g·m(-2) ·day(-1) , respectively) and removal rates of TN and TP (0.66 and 0.089 g·m(-2) ·day(-1) , respectively). This strongly demonstrates that L. japonica 0223 performed best in wastewater treatment and protein biomass production. Under nutrient starvation conditions, La. punctata 0224 had the highest starch content (45.84%), dry biomass production (4.81 g·m(-2) ·day(-1) ) and starch accumulation (2.9 g·m(-2) ·day(-1) ), making it best for starch biomass production. W. globosa 0222 and S. polyrhiza 0225 showed increased flavonoid biomass production, with higher total flavonoid content (5.85% and 4.22%, respectively) and high dominant flavonoids (>60%). This study provides useful information for selecting the appropriate local duckweed strains for further application in wastewater treatment and valuable biomass production. © 2014 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Total antioxidant and ascorbic acid content of fresh fruits and vegetables: implications for dietary planning and food preservation.

PubMed

Szeto, Yim Tong; Tomlinson, Brian; Benzie, Iris F F

2002-01-01

Epidemiological evidence links high intake of ascorbic acid (AA) and other antioxidant micronutrients to health promotion. It would be useful to know the overall, or 'total' antioxidant capacity of foods, to establish the contribution of AA to this, and to assess how this information may translate into dietary intakes to meet the new US daily reference intake for AA. In this study, the total antioxidant capacity, as the ferric reducing-antioxidant power (FRAP) value, and AA content of thirty-four types of fruits and vegetables were measured using a modified version of the FRAP assay, known as FRASC. This measures AA (reduced form only) simultaneously with the FRAP value. Results covered a wide range: 880-15940 micromol/kg fresh wet weight and <20-540 mg/kg fresh wet weight respectively, for FRAP and AA, which comprised < 1-73 % and < 1-59 % total antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables respectively. We estimate that 100 mg AA is contained in one orange, a few strawberries, one kiwi fruit, 1-2 slices of pineapple, several florets of raw cauliflower or a handful of uncooked spinach leaves. Apples, bananas, pears and plums, the most commonly consumed fruits in the UK, contain very little AA. Results indicate also that the antioxidant capacity of vegetables decreases rapidly and significantly after fragmentation. Results of this, and future studies, using FRASC as a biomonitoring tool will be useful in food production, preparation, preservation, and aid dietary choices to increase antioxidant and AA intake. Furthermore, FRASC will facilitate bioavailability studies of antioxidants from different foods of known antioxidant capacity and AA content.

Analysis of glycosylated flavonoids extracted from sweet-cherry stems, as antibacterial agents against pathogenic Escherichia coli isolates.

PubMed

Aires, Alfredo; Dias, Carla; Carvalho, Rosa; Saavedra, Maria José

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the bioactivity of flavonoids extracted from sweet-cherry stems which are often used by a traditional system of medicine to treat gastro-intestinal and urinary tract infections but lacking any consistent scientific evidence; moreover the information about the class of phenolics, their content and the potential bioactivity of such material is very scarce. Thus, in this context, we have set a research study in which we evaluated the profile and content of phenolics extracted from sweet-cherry stems through a conventional (70ºC and 20 min) and ultrasound assisted extraction (40 kHz, room temperature and 20 min). The extracts were phytochemically characterized by using an HPLC-DAD-UV/VIS system and assayed by an in vitro minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) bioassay against Escherichia coli isolates. Simultaneously, the total antioxidant activities were measured using the 2,2'-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate (ABTS •+ ) radical cation assay. Our results indicate that sweet-cherry stems have a high content of sakuranetin, ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, p-coumaroylquinic acid, chlorogenic acid and its isomer neochlorogenic acid. Their average levels were highly affected by the extraction method used (p<0.001). The same trend was observed for total antioxidant activity and MIC values. The extracts produced with ultrasounds presented both, a higher total antioxidant activity and a lower minimum inhibitory concentration. Statistical analyses of our results showed a significant correlation (p<0.01) of total antioxidant activity and minimum inhibitory concentration with phenolics present in the extracts studied. Thus, we can conclude that cherry stems can be further exploited to purify compounds and produce coproducts with enhanced biologically added value for pharmaceutical industry.

Trans-fatty acid content of food products in Spain in 2015.

PubMed

Pérez-Farinós, Napoleón; Dal Re Saavedra, María Ángeles; Villar Villalba, Carmen; Robledo de Dios, Teresa

2016-01-01

To ascertain the content of trans-fatty acids (TFA) in food products in Spain in 2015 and assess trends in TFA content since 2010. We analysed the fat content of 277 food products purchased in Spanish supermarkets in 2015 and calculated both the total fat and TFA content and the proportion of TFA to total fats. The results obtained in 2015 were compared to those yielded by a similar study in 2010. In 2015, the majority of food products studied had a TFA content of less than 0.2g/100g product, and a TFA/total fat ratio of less than 2%. No significant increases were found compared to 2010. Food groups with a higher TFA content were dairy products of possible natural origin. TFA content in Spain is low and has significantly fallen since 2010. Copyright © 2016 SESPAS. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Characterization of Arab medium crude fractions with emphasis on kinematic viscosity - temperature behavior

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beg, S.A.; Amin, M.B.; Hussain, I.

1986-01-01

Characterization of Arab medium Crude Oil, has been carried out in terms of API gravity, debutanized crude gravity, total sulfur content, Reid vapour pressure ash content, heating value, salt content, viscosity SUS, vanadium content as V/sub 2/O/sub 5/, pour point and analysis of various metals. Further, six true boiling point (TBP) fractions (IBP-95/sup 0/C, 95-205/sup 0/C, 205-260/sup 0/C, 260-345/sup 0/C, 345-455/sup 0/C and 455/sup 0/C+) of this crude were characterized in terms of API gravity, total sulfur contents H/sub 2/S content, mercaptons content, molecular weight, elemental analyses for total carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen, analyses of various metals and paraffin, aromaticmore » and naphthene contents of lighter fractions. The kinematic viscosity-temperature data have been obtained for 95/sup 0/C+ TBP fractions for a wide range of temperatures.« less

Toward Privacy-preserving Content Access Control for Information Centric Networking

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-03-01

REPORT Toward Privacy-preserving Content Access Control for Information Centric Networking 14. ABSTRACT 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: Information...regardless the security mechanisms provided by different content hosting servers. However, using ABE has a drawback that the enforced content access...Encryption (ABE) is a flexible approach to enforce the content access policies regardless the security mechanisms provided by different content hosting

Information content in Medline record fields.

PubMed

Kostoff, Ronald N; Block, Joel A; Stump, Jesse A; Pfeil, Kirstin M

2004-06-30

The authors have been conducting text mining analyses (extraction of useful information from text) of Medline records, using Abstracts as the main data source. For literature-based discovery, and other text mining applications as well, all records in a discipline need to be evaluated for determining prior art. Many Medline records do not contain Abstracts, but typically contain Titles and Mesh terms. Substitution of these fields for Abstracts in the non-Abstract records would restore the missing literature to some degree. Determine how well the information content of Title and Mesh fields approximates that of Abstracts in Medline records. Select historical Medline records related to Raynaud's Phenomenon that contain Abstracts. Determine the information content in the Abstract fields through text mining. Then, determine the information content in the Title fields, the Mesh fields, and the combined Title-Mesh fields, and compare with the information content in the Abstracts. Four metrics were used to compare the information content related to Raynaud's Phenomenon in the different fields: total number of phrases; number of unique phrases; content of factors from factor analyses; content of clusters from multi-link clustering. The Abstract field contains almost an order of magnitude more phrases than the other fields, and slightly more than an order of magnitude more unique phrases than the other fields. Each field used a factor matrix with 14 factors, and the combination of all 56 factors for the four fields represented 27 separate, but not unique, themes. These themes could be placed in two major categories, with two sub-categories per major category: Auto-immunity (antibodies, inflammation) and circulation (peripheral vessel circulation, coronary vessel circulation). All four sub-categories included representation from each field. Thus, while the focus of the representation of each field in each sub-category was moderately different, the four sub-category structure could be identified by analyzing the total factors in each field. In the cluster comparison phase of the study, the phrases used to create the clusters were the most important phrases identified for each factor. Thus, the factor matrix served as a filter for words used for clustering. While clusters were generated for all four fields, the Title hierarchy tended to be fragmented due to sparsity of the co-occurrence matrix that underlies the clusters. Therefore, the Title clusters were examined at only the lower levels of aggregation. The Abstract, Mesh, and Mesh + Title fields had the same first level taxonomy categories, auto-immunity and circulation. At the second level, the Abstract, Mesh, and Mesh + Title fields had the autoimmune diseases and antibodies sub-category in common. The Abstract and Mesh fields shared fascia inflammation as the other auto-immunity sub-category, while the other Mesh + Title sub-category focuses on vinyl chloride poisoning from industrial contact, and consequences of antineoplastic agents. However, in both cases, even though the words may be different, inflammation may be the common theme. For taxonomy generation, especially at the higher levels, each of the four fields has a similar thematic structure. At very detailed levels, the Mesh and Title fields run out of phrases relative to the Abstract field. Therefore, selection of field (s) to be employed for taxonomy generation depends on the objectives of the study, particularly the level of categorization required for the taxonomy. For information retrieval, or literature-based discovery, selection of the appropriate field again depends on the study objectives. If large queries, or large numbers of concepts or themes are desired, then the field with the largest number of technical phrases would be desirable. If queries or concepts represented by the more accepted popular terminology is adequate, then the smaller fields may be sufficient. Because of its established and controlled vocabulary, the Mesh field lags the Title or Abss the Title or Abstract fields in currency. Thus, the Title or Abstract fields would retrieve records with the most explicitly stated current concepts, but the Mesh field would capture a larger swath of fields that contained a concept of interest but perhaps had a wider range of specific terminology in the Abstract or Title text. In addition, this study provides the first validated estimate of the disparity in information retrieved through text mining limited to Titles and Mesh terms relative to entire Abstracts. As much of the older biomedical literature was entered into electronic databases without associated Abstracts, literature-based discovery exercises that search the older medical literature may miss a substantial proportion of relevant information. On the basis of this study, it may be estimated that up to a log order more information may be retrieved when complete Abstracts are searched.

The inference of atmospheric ozone using satellite nadir measurements in the 1042/cm band

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, J. M., III; Drayson, S. R.

1973-01-01

A description and detailed analysis of a technique for inferring atmospheric ozone information from satellite nadir measurements in the 1042 cm band are presented. A method is formulated for computing the emission from the lower boundary under the satellite which circumvents the difficult analytical problems caused by the presence of atmospheric clouds and the watervapor continuum absorption. The inversion equations are expanded in terms of the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of a least-squares-solution matrix, and an analysis is performed to determine the information content of the radiance measurements. Under favorable conditions there are only two pieces of independent information available from the measurements: (1) the total ozone and (2) the altitude of the primary maximum in the ozone profile.

Content of Bachelors' in Tourism Informative Training in Ukrainian and Polish Experience: Comparative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zubekhina, Tetiana

2015-01-01

This article provides a comparative analysis of the content of Bachelors' in Tourism informative training in Ukrainian and Polish experience. The content of Bachelors' in Tourism informative training in Ukraine and Poland has been analyzed. The content of subjects, namely, "Information Technologies in Tourism" and "The Foundations…

Identification of phenolic compounds by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in seventeen species of wild mushrooms in Central Mexico and determination of their antioxidant activity and bioactive compounds.

PubMed

Yahia, Elhadi M; Gutiérrez-Orozco, Fabiola; Moreno-Pérez, Marco A

2017-07-01

Wild mushrooms are important for the diet of some communities in Mexico. However, limited information exists on their chemical composition, contribution to the diet, and health effects. We characterized seventeen wild mushroom species growing in the state of Queretaro in Central Mexico. Most species analyzed were edible, but also included nonedible, medicinal, poisonous and toxic specimens. Whole mushrooms (caps and stipes) were characterized for water content, color, and total content of phenolic compounds, flavonoids and anthocyanins. In vitro antioxidant capacity was measured by FRAP and DPPH assays. Phenolic compounds were identified and quantified by HPLC-mass spectrometry. All species analyzed were found to possess antioxidant activity in vitro and a wide range of phenolic and organic compounds were identified. Our results add to the limited information available on the composition and potential nutritional and health value of wild mushrooms. Further analyses of their bioactivities are warranted. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rapid quantitative determination of maltose and total sugars in sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L. [Lam.]) varieties using HPTLC.

PubMed

Lebot, Vincent

2017-03-01

When a raw sweet potato root is analysed, only sucrose, glucose and fructose are present but during cooking, starch is hydrolysed into maltose giving the sweet flavour to cooked roots. This study aimed at developing an HPTLC protocol for the rapid quantitative determination of maltose and total sugars in four commercial varieties and to compare them to 243 hybrids grouped by flesh colour (white, orange, purple). In commercial varieties, mean maltose content varied from 10.26 to 15.60% and total sugars from 17.83 to 27.77% on fresh weight basis. Hybrids showed significant variation in maltose content within each group, with means ranging from 7.65% for white-fleshed, to 8.53% in orange- and 11.98% in purple-fleshed. Total mean sugars content was 20.24, 22.11 and 26.84% respectively for white, orange and purple flesh hybrids. No significant correlations were detected between individual sugars but maltose and total sugars content were highly correlated. Compared to the best commercial variety ( Baby ), 25 hybrids (10.3%) presented a higher maltose content and 40 (16.5%) showed a higher total sugars content. HPTLC was observed as an attractive, cost efficient, high-throughput technique for quantitating maltose and total sugars in sweet potatoes. Perspectives for improving sweet potato quality for consumers' requirements are also discussed.

Wildlife connectivity approaches and best practices in U.S. state wildlife action plans.

PubMed

Lacher, Iara; Wilkerson, Marit L

2014-02-01

As habitat loss and fragmentation threaten biodiversity on large geographic scales, creating and maintaining connectivity of wildlife populations is an increasingly common conservation objective. To assess the progress and success of large-scale connectivity planning, conservation researchers need a set of plans that cover large geographic areas and can be analyzed as a single data set. The state wildlife action plans (SWAPs) fulfill these requirements. We examined 50 SWAPs to determine the extent to which wildlife connectivity planning, via linkages, is emphasized nationally. We defined linkage as connective land that enables wildlife movement. For our content analysis, we identified and quantified 6 keywords and 7 content criteria that ranged in specificity and were related to linkages for wide-ranging terrestrial vertebrates and examined relations between content criteria and statewide data on focal wide-ranging species, spending, revenue, and conserved land. Our results reflect nationwide disparities in linkage conservation priorities and highlight the continued need for wildlife linkage planning. Only 30% or less of the 50 SWAPs fulfilled highly specific content criteria (e.g., identifying geographic areas for linkage placement or management). We found positive correlations between our content criteria and statewide data on percent conserved land, total focal species, and spending on parks and recreation. We supplemented our content analysis with interviews with 17 conservation professionals to gain specific information about state-specific context and future directions of linkage conservation. Based on our results, relevant literature, and interview responses, we suggest the following best practices for wildlife linkage conservation plans: collect ecologically meaningful background data; be specific; establish community-wide partnerships; and incorporate sociopolitical and socioeconomic information. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Wildlife connectivity approaches and best practices in U.S. state wildlife action plans

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lacher, Iara; Wilkerson, Marit L.

2014-01-01

As habitat loss and fragmentation threaten biodiversity on large geographic scales, creating and maintaining connectivity of wildlife populations is an increasingly common conservation objective. To assess the progress and success of large-scale connectivity planning, conservation researchers need a set of plans that cover large geographic areas and can be analyzed as a single data set. The state wildlife action plans (SWAPs) fulfill these requirements. We examined 50 SWAPs to determine the extent to which wildlife connectivity planning, via linkages, is emphasized nationally. We defined linkage as connective land that enables wildlife movement. For our content analysis, we identified and quantified 6 keywords and 7 content criteria that ranged in specificity and were related to linkages for wide-ranging terrestrial vertebrates and examined relations between content criteria and statewide data on focal wide-ranging species, spending, revenue, and conserved land. Our results reflect nationwide disparities in linkage conservation priorities and highlight the continued need for wildlife linkage planning. Only 30% or less of the 50 SWAPs fulfilled highly specific content criteria (e.g., identifying geographic areas for linkage placement or management). We found positive correlations between our content criteria and statewide data on percent conserved land, total focal species, and spending on parks and recreation. We supplemented our content analysis with interviews with 17 conservation professionals to gain specific information about state-specific context and future directions of linkage conservation. Based on our results, relevant literature, and interview responses, we suggest the following best practices for wildlife linkage conservation plans: collect ecologically meaningful background data; be specific; establish community-wide partnerships; and incorporate sociopolitical and socioeconomic information.

Pedalium murex Linn (Pedaliaceae) fruits: a comparative antioxidant activity of its different fractions

PubMed Central

Patel, DK; Kumar, R; Prasad, SK; Hemalatha, S

2011-01-01

Objective To examine the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of different solvent fractions of Pedalium murex (P. murex) Linn fruits (Family: Pedaliaceae) as well as the correlation between the total antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content. Methods In the present study, the antioxidant activities of P. murex were evaluated using six in-vitro assays, namely total antioxidant assay, DPPH assay, reducing power, nitric oxide scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging and deoxyribose scavenging assays, and total phenol contents were also investigated. Results The ethyl acetate (EA) fraction was found to have high levels of phenolic content (298.72±2.09 mg GAE/g). The EA fraction exhibit higher total antioxidant capacity, higher percentage of DPPH radical scavenging activity (135.11±2.95µg/mL), nitric oxide (200.57±4.51µg/mL), hydrogen peroxide (217.91±6.12 µg/mL), deoxyribose (250.01±4.68µg/mL) and higher reducing power. Correlation coefficient (r2=0.914) was found to be significant between total phenolic content and total antioxidant activity. Conclusions In general, the results indicate that the EA fractions are rich in phenolic antioxidants with potent free radical scavenging activity implying their importance to human health. PMID:23569800

Trouble Spots in Online Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Promotion: A Content Analysis of FDA Warning Letters.

PubMed

Kim, Hyosun

2015-08-25

For the purpose of understanding the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) concerns regarding online promotion of prescription drugs advertised directly to consumers, this study examines notices of violations (NOVs) and warning letters issued by the FDA to pharmaceutical manufacturers. The FDA's warning letters and NOVs, which were issued to pharmaceutical companies over a 10-year period (2005 to 2014) regarding online promotional activities, were content-analyzed. Six violation categories were identified: risk information, efficacy information, indication information, product labeling, material information issues, and approval issues. The results reveal that approximately 95% of the alleged violations were found on branded drug websites, in online paid advertisements, and in online videos. Of the total 179 violations, the majority of the alleged violations were concerned with the lack of risk information and/or misrepresentation of efficacy information, suggesting that achieving a fair balance of benefit versus risk information is a major problem with regard to the direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs. In addition, the character space limitations of online platforms, eg, sponsored links on search engines, pose challenges for pharmaceutical marketers with regard to adequately communicating important drug information, such as indication information, risk information, and product labeling. Presenting drug information in a fair and balanced manner remains a major problem. Industry guidance should consider addressing visibility and accessibility of information in the web environment to help pharmaceutical marketers meet the requirements for direct-to-consumer promotion and to protect consumers from misleading drug information. Promotion via social media warrants further attention, as pharmaceutical manufacturers have already begun actively establishing a social media presence, and the FDA has thus begun to keep tabs on social media promotions of prescription drugs. © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Trouble Spots in Online Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Promotion: A Content Analysis of FDA Warning Letters

PubMed Central

Kim, Hyosun

2015-01-01

Background: For the purpose of understanding the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) concerns regarding online promotion of prescription drugs advertised directly to consumers, this study examines notices of violations (NOVs) and warning letters issued by the FDA to pharmaceutical manufacturers. Methods: The FDA’s warning letters and NOVs, which were issued to pharmaceutical companies over a 10-year period (2005 to 2014) regarding online promotional activities, were content-analyzed. Results: Six violation categories were identified: risk information, efficacy information, indication information, product labeling, material information issues, and approval issues. The results reveal that approximately 95% of the alleged violations were found on branded drug websites, in online paid advertisements, and in online videos. Of the total 179 violations, the majority of the alleged violations were concerned with the lack of risk information and/or misrepresentation of efficacy information, suggesting that achieving a fair balance of benefit versus risk information is a major problem with regard to the direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs. In addition, the character space limitations of online platforms, eg, sponsored links on search engines, pose challenges for pharmaceutical marketers with regard to adequately communicating important drug information, such as indication information, risk information, and product labeling. Conclusion: Presenting drug information in a fair and balanced manner remains a major problem. Industry guidance should consider addressing visibility and accessibility of information in the web environment to help pharmaceutical marketers meet the requirements for direct-to-consumer promotion and to protect consumers from misleading drug information. Promotion via social media warrants further attention, as pharmaceutical manufacturers have already begun actively establishing a social media presence, and the FDA has thus begun to keep tabs on social media promotions of prescription drugs. PMID:26673465

Processing and memory of information presented in narrative or expository texts.

PubMed

Wolfe, Michael B W; Woodwyk, Joshua M

2010-09-01

Previous research suggests that narrative and expository texts differ in the extent to which they prompt students to integrate to-be-learned content with relevant prior knowledge during comprehension. We expand on previous research by examining on-line processing and representation in memory of to-be-learned content that is embedded in narrative or expository texts. We are particularly interested in how differences in the use of relevant prior knowledge leads to differences in terms of levels of discourse representation (textbase vs. situation model). A total of 61 university undergraduates in Expt 1, and 160 in Expt 2. In Expt 1, subjects thought out loud while comprehending circulatory system content embedded in a narrative or expository text, followed by free recall of text content. In Expt 2, subjects read silently and completed a sentence recognition task to assess memory. In Expt 1, subjects made more associations to prior knowledge while reading the expository text, and recalled more content. Content recall was also correlated with amount of relevant prior knowledge for subjects who read the expository text but not the narrative text. In Expt 2, subjects reading the expository text (compared to the narrative text) had a weaker textbase representation of the to-be-learned content, but a marginally stronger situation model. Results suggest that in terms of to-be-learned content, expository texts trigger students to utilize relevant prior knowledge more than narrative texts.

Processing of multispectral thermal IR data for geologic applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kahle, A. B.; Madura, D. P.; Soha, J. M.

1979-01-01

Multispectral thermal IR data were acquired with a 24-channel scanner flown in an aircraft over the E. Tintic Utah mining district. These digital image data required extensive computer processing in order to put the information into a format useful for a geologic photointerpreter. Simple enhancement procedures were not sufficient to reveal the total information content because the data were highly correlated in all channels. The data were shown to be dominated by temperature variations across the scene, while the much more subtle spectral variations between the different rock types were of interest. The image processing techniques employed to analyze these data are described.

Optimization of ultrasonic-assisted extraction of total saponins from Eclipta prostrasta L. using response surface methodology.

PubMed

Hu, Ting; Guo, Yan-Yun; Zhou, Qin-Fan; Zhong, Xian-Ke; Zhu, Liang; Piao, Jin-Hua; Chen, Jian; Jiang, Jian-Guo

2012-09-01

Eclipta prostrasta L. is a traditional Chinese medicine herb, which is rich in saponins and has strong antiviral and antitumor activities. An ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) technique was developed for the fast extraction of saponins from E. prostrasta. The content of total saponins in E. prostrasta was determined using UV/vis spectrophotometric methods. Several influential parameters like ethanol concentration, extraction time, temperature, and liquid/solid ratio were investigated for the optimization of the extraction using single factor and Box-Behnken experimental designs. Extraction conditions were optimized for maximum yield of total saponins in E. prostrasta using response surface methodology (RSM) with 4 independent variables at 3 levels of each variable. Results showed that the optimization conditions for saponins extraction were: ethanol concentration 70%, extraction time 3 h, temperature 70 °C, and liquid/solid ratio 14:1. Corresponding saponins content was 2.096%. The mathematical model developed was found to fit well with the experimental data. Practical Application: Although there are wider applications of Eclipta prostrasta L. as a functional food or traditional medicine due to its various bioactivities, these properties are limited by its crude extracts. Total saponins are the main active ingredient of E. prostrasta. This research has optimized the extraction conditions of total saponins from E. prostrasta, which will provide useful reference information for further studies, and offer related industries with helpful guidance in practice. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

Precision of pQCT-measured total, trabecular and cortical bone area, content, density and estimated bone strength in children

PubMed Central

Duff, W.R.D.; Björkman, K.M.; Kawalilak, C.E.; Kehrig, A.M.; Wiebe, S.; Kontulainen, S.

2017-01-01

Objectives: To define pQCT precision errors, least-significant-changes, and identify associated factors for bone outcomes at the radius and tibia in children. Methods: We obtained duplicate radius and tibia pQCT scans from 35 children (8-14yrs). We report root-mean-squared coefficient of variation (CV%RMS) and 95% limits-of-agreement to characterize repeatability across scan quality and least-significant-changes for bone outcomes at distal (total and trabecular area, content and density; and compressive bone strength) and shaft sites (total area and content; cortical area content, density and thickness; and torsional bone strength). We used Spearman’s rho to identify associations between CV% and time between measurements, child’s age or anthropometrics. Results: After excluding unanalyzable scans (6-10% of scans per bone site), CV%RMS ranged from 4% (total density) to 19% (trabecular content) at the distal radius, 4% (cortical content) to 8% (cortical thickness) at the radius shaft, 2% (total density) to 14% (trabecular content) at the distal tibia and from 2% (cortical content) to 6% (bone strength) at the tibia shaft. Precision errors were within 95% limits-of-agreement across scan quality. Age was associated (rho -0.4 to -0.5, p <0.05) with CV% at the tibia. Conclusion: Bone density outcomes and cortical bone properties appeared most precise (CV%RMS <5%) in children. PMID:28574412

How Do Infant Feeding Apps in China Measure Up? A Content Quality Assessment

PubMed Central

Freeman, Becky; Li, Mu

2017-01-01

Background Globally, with the popularization of mobile phones, the number of health-related mobile phone apps has skyrocketed to 259,000 in 2016. In the digital era, people are accessing health information through their fingertips. In China, there are several apps that claim to provide infant feeding and nutrition guidance. However, the quality of information in those apps has not been extensively assessed. Objective We aimed to assess the quality of Chinese infant feeding apps using comprehensive quality assessment criteria and to explore Chinese mothers’ perceptions on apps’ quality and usability. Methods We searched for free-to-download Chinese infant feeding apps in the iTunes and Android App Stores. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of the accountability, scientific basis, accuracy of information relevant to infant feeding, advertising policy, and functionality and carried out a preliminary screening of infant formula advertisements in the apps. In addition, we also conducted exploratory qualitative research through semistructured interviews with Chinese mothers in Shanghai to elicit their views about the quality of apps. Results A total of 4925 apps were screened, and 26 apps that met the selection criteria were evaluated. All 26 apps were developed by commercial entities, and the majority of them were rated poorly. The highest total score was 62.2 (out of approximately 100) and the lowest was 16.7. In the four quality domains assessed, none of them fulfilled all the accountability criteria. Three out of 26 apps provided information covering the three practices from the World Health Organization’s infant feeding recommendations. Only one app described its advertising policy in its terms of usage. The most common app functionality was a built-in social forum (19/26). Provision of a website link was the least common functionality (2/26). A total of 20 out of 26 apps promoted infant formula banner advertisements on their homepages. In addition, 12 apps included both e-commerce stores and featured infant formula advertisements. In total, 21 mothers were interviewed face-to-face. Mothers highly valued immediate access to parenting information and multifunctionality provided by apps. However, concerns regarding incredible information and commercial activities in apps, as well as the desire for information and support offered by health care professionals were expressed. Conclusions The findings provide valuable information on Chinese infant feeding apps. The results are concerning, particularly with the relative absence of scientific basis and credibility and the large number of commercial advertisements that are displayed. Apps do seem to be able to provide an opportunity for mothers to access health information and support; it is time for tighter controls on content and advertisements. Ongoing app research and development should focus on implementation of a standard framework, which would drive the development of high-quality apps to support healthy infant feeding through cooperation among academics, health professionals, app users, app developers, and government bodies. PMID:29212627

How Do Infant Feeding Apps in China Measure Up? A Content Quality Assessment.

PubMed

Zhao, Jing; Freeman, Becky; Li, Mu

2017-12-06

Globally, with the popularization of mobile phones, the number of health-related mobile phone apps has skyrocketed to 259,000 in 2016. In the digital era, people are accessing health information through their fingertips. In China, there are several apps that claim to provide infant feeding and nutrition guidance. However, the quality of information in those apps has not been extensively assessed. We aimed to assess the quality of Chinese infant feeding apps using comprehensive quality assessment criteria and to explore Chinese mothers' perceptions on apps' quality and usability. We searched for free-to-download Chinese infant feeding apps in the iTunes and Android App Stores. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of the accountability, scientific basis, accuracy of information relevant to infant feeding, advertising policy, and functionality and carried out a preliminary screening of infant formula advertisements in the apps. In addition, we also conducted exploratory qualitative research through semistructured interviews with Chinese mothers in Shanghai to elicit their views about the quality of apps. A total of 4925 apps were screened, and 26 apps that met the selection criteria were evaluated. All 26 apps were developed by commercial entities, and the majority of them were rated poorly. The highest total score was 62.2 (out of approximately 100) and the lowest was 16.7. In the four quality domains assessed, none of them fulfilled all the accountability criteria. Three out of 26 apps provided information covering the three practices from the World Health Organization's infant feeding recommendations. Only one app described its advertising policy in its terms of usage. The most common app functionality was a built-in social forum (19/26). Provision of a website link was the least common functionality (2/26). A total of 20 out of 26 apps promoted infant formula banner advertisements on their homepages. In addition, 12 apps included both e-commerce stores and featured infant formula advertisements. In total, 21 mothers were interviewed face-to-face. Mothers highly valued immediate access to parenting information and multifunctionality provided by apps. However, concerns regarding incredible information and commercial activities in apps, as well as the desire for information and support offered by health care professionals were expressed. The findings provide valuable information on Chinese infant feeding apps. The results are concerning, particularly with the relative absence of scientific basis and credibility and the large number of commercial advertisements that are displayed. Apps do seem to be able to provide an opportunity for mothers to access health information and support; it is time for tighter controls on content and advertisements. Ongoing app research and development should focus on implementation of a standard framework, which would drive the development of high-quality apps to support healthy infant feeding through cooperation among academics, health professionals, app users, app developers, and government bodies. ©Jing Zhao, Becky Freeman, Mu Li. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 06.12.2017.

Quality of YouTube TM videos on dental implants.

PubMed

Abukaraky, A; Hamdan, A-A; Ameera, M-N; Nasief, M; Hassona, Y

2018-07-01

Patients search YouTube for health-care information. To examine what YouTube offers patients seeking information on dental implants, and to evaluate the quality of provided information. A systematic search of YouTube for videos containing information on dental implants was performed using the key words Dental implant and Tooth replacement. Videos were examined by two senior Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residents who were trained and calibrated to perform the search. Initial assessment was performed to exclude non- English language videos, duplicate videos, conference lectures, and irrelevant videos. Included videos were analyzed with regard to demographics and content's usefulness. Information for patients available from the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, European Association of Osseointegration, and British Society of Restorative Dentistry were used for benchmarking. A total of 117 videos were analyzed. The most commonly discussed topics were related to procedures involved in dental implantology (76.1%, n=89), and to the indications for dental implants (58.1%, n=78). The mean usefulness score of videos was poor (6.02 ±4.7 [range 0-21]), and misleading content was common (30.1% of videos); mainly in topics related to prognosis and maintenance of dental implants. Most videos (83.1%, n=97) failed to mention the source of information presented in the video or where to find more about dental implants. Information about dental implants on YouTube is limited in quality and quantity. YouTube videos can have a potentially important role in modulating patients attitude and treatment decision regarding dental implants.

[Contents of total flavonoids in Rhizoma Arisaematis].

PubMed

Du, S S; Lin, H Y; Zhou, Y X; Wei, L X

2001-06-01

Comparing the contents of total flavonoides of Rhizoma Arisaematis, which collected in different time, regions, different varieties and processed. Determining the contents by ultraviolet spectro-photometry. The contents were found in the following sequence: 1. the end of July, the begin of July, August, September; 2. Beijing, Shanxi, Sichuan, Anhui; 3. Arisaema erubenscens, A. heterophyllum, A. amurense; 4. unprocessed product, processed product.

Laboratory analytical methods for the determination of the hydrocarbon status of soils (a review)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pikovskii, Yu. I.; Korotkov, L. A.; Smirnova, M. A.; Kovach, R. G.

2017-10-01

Laboratory analytical methods suitable for the determination of the hydrocarbon status of soils (a specific soil characteristic involving information on the total content and qualitative features of soluble (bitumoid) carbonaceous substances and individual hydrocarbons (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, alkanes, etc.) in bitumoid, as well as the composition and content of hydrocarbon gases) have been considered. Among different physicochemical methods of study, attention is focused on the methods suitable for the wide use. Luminescence-bituminological analysis, low-temperature spectrofluorimetry (Shpolskii spectroscopy), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, gas chromatography, chromatography-mass spectrometry, and some other methods have been characterized, as well as sample preparation features. Advantages and limitations of each of these methods are described; their efficiency, instrumental complexity, analysis duration, and accuracy are assessed.

Effects of incorporating germinated brown rice on the antioxidant properties of wheat flour chapatti.

PubMed

Gujral, H Singh; Sharma, P; Bajaj, R; Solah, V

2012-02-01

Brown rice after germinating for 24 and 48 h was milled into flour and incorporated in whole wheat flour at a level of 10% to prepare chapattis. The objective was to use chapatti as a delivery vehicle for germinated brown rice. The flour blends and chapattis made from the flour blends were evaluated for their antioxidant properties. Incorporating germinated brown rice flour increased the total phenolic content of the flour blend from 1897 to 2144 µg FAE/g. The total flavonoids content increased significantly from 632.3 to1770.9 µg CAE/g and metal chelating activity significantly increased by 71.62%. Antioxidant activity increased significantly by the addition of brown rice flour and addition of 24- and 48-h germinated brown rice flour further increased the antioxidant activity significantly. The total phenolic content and total flavonoids content decrease significantly in all the blends after baking the flour into chapatti. A decrease of 3% to 29% was observed in the total phenolic content and a decrease of 25% to 42% was observed in the total flavonoids content. However, baking of the flour blends into chapatti increased the reducing power, metal chelating activity by three folds and antioxidant activity from 64% to 104%.

Home processing of tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum): effects on in vitro bioaccessibility of total lycopene, phenolics, flavonoids, and antioxidant capacity.

PubMed

Kamiloglu, Senem; Demirci, Melek; Selen, Saniye; Toydemir, Gamze; Boyacioglu, Dilek; Capanoglu, Esra

2014-08-01

In order to investigate the effect of home processing on the bioaccessibility of health-related constituents of tomatoes, total lycopene, phenolics, flavonoids and antioxidant capacity were determined from seven different tomato products using an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model. Additionally, the changes in the contents of the major tomato phenolics were determined and compared for these different tomato products using HPLC. The results revealed that paste processing and drying significantly increased the bioaccessible total lycopene content (2.2- and 3.8-fold, respectively), total phenolic content (2.3- and 2.0-fold, respectively), total flavonoid content (9.0- and 2.5-fold, respectively) and total antioxidant capacity (6.3- and 8.0-fold for the DPPH assay, 26- and 33-fold for the CUPRAC assay, respectively) (P < 0.05) compared to fresh tomatoes. HPLC analysis revealed significantly lower (P < 0.05) rutin content in puree and juice. The loss of naringenin chalcone in some tomato products, as well as its conversion into naringenin in heat-treated products was observed. The current study provided valuable insights into the changes in the content and bioaccessibility of tomato antioxidants as a result of home processing. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

The content of soyasaponin and soyasapogenol in soy foods and their estimated intake in the Japanese

PubMed Central

Kamo, Shuichi; Suzuki, Shunsuke; Sato, Toshiro

2014-01-01

Soyasaponins have been reported to promote various health functions. However, the total soyasaponin and soyasapogenol content in soy products and the daily intake remain to be fully elucidated. We developed a high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometric (HPLC–MS/MS) method to evaluate the content of group A and B soyasaponins and soyasapogenols. The total soyasaponin content was measured after pretreatment converted soyasaponins to soyasapogenols. The total soyasaponin content in soy foods was 200–1800 nmol g−1, although that of soy sauce was 2–7 nmol g−1. The soyasapogenol to total soyasaponin ratio was 30–50% in long-term matured miso. The majority of the soyasapogenol detected was soyasapogenol B rather than soyasapogenol A, resulting in speculation that further steps are required to liberate aglycones from glycoside-conjugated soyasaponins in soyasapogenol A. We estimated the daily intake of total soyasaponins and soyasapogenols by the Japanese, which was 50.3 and 0.59 μmol, respectively. The soyasapogenol content and the soyasapogenol to total soyasaponin ratio was considerably low in most soy products, except for long-term maturated miso. The major source of the daily intake of soyasaponins and soyasapogenols were tofu and miso, respectively. PMID:24936299

[Effect of processing on the antioxidant capacity of the plum (Prunus domestica)].

PubMed

Valero, Yolmar; Colina, Jhoana; Ineichen, Emilio

2012-12-01

Fruits are considered sources of antioxidant compounds whose properties could impair due to processing. The objective of this work was to determine the effect of blanching and osmotic dehydration on the total polyphenols content, tannins and antioxidant capacity of plums (Prunus domestica) in yellow and red varieties. The total phenolic content in plums was determined according to the Folin-Ciocalteu assay and tannins were determined by vanillin assay. The antiradical efficiency (AE) and ferric reducing power (FRP) were used to estimate the total antioxidant capacity. The content of total polyphenols and tannins were higher in the red plum. The content of polyphenols in the pulp was higher that the peel while for tannins the opposite was observed in both varieties. The red plum had higher antioxidant capacity. The AE was low and slow kinetics for the two varieties. There was a linear correlation between polyphenols and tannins with antiradical efficiency; however, there was no correlation with the reducing power. The total polyphenols content was increased with blanching, while the tannins and the AE decreased, ferric reducing power is unaffected. For osmotic dehydration, the tannins and the AE were decreased, while the total polyphenols content and ferric reducing power are unaffected. It is recommended the blanched as an alternative to consumption and conservation in the plum.

The morphology, physiology and nutritional quality of lettuce grown under hypobaria and hypoxia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Yongkang; Gao, Feng; Guo, Shuangsheng; Li, Fang

2015-07-01

The objectives of this research were to investigate the morphological, physiological and nutritional characteristics of lettuce plants (Lactuca sativa L. cv. Rome) under hypobaric and hypoxic conditions. Plants were grown under two levels of total pressures (101 and 30 kPa) and three levels of oxygen partial pressures (21, 6 and 2 kPa) for 20 days. Hypoxia (6 or 2 kPa) not only significantly inhibited the growth of lettuce plants by decreasing biomass, leaf area, root/shoot ratio, water content, the contents of minerals and organic compounds (vitamin C, crude protein and crude fat), but also destroyed the ultrastructure of mitochondria and chloroplast. The activities of catalase and total superoxide dismutase, the contents of glutathione and the total antioxidant capacity significantly decreased due to hypoxia. Hypobaria (30 kPa) did not markedly enhance the biomass, but it increased leaf area, root/shoot ratio and relative water content. Hypobaria also decreased the contents of total phenols, malondialdehyde and total carbohydrate and protected the ultrastructure of mitochondria and chloroplast under hypoxia. Furthermore, the activities of catalase and total superoxide dismutase, the contents of minerals and organic compounds markedly increased under hypobaria. This study demonstrates that hypobaria (30 kPa) does not increase the growth of lettuce plants, but it enhances plant's stress resistance and nutritional quality under hypoxia.

Solid recovered fuel: influence of waste stream composition and processing on chlorine content and fuel quality.

PubMed

Velis, Costas; Wagland, Stuart; Longhurst, Phil; Robson, Bryce; Sinfield, Keith; Wise, Stephen; Pollard, Simon

2012-02-07

Solid recovered fuel (SRF) produced by mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) of municipal waste can replace fossil fuels, being a CO(2)-neutral, affordable, and alternative energy source. SRF application is limited by low confidence in quality. We present results for key SRF properties centered on the issue of chlorine content. A detailed investigation involved sampling, statistical analysis, reconstruction of composition, and modeling of SRF properties. The total chlorine median for a typical plant during summer operation was 0.69% w/w(d), with lower/upper 95% confidence intervals of 0.60% w/w(d) and 0.74% w/w(d) (class 3 of CEN Cl indicator). The average total chlorine can be simulated, using a reconciled SRF composition before shredding to <40 mm. The relative plastics vs paper mass ratios in particular result in an SRF with a 95% upper confidence limit for ash content marginally below the 20% w/w(d) deemed suitable for certain power plants; and a lower 95% confidence limit of net calorific value (NCV) at 14.5 MJ kg(ar)(-1). The data provide, for the first time, a high level of confidence on the effects of SRF composition on its chlorine content, illustrating interrelationships with other fuel properties. The findings presented here allow rational debate on achievable vs desirable MBT-derived SRF quality, informing the development of realistic SRF quality specifications, through modeling exercises, needed for effective thermal recovery.

Variation in Phenolics, Flavanoids, Antioxidant and Tyrosinase Inhibitory Activity of Peach Blossoms at Different Developmental Stages.

PubMed

Liu, Jie-Chao; Jiao, Zhong-Gao; Yang, Wen-Bo; Zhang, Chun-Ling; Liu, Hui; Lv, Zhen-Zhen

2015-11-18

Peach blossoms were harvested and classified into six developmental stages: (I) bud emerging stage; (II) middle bud stage; (III) large bud stage; (IV) initial-flowering stage; (V) full-flowering stage; and (VI) end-flowering stage. The contents of total phenolics, flavanoids, individual phenolic compounds as well as antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibitory activity of peach blossoms at different developmental stages were investigated. The total phenolic contents varied from 149.80 to 74.80 mg chlorogenic acid equivalents/g dry weight (DW), and the total flavanoid contents ranged from 93.03 to 44.06 mg rutin equivalents/g DW. Both the contents of total phenolics and flavanoids decreased during blossom development. Chlorogenic acid was the predominant component, accounting for 62.08%-71.09% of the total amount of identified phenolic compounds in peach blossom. The antioxidant capacities determined by different assays and tyrosinase inhibitory activity also showed descending patterns during blossom development. Significant correlations were observed between antioxidant capacities with contents of total phenolics and total flavanoids as well as chlorogenic acid, cinnamic acid and kaempferol-3-O-galactoside, while the tyrosinase inhibitory activity had lower correlations with total phenolics and total flavanoids as well as chlorogenic acid, quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside, kaempferol-3-O-galactoside and cinnamic acid. The antioxidant activities of peach blossom seemed to be more dependent on the phenolic compounds than tyrosinase inhibitory activity.

Study on optimal fat content in total parenteral nutrition in partially hepatectomized rats.

PubMed

Abe, S; Sakabe, S; Hirata, M; Kamuro, H; Asahara, N; Watanabe, M

1997-04-01

In order to investigate the optimal fat content for total parenteral nutrition (TPN) solutions, male Wistar rats were subjected to 70% hepatectomy and then placed, for five days, on one of five TPN regimens in which fat represented 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%, respectively, of the total calorie content. As serum triglyceride levels in the fat-treated groups were lower than those in the non-treated normal rats, it was concluded that the administered fat was sufficiently hydrolyzed. The greater the fat content, the higher the regeneration rate of the remnant liver. Significant differences were found between the 0%-fat group and 20%-plus fat groups. Hepatic triglyceride level was significantly lower in the 20%-fat group. Hepatic protein level was significantly elevated in all fat-treated groups. Serum phospholipids and total cholesterol due to the lecithin contained in fat emulsion were significantly elevated in the 30 and 40%-fat groups, indicating that fat content of 30 and 40% was excessive. The results suggest that TPN containing fat is superior to fat-free TPN for liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy, and that optimal fat content is estimated to be about 20% of total calorie content in the case of this fat emulsion.

49 CFR 176.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... transport unit in which the contents are totally enclosed by permanent structures. An open cargo transport... container which totally encloses its contents by permanent structures. A freight container formed partly by... encloses the contents by permanent structures and can be secured to the ship's structure and are, except...

49 CFR 176.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... transport unit in which the contents are totally enclosed by permanent structures. An open cargo transport... container which totally encloses its contents by permanent structures. A freight container formed partly by... encloses the contents by permanent structures and can be secured to the ship's structure and are, except...

[Correlation research on contents of podophyllotoxin and total lignans in Sinopodophyllum hexandrum and ecological factors].

PubMed

Li, Min; Zhong, Guo-yue; Wu, Ao-lin; Zhang, Shou-wen; Jiang, Wei; Liang, Jian

2015-05-01

To explore the correlation between the ecological factors and the contents of podophyllotoxin and total lignans in root and rhizome of Sinopodophyllum hexandrum, podophyllotoxin in 87 samples (from 5 provinces) was determined by HPLC and total lignans by UV. A correlation and regression analysis was made by software SPSS 16.0 in combination with ecological factors (terrain, soil and climate). The content determination results showed a great difference between podophyllotoxin and total lignans, attaining 1.001%-6.230% and 5.350%-16.34%, respective. The correlation and regression analysis by SPSS showed a positive linear correlation between their contents, strong positive correlation between their contents, latitude and annual average rainfall within the sampling area, weak negative correlation with pH value and organic material in soil, weaker and stronger positive correlations with soil potassium, weak negative correlation with slope and annual average temperature and weaker positive correlation between the podophyllotoxin content and soil potassium.

Comparative study of antioxidant properties and total phenolic content of 30 plant extracts of industrial interest using DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, SOD, and ORAC assays.

PubMed

Dudonné, Stéphanie; Vitrac, Xavier; Coutière, Philippe; Woillez, Marion; Mérillon, Jean-Michel

2009-03-11

Aqueous extracts of 30 plants were investigated for their antioxidant properties using DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging capacity assay, oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, superoxide dismutase (SOD) assay, and ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) assay. Total phenolic content was also determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method. Antioxidant properties and total phenolic content differed significantly among selected plants. It was found that oak (Quercus robur), pine (Pinus maritima), and cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) aqueous extracts possessed the highest antioxidant capacities in most of the methods used, and thus could be potential rich sources of natural antioxidants. These extracts presented the highest phenolic content (300-400 mg GAE/g). Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) and clove (Eugenia caryophyllus clovis) aqueous extracts also showed strong antioxidant properties and a high phenolic content (about 200 mg GAE/g). A significant relationship between antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content was found, indicating that phenolic compounds are the major contributors to the antioxidant properties of these plants.

Pheophorbide a Content and Chlorophyllase Activity in Green Tea.

PubMed

Kohata, K; Hanada, K; Yamauchi, Y; Horie, H

1998-01-01

We investigated the total content of pheophorbide a (PB a), which is sum of the contents of newly produced PB a, including PB a initially present and that converted from chlorophyllide a (Chd a) by the chlorophyllase reaction during incubation, in green tea samples, and found that the total content of PB a markedly increased in both Sencha and Matcha, compared with the initially present PB a content in each. This result demonstrates that chlorophyllase activity still remains in green tea, even after processing fresh green leaves. A comparison of the total contents of PB a produced during the incubation of chlorophyll a (Chl a) with Sencha and fresh green leaf acetone powder indicates that the ratio of chlorophyllase activity in Sencha and in fresh green leaves was about 1:20.

Chemical composition and anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of eight pear cultivars.

PubMed

Li, Xia; Zhang, Jun-Ying; Gao, Wen-Yuan; Wang, Ying; Wang, Hai-Yang; Cao, Jing-Guo; Huang, Lu-Qi

2012-09-05

The contents of total phenolics, total flavonoids, total anthocyanins, and total triterpenes of eight pear samples were determined, and the monomeric compounds were identified and quantitated using high-performance liquid chromatography. The in vitro antioxidant and in vivo anti-inflammatory activities of the different pear cultivars were compared. Arbutin and catechin were the dominant polyphenol compounds in the eight pear varieties, followed by chlorogenic acid, quercetin, and rutin. In addition, Xuehua pear and Nanguo pear had significantly higher total phenolics and flavonoids contents, while Dangshansu pear had the largest total triterpenes value (209.2 mg/100 g). Xuehua pear and Nanguo pear also were the highest in total anthocyanins. The pears with high total phenolics and total flavonoids contents had significantly higher antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities than those of other species. Anthocyanins were correlated to antioxidant capacity in pears, whereas total triterpenoids were strongly correlated to anti-inflammatory activity.

Social media use by patients with glaucoma: what can we learn?

PubMed

McGregor, Freia; Somner, John E A; Bourne, Rupert R; Munn-Giddings, Carol; Shah, Peter; Cross, Vinette

2014-01-01

Much health-related information is available on the internet but its quality is known to be variable. This research aimed to analyse the ophthalmic content of social media platforms which has yet to be formally assessed. Five online social media platforms were selected, the International Glaucoma Association (IGA) forum, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Patient Opinion.org.uk. A total of 3785 items were scraped from the sites, collated and analysed using simple thematic analysis by two coders. Fourteen themes were identified. The most commonly discussed topics included treatments, care experiences, promotions and support. Un-moderated sites contain more misleading information. Complementary therapies and treatments with a poor evidence base are presented more positively than established, evidence-based treatments. Online forums give patients a space to air questions, grievances, suggestions and to provide mutual support. The information they contain may be of use to physicians by flagging adverse drug reactions, areas for service improvement or topics about which patients require more information. There is a risk of exposure to misleading content which is heightened in un-moderated sites. Social media platforms may be an adjunct to current care models by providing a supportive and educational online community if these risks are understood. © 2013 The Authors Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics © 2013 The College of Optometrists.

Improving Access to Care for Warfighters: Virtual Worlds Technology to Enhance Primary Care Training in Post-Traumatic Stress and Motivational Interviewing

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-01

creating content, then, build off the BIM (P9) 9. Keep the training relevant with current events in the medical world (zika, infectious disease , etc... training ; curriculum development; motivational interviewing Veterans present to primary care providers (PCPs) with posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms...can inform the training curriculum. In total, 11 interviews were conducted with primary care providers and healthcare leadership. The data was

The Effect of Long-Term Therapeutics, Prophylaxis and Screening Techniques on Aircrew Medical Standards.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-03-01

percentage of fat , maximal aerobic power, serum concentrations of triglycerides, total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. This information is obtained fr-m each...drinkinq and physical activity related to health parameters su-h as wei ,iht , body fat content, maximal aerobic T1ewer and serum concentrations of...subjects, and the body fat is estimated from the body density (4). 3. The maximal aerobic power is assessed indirectly according to the method of Astrand

Erosive and cariogenicity potential of pediatric drugs: study of physicochemical parameters

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Pediatric medications may possess a high erosive potential to dental tissues due to the existence of acid components in their formulations. The purpose was to determine the erosive and cariogenic potential of pediatric oral liquid medications through the analysis of their physicochemical properties in vitro. Methods A total of 59 substances were selected from the drug reference list of the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), which belong to 11 therapeutic classes, as follows: analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, corticosteroids, antihistamines, antitussives, bronchodilators, antibacterials, antiparasitics, antiemetics, anticonvulsants and antipsychotics. Measurement of pH was performed by potentiometry, using a digital pH meter. For the Total Titratable Acidity (TTA) chemical assay, a 0.1 N NaOH standard solution was used, which was titrated until drug pH was neutralized. The Total Soluble Solids Contents (TSSC) quantification was carried out by refractometry using Brix scale and the analysis of Total Sugar Content was performed according to Fehling’s method. In addition, it was analyzed the information contained in the drug inserts with regard to the presence of sucrose and type of acid and sweetener added to the formulations. Results All drug classes showed acidic pH, and the lowest mean was found for antipsychotics (2.61 ± 0.08). There was a large variation in the TTA (0.1% - 1.18%) and SST (10.44% - 57.08%) values. High total sugar contents were identified in the antitussives (53.25%) and anticonvulsants (51.75%). As described in the drug inserts, sucrose was added in 47.5% of the formulations, as well as citric acid (39.0%), sodium saccharin (36.4%) and sorbitol (34.8%). Conclusion The drugs analyzed herein showed physicochemical characteristics indicative of a cariogenic and erosive potential on dental tissues. Competent bodies’ strategies should be implemented in order to broaden the knowledge of health professionals, drug manufacturers and general consuming public about the risks from the consumption of medicines potentially harmful to dental tissues. PMID:24325544

Erosive and cariogenicity potential of pediatric drugs: study of physicochemical parameters.

PubMed

Xavier, Alidianne Fábia C; Moura, Eline F F; Azevedo, Waldeneide F; Vieira, Fernando F; Abreu, Mauro H N G; Cavalcanti, Alessandro L

2013-12-10

Pediatric medications may possess a high erosive potential to dental tissues due to the existence of acid components in their formulations. The purpose was to determine the erosive and cariogenic potential of pediatric oral liquid medications through the analysis of their physicochemical properties in vitro. A total of 59 substances were selected from the drug reference list of the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), which belong to 11 therapeutic classes, as follows: analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, corticosteroids, antihistamines, antitussives, bronchodilators, antibacterials, antiparasitics, antiemetics, anticonvulsants and antipsychotics. Measurement of pH was performed by potentiometry, using a digital pH meter. For the Total Titratable Acidity (TTA) chemical assay, a 0.1 N NaOH standard solution was used, which was titrated until drug pH was neutralized. The Total Soluble Solids Contents (TSSC) quantification was carried out by refractometry using Brix scale and the analysis of Total Sugar Content was performed according to Fehling's method. In addition, it was analyzed the information contained in the drug inserts with regard to the presence of sucrose and type of acid and sweetener added to the formulations. All drug classes showed acidic pH, and the lowest mean was found for antipsychotics (2.61 ± 0.08). There was a large variation in the TTA (0.1% - 1.18%) and SST (10.44% - 57.08%) values. High total sugar contents were identified in the antitussives (53.25%) and anticonvulsants (51.75%). As described in the drug inserts, sucrose was added in 47.5% of the formulations, as well as citric acid (39.0%), sodium saccharin (36.4%) and sorbitol (34.8%). The drugs analyzed herein showed physicochemical characteristics indicative of a cariogenic and erosive potential on dental tissues. Competent bodies' strategies should be implemented in order to broaden the knowledge of health professionals, drug manufacturers and general consuming public about the risks from the consumption of medicines potentially harmful to dental tissues.

Assessment of phenolic profile and antioxidant power of five pistachio (Pistacia vera) cultivars collected from four geographical regions of Iran.

PubMed

Taghizadeh, Seyedeh Faezeh; Davarynejad, Gholamhossein; Asili, Javad; Nemati, Seyed Hossein; Karimi, Gholamreza

2018-01-01

In this study, the levels and antioxidant activities of some secondary metabolites isolated from five pistachio ( Pistacia vera ) cultivars collected from four different geographical regions of Iran, were studied. Total phenolic compounds levels were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method. Total flavonoid content was determined as AlCl 3 complex and expressed as mg of quercetin equivalents (QE)/g dry extract and total proantocyanidins content was expressed as mg of catechin equivalents (CA)/g dry extract. In order to evaluated the antioxidant activity of the compounds, DPPH and FRAP assays were used. The highest level of total phenols (156.42 mg GA/g DE), total flavonoids (130.94 mg QE/g DE) and total proantocyanidins (152.816 mg CA/g DE) were obtained in Akbari cultivar from Rafsanjan, followed by Badami-e-sefid and Ahmad aghaei. The lowest amount of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total proanthocyanidin content (TPrAC) were found in Badami-e-sefid from Feizabad (128.140 mg GA/g DE, 93.176 mg QE/g DE and 118.870 mg CA/g DE, respectively). Also, a positive correlation (r 2 =0.9834) was found between antioxidant activity and total phenolic compounds. Pistachio increased their phytochemical compounds to contrast with abiotic stress. Our data could be useful for introducing special characteristics to the plants, and can be considered when planning a new breeding program or choosing a specific cultivar for a particular use.

Early event-related brain potentials that reflect interest for content information in the media.

PubMed

Adachi, Shinobu; Morikawa, Koji; Nittono, Hiroshi

2012-03-28

This study investigated the relationship between event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to abridged content information in the media and the subsequent decisions to view the full content. Student volunteers participated in a task that simulated information selection on the basis of the content information. Screenshots of television clips and headlines of news articles on the Web were used as content information for the image condition and the headline condition, respectively. Following presentation of a stimulus containing content information, participants decided whether or not they would view the full content by pressing a select or a reject button. When the select button was pressed, participants were presented with a television clip or a news article. When the reject button was pressed, participants continued on to the next trial, without viewing further. In comparison with rejected stimuli, selected stimuli elicited a larger negative component, with a peak latency of ∼250 ms. The increase in the negative component was independent of the type of visual stimulus. These results suggest that interest toward content information is reflected in early-stage event-related brain potential responses.

A preliminary study of the impact of a handover cognitive aid on clinical reasoning and information transfer.

PubMed

Weiss, Matthew J; Bhanji, Farhan; Fontela, Patricia S; Razack, Saleem I

2013-08-01

To assess the impact of a written cognitive aid on expressed clinical reasoning and quantity and the accuracy of information transfer during resident doctor handover. This study was a randomised controlled trial in an academic paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of 20 handover events (10 events per group) from residents in their first PICU rotation using a written handover cognitive aid (intervention) or standard practice (control). Before rounds, an investigator generated a reference standard of the handover event by completing a handover aid. Resident handovers were then audio-recorded and transcribed by a blinded research assistant. The content of this transcript was inserted into a blank handover aid. A blinded content expert scored the quantity and accuracy of the information in this aid according to predetermined criteria and these information scores (ISs) were compared with the reference standard. The same expert also blindly scored the transcripts in five domains of clinical reasoning and effectiveness: (i) effective summary of events; (ii) expressed understanding of the care plan; (iii) presentation clarity; (iv) organisation; (v) overall handover effectiveness. Differences between intervention and control groups were assessed using the Mann-Whitney test and multivariate linear regression. The intervention group had total ISs that more closely approximated the reference standard (81% versus 61%; p < 0.01). The intervention group had significantly higher clinical reasoning scores when compared by total score (21.1 versus 15.9 points; p = 0.01) and in each of the five domains. No difference was observed in the duration of handover between groups (7.4 versus 7.7 minutes; p = 0.97). Using a novel scoring system, our simple handover cognitive aid was shown to improve information transfer and resident expression of clinical reasoning without prolonging the handover duration. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The information capacity of hypercycles.

PubMed

Silvestre, Daniel A M M; Fontanari, José F

2008-10-21

Hypercycles are information integration systems which are thought to overcome the information crisis of prebiotic evolution by ensuring the coexistence of several short templates. For imperfect template replication, we derive a simple expression for the maximum number of distinct templates n(m) that can coexist in a hypercycle and show that it is a decreasing function of the length L of the templates. In the case of high replication accuracy we find that the product n(m)L tends to a constant value, limiting thus the information content of the hypercycle. Template coexistence is achieved either as a stationary equilibrium (stable fixed point) or a stable periodic orbit in which the total concentration of functional templates is nonzero. For the hypercycle system studied here we find numerical evidence that the existence of an unstable fixed point is a necessary condition for the presence of periodic orbits.

Antioxidant changes during domestic food processing of the white shaft and green leaves of leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum).

PubMed

Bernaert, Nathalie; De Loose, Marc; Van Bockstaele, Erik; Van Droogenbroeck, Bart

2014-04-01

Evaluating the effect of domestic cooking on the health benefits of vegetables has great practical importance. However, only a limited number of reports provide information on the effect of these treatments on the antioxidant capacity, polyphenol and S-alk(en)yl-L-cysteine sulfoxide (ACSO, e.g. isoalliin and methiin) content of the white shaft and green leaves of leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum). In the present study, the antioxidant capacity of leek was highly influenced by cooking (blanching, boiling and steaming). Boiling had a negative effect on total phenolic content in the white shaft and green leaves. An obvious increase could be observed in the antioxidant capacity of the steamed green leaves, while steaming did not influence the polyphenolic content. Remarkably, blanching resulted in a slight increase in the ACSO content. Subjecting leek samples to a longer thermal treatment appeared to have a negative influence on the ACSO content in leek. Steaming was also responsible for a decrease in ACSOs. Methiin was less susceptible to heat treatment than isoalliin. In general, steaming appeared to be responsible for better retention of the bioactive compounds present in leek compared with boiling. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Lipids analysis in hemolymph of African giant Achatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822) exposed to different photoperiods.

PubMed

Lustrino, D; Tunholi-Alves, V M; Tunholi, V M; Marassi, M P; Pinheiro, J

2010-02-01

The influence of different photophases (0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 hours) on the triglycerides and total cholesterol contents in the hemolymph of A. fulica was evaluated, since there is no information in the literature about the influence of this factor on lipids metabolism in mollusks. After 2 and 4 weeks of exposure the snails were dissected. The cholesterol content at the 2nd and 4th weeks post exposure only varied significantly in the groups exposed at 24 hours and 0 hour of photophase, respectively. Probably, such increase may be a result of a rise in cholesterol biosynthesis and/or remodelling of cell membranes. There were no significant differences among the content of triglycerides in the snails exposed to 6, 12, 18 and 24 hours of photophase during two weeks. The snails exposed to intermediate photophase (6 and 12 hours) had the triglycerides content increased, ranging over values near to those observed in the group exposed to 0 hour. Results showed that triglycerides metabolism in A. fulica are more influenced by photoperiod than cholesterol metabolism. A negative relation is maintained between the triglycerides content in the hemolymph and the different photophases, with lower mobilisation of triglycerides under shorter photophases.

Linear Regression between CIE-Lab Color Parameters and Organic Matter in Soils of Tea Plantations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yonggen; Zhang, Min; Fan, Dongmei; Fan, Kai; Wang, Xiaochang

2018-02-01

To quantify the relationship between the soil organic matter and color parameters using the CIE-Lab system, 62 soil samples (0-10 cm, Ferralic Acrisols) from tea plantations were collected from southern China. After air-drying and sieving, numerical color information and reflectance spectra of soil samples were measured under laboratory conditions using an UltraScan VIS (HunterLab) spectrophotometer equipped with CIE-Lab color models. We found that soil total organic carbon (TOC) and nitrogen (TN) contents were negatively correlated with the L* value (lightness) ( r = -0.84 and -0.80, respectively), a* value (correlation coefficient r = -0.51 and -0.46, respectively) and b* value ( r = -0.76 and -0.70, respectively). There were also linear regressions between TOC and TN contents with the L* value and b* value. Results showed that color parameters from a spectrophotometer equipped with CIE-Lab color models can predict TOC contents well for soils in tea plantations. The linear regression model between color values and soil organic carbon contents showed it can be used as a rapid, cost-effective method to evaluate content of soil organic matter in Chinese tea plantations.

[Effect of decamethoxin, decamine and levorin on the carbohydrate-protein component content in the liver connective tissue of white rats].

PubMed

Kovtuniak, N A; Bordiakovskaia, L G; Petrova, I V

1980-01-01

It has been shown in rat experiments that decamethoxin increases the level of acid glycosaminoglycans, glyco- and mucoproteins, whereas decamin lowers the content of total glycoproteids at the expense of changes in the content of glyco- and mucoproteins. Levorin has been demonstrated to bring down the content of total glycoproteins and oxyproline in the liver.

33 CFR 181.703 - Information pamphlet: Contents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Information pamphlet: Contents... § 181.703 Information pamphlet: Contents. Unless otherwise specified in this subpart, each information pamphlet must contain the information specified in sections 33, 34 and 35 of UL 1123. [CGD 93-055, 61 FR...

Accredited Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Fellowship Websites: An Updated Assessment of Accessibility and Content.

PubMed

Yayac, Michael; Javandal, Mitra; Mulcahey, Mary K

2017-01-01

A substantial number of orthopaedic surgeons apply for sports medicine fellowships after residency completion. The Internet is one of the most important resources applicants use to obtain information about fellowship programs, with the program website serving as one of the most influential sources. The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), San Francisco Match (SFM), and Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA) maintain databases of orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship programs. A 2013 study evaluated the content and accessibility of the websites for accredited orthopaedic sports medicine fellowships. To reassess these websites based on the same parameters and compare the results with those of the study published in 2013 to determine whether any improvement has been made in fellowship website content or accessibility. Cross-sectional study. We reviewed all existing websites for the 95 accredited orthopaedic sports medicine fellowships included in the AOSSM, SFM, and AANA databases. Accessibility of the websites was determined by performing a Google search for each program. A total of 89 sports fellowship websites were evaluated for overall content. Websites for the remaining 6 programs could not be identified, so they were not included in content assessment. Of the 95 accredited sports medicine fellowships, 49 (52%) provided links in the AOSSM database, 89 (94%) in the SFM database, and 24 (25%) in the AANA database. Of the 89 websites, 89 (100%) provided a description of the program, 62 (70%) provided selection process information, and 40 (45%) provided a link to the SFM website. Two searches through Google were able to identify links to 88% and 92% of all accredited programs. The majority of accredited orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship programs fail to utilize the Internet to its full potential as a resource to provide applicants with detailed information about the program, which could help residents in the selection and ranking process. Orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship websites that are easily accessible through the AOSSM, SFM, AANA, or Google and that provide all relevant information for applicants would simplify the process of deciding where to apply, interview, and ultimately how to rank orthopaedic sports medicine fellowship programs for the Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Fellowship Match.

Pulverization of coffee silverskin extract as a source of antioxidant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, S.; Kusumocahyo, S. P.; Widiputri, D. I.

2016-11-01

Coffee silverskin (CS) is waste from coffee roasting process that has a value as source of antioxidant. In this research, two types of variant coffee Robusta and Arabica CS were extracted for their phenolic content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity. The extraction was done at 40°C for 60 minutes using hydroalcoholic solvent. The phenolic, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity of Robusta CS extract were 816.75 ± 63.24 mg GAE/L and 32.82 ± 2.47 mg QE/L, and 54.80% inhibition respectively, while for Arabica CS extract were 473.51 ± 56.70 mg GAE/L, 18.58 ± 2.47 mg QE/L, and 26.30% inhibition respectively. Thus, the Robusta coffee silverskin extract has higher value of total phenolic content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity than Arabica coffee silverskin extract. To produce high antioxidant powder of CS extract, the effect of drying method (freeze drying and spray drying) affecting the phenolic content, flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity was evaluated. The effect of evaporation prior to both drying processes was also evaluated. Evaporation caused up to 23% of total phenolic content degradation. Spray drying resulted in dried CS extract with degradation of total phenolic content up to 17%. On the other hand, freeze drying resulted no major degradation of total phenolic content. However, the coffee silverskin extract can be directly spray dried without evaporation resulting in higher amount of phenolic content in the powder than the one which was evaporated first.

Estimating Bayesian Phylogenetic Information Content

PubMed Central

Lewis, Paul O.; Chen, Ming-Hui; Kuo, Lynn; Lewis, Louise A.; Fučíková, Karolina; Neupane, Suman; Wang, Yu-Bo; Shi, Daoyuan

2016-01-01

Measuring the phylogenetic information content of data has a long history in systematics. Here we explore a Bayesian approach to information content estimation. The entropy of the posterior distribution compared with the entropy of the prior distribution provides a natural way to measure information content. If the data have no information relevant to ranking tree topologies beyond the information supplied by the prior, the posterior and prior will be identical. Information in data discourages consideration of some hypotheses allowed by the prior, resulting in a posterior distribution that is more concentrated (has lower entropy) than the prior. We focus on measuring information about tree topology using marginal posterior distributions of tree topologies. We show that both the accuracy and the computational efficiency of topological information content estimation improve with use of the conditional clade distribution, which also allows topological information content to be partitioned by clade. We explore two important applications of our method: providing a compelling definition of saturation and detecting conflict among data partitions that can negatively affect analyses of concatenated data. [Bayesian; concatenation; conditional clade distribution; entropy; information; phylogenetics; saturation.] PMID:27155008

Metal-on-Metal Total Hip Arthroplasty: Quality of Online Patient Information.

PubMed

Crozier-Shaw, Geoff; Queally, Joseph M; Quinlan, John F

2017-03-01

Metal-on-metal total hip arthroplasty (THA) has generated much attention in the media because of early failure of certain implant systems. This study assessed the quality, accuracy, and readability of online information on metal-on-metal THA. The search terms "metal-on-metal hip replacement" and "metal hip replacement" were entered into the 3 most popular search engines. Information quality was assessed with the DISCERN score and a specific metal-on-metal THA content score. Accuracy of information was assessed with a customized score. Readability of the websites was assessed with the Flesch-Kincaid grade level score. A total of 61 unique websites were assessed. For 56% of websites, the target audience was patients. Media or medicolegal sources accounted for 44% of websites. As assessed by DISCERN (range, 16-80) and metal-on-metal THA (range, 0-25) scores, quality of the websites was moderate at best (47.1 and 9.6, respectively). Accuracy (range, 0-8) of the information presented also was moderate, with a mean score of 6.6. Media and medicolegal websites had the lowest scores for both quality and accuracy, despite making up the greatest proportion of sites assessed. Only 1 website (2%) had a Flesch-Kincaid grade level at or less than the recommended level of 8th grade. This study found that online information on metal-on-metal THA was of poor quality, often was inaccurate, and was presented at an inappropriately high reading level, particularly for media and medicolegal websites. Health care providers should counsel patients on the quality of information available and recommend appropriate online resources. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(2):e262-e268.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Health and nutrition content claims on Australian fast-food websites.

PubMed

Wellard, Lyndal; Koukoumas, Alexandra; Watson, Wendy L; Hughes, Clare

2017-03-01

To determine the extent that Australian fast-food websites contain nutrition content and health claims, and whether these claims are compliant with the new provisions of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code ('the Code'). Systematic content analysis of all web pages to identify nutrition content and health claims. Nutrition information panels were used to determine whether products with claims met Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criteria (NPSC) and qualifying criteria, and to compare them with the Code to determine compliance. Australian websites of forty-four fast-food chains including meals, bakery, ice cream, beverage and salad chains. Any products marketed on the websites using health or nutrition content claims. Of the forty-four fast-food websites, twenty (45 %) had at least one claim. A total of 2094 claims were identified on 371 products, including 1515 nutrition content (72 %) and 579 health claims (28 %). Five fast-food products with health (5 %) and 157 products with nutrition content claims (43 %) did not meet the requirements of the Code to allow them to carry such claims. New provisions in the Code came into effect in January 2016 after a 3-year transition. Food regulatory agencies should review fast-food websites to ensure compliance with the qualifying criteria for nutrition content and health claim regulations. This would prevent consumers from viewing unhealthy foods as healthier choices. Healthy choices could be facilitated by applying NPSC to nutrition content claims. Fast-food chains should be educated on the requirements of the Code regarding claims.

Print media coverage of post-traumatic stress disorder: content analysis of three major Korean newspapers.

PubMed

Jeong, Yourhee; Kim, Daeho; Oh, Hyun Young; Park, Yong Chon

2013-07-01

The print media is still one of major sources for health-related information. To shed light on how the media accurately delivers information for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we searched the newspaper articles and analyzed their contents for accuracy in the description of symptoms, causes, and treatment of PTSD. The articles featuring PSTD were searched from the very first available to 2010 at on-line search systems of three major Korean newspapers. A total of 123 articles appeared and the first article appeared in 1984. The number of articles steadily increased till the early 2000s but we found the robust increase in the late 2000s. Among the mentioned symptoms of PTSD: re-experience (39%) was most common, followed by avoidance or numbing (28%) and hyperarousal (22%). Of the 29 articles mentioning treatment of PTSD, 13 mentioned psychotherapy only and 11 mentioned both psychotherapy and medication equally. However, the psychotherapies mentioned were non-specific and only five articles mentioned any empirically supported therapies. The number of articles on PTSD in Korean newspapers has continually increased during the last three decades. However, the quality of information on the treatment of PTSD was questionable.

Simplified enzymatic high-performance anion exchange chromatographic determination of total fructans in food and pet food-limitations and measurement uncertainty.

PubMed

Stöber, Paul; Bénet, Sylvie; Hischenhuber, Claudia

2004-04-21

A simplified method to determine total fructans in food and pet food has been developed and validated. It follows the principle of AOAC method 997.08, i.e., high-performance anion exchange chromatographic (HPAEC) determination of total fructose released from fructans (F(f)) and total glucose released from fructans (G(f)) after enzymatic fructan hydrolysis. Unlike AOAC method 997.08, calculation of total fructans is based on the determination of F(f) alone. This is motivated by the inherent difficulty to accurately determine low amounts of G(f) since many food and pet food products contain other sources of total glucose (e.g., starch and sucrose). In this case, a correction factor g can be used (1.05 by default) to take into account the theoretical contribution of G(f). At levels >5% of total fructans and in commercial fructan ingredients, both F(f) and G(f) can and should be accurately determined; hence, no correction factor g is required. The method is suitable to quantify total fructans in various food and pet food products at concentrations >or=0.2% providing that the product does not contain other significant sources of total fructose such as free fructose or sucrose. Recovery rates in commercial fructan ingredients and in selected food and pet food ranged from 97 to 102%. As part of a measurement uncertainty estimation study, individual contributions to the total uncertainty (u) of the total fructan content were identified and quantified by using the validation data available. As a result, a correlation between the sucrose content and the total uncertainty of the total fructan content was established allowing us to define a limit of quantitation as a function of the sucrose content. One can conclude that this method is limited to food products where the sucrose content does not exceed about three times the total fructan content. Despite this limitation, which is inherent to any total fructan method based on the same approach, this procedure represents an excellent compromise with regard to accuracy, applicability, and convenience.

A new visual navigation system for exploring biomedical Open Educational Resource (OER) videos

PubMed Central

Zhao, Baoquan; Xu, Songhua; Lin, Shujin; Luo, Xiaonan; Duan, Lian

2016-01-01

Objective Biomedical videos as open educational resources (OERs) are increasingly proliferating on the Internet. Unfortunately, seeking personally valuable content from among the vast corpus of quality yet diverse OER videos is nontrivial due to limitations of today’s keyword- and content-based video retrieval techniques. To address this need, this study introduces a novel visual navigation system that facilitates users’ information seeking from biomedical OER videos in mass quantity by interactively offering visual and textual navigational clues that are both semantically revealing and user-friendly. Materials and Methods The authors collected and processed around 25 000 YouTube videos, which collectively last for a total length of about 4000 h, in the broad field of biomedical sciences for our experiment. For each video, its semantic clues are first extracted automatically through computationally analyzing audio and visual signals, as well as text either accompanying or embedded in the video. These extracted clues are subsequently stored in a metadata database and indexed by a high-performance text search engine. During the online retrieval stage, the system renders video search results as dynamic web pages using a JavaScript library that allows users to interactively and intuitively explore video content both efficiently and effectively. Results The authors produced a prototype implementation of the proposed system, which is publicly accessible at https://patentq.njit.edu/oer. To examine the overall advantage of the proposed system for exploring biomedical OER videos, the authors further conducted a user study of a modest scale. The study results encouragingly demonstrate the functional effectiveness and user-friendliness of the new system for facilitating information seeking from and content exploration among massive biomedical OER videos. Conclusion Using the proposed tool, users can efficiently and effectively find videos of interest, precisely locate video segments delivering personally valuable information, as well as intuitively and conveniently preview essential content of a single or a collection of videos. PMID:26335986

Vertical distribution of total carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in sediments of Drug Spring Lake, Wudalianchi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Ying; Yang, Chen

2018-02-01

The content of total organic carbon, total nitrogen and total phosphorus in sediments of Drug Spring Lake was detected and their vertical distribution characteristic was analysed. Results showed that there were significant changes to the content of total organic carbon, total nitrogen and total phosphorus in different depth of the columnar sediments. Their highest content both appeared in the interval of 10cm to 25cm corresponding to the period of 1980s to 1990s, when the tourism of Wudalianchi scenic area began to develop. It reflected the impact of human activities on the Drug Spring Lake. That means the regulation was still not enough, although a series of pollution control measures adopted by the government in recent years had initial success.

Near-infrared reflectance models for the rapid prediction of quality of brewing raw materials.

PubMed

Marte, Luisa; Belloni, Paolo; Genorini, Emiliano; Sileoni, Valeria; Perretti, Giuseppe; Montanari, Luigi; Marconi, Ombretta

2009-01-28

Calibration models for quickly and reliably predicting moisture content and total nitrogen, both "as is" and "dry matter" on malt, as well as moisture content and total lipids, both "as is" and "dry matter", on maize by means of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy were developed. The FT-NIR spectra recorded on the finely ground cereals were correlated to the analytical data by means of the multivariate PLS algorithm. In particular, these models were developed on the raw materials, which are used by the main Italian brewing industries. Validation was carried out both by means of cross-validation and test set validation. Regression coefficients (R(2)) were higher than 97 for both malt and maize moisture content and higher than 85 and 88 for malt total nitrogen and maize total lipids, respectively. The RMSE values (both RMSECV and RMSEP) were lower than 0.1% m/m for both malt and maize moisture contents, whereas they ranged from 0.024 to 0.042% m/m for malt total nitrogen and from 0.042 to 0.055% m/m for maize total lipids. Repeatability was tested by taking into account more than one sample for each calibration and compared, when possible, to those of the standard methods. Repeatability (r(95)) ranged from 0.060 to 0.158% m/m and from 0.020 to 0.055% m/m for malt moisture and total nitrogen contents, respectively, and from 0.094 to 0.160% m/m and from 0.076 to 0.208% m/m for maize moisture and total lipids contents, respectively.

Soil total carbon content, aggregation, bulk density, and penetration resistance of croplands and nearby grasslands

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Converting native grassland (NGL) to cropland (CL) decreases soil organic matter contents (components of soil total carbon contents, STCCs), which often leads to soil degradation. Reestablishing grass on CL generally increases soil organic matter, which improves soil conditions. This study was condu...

Changes in phenolic compounds and their antioxidant capacities in jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Miller) during three edible maturity stages

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This study investigated the changes in total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), individual phenolic compound content, DPPH radical scavenging activity and antioxidant capacity measured by FRAP assay of four phenolic fractions (free, esterified, glycosided and insoluble-bound) fro...

Comparison of mass balance, energy consumption and cost of composting facilities for different types of organic waste

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang Huijun; Matsuto, Toshihiko, E-mail: matsuto@eng.hokudai.ac.jp

2011-03-15

Mass balance, energy consumption and cost are basic pieces of information necessary for selecting a waste management technology. In this study, composting facilities that treat different types of organic waste were studied by questionnaire survey and via a chemical analysis of material collected at the facilities. The mass balance was calculated on a dry weight basis because the moisture content of organic waste was very high. Even though the ratio of bulking material to total input varied in the range 0-65% on a dry basis, the carbon and ash content, carbon/nitrogen ratio, heavy metal content and inorganic nutrients in themore » compost were clearly influenced by the different characteristics of the input waste. The use of bulking material was not correlated with ash or elemental content in the compost. The operating costs were categorised into two groups. There was some economy of scale for wages and maintenance cost, but the costs for electricity and fuel were proportional to the amount of waste. Differences in operating costs can be explained by differences in the process characteristics.« less

Type of Evidence Behind Point-of-Care Clinical Information Products: A Bibliometric Analysis

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Point-of-care (POC) products are widely used as information reference tools in the clinical setting. Although usability, scope of coverage, ability to answer clinical questions, and impact on health outcomes have been studied, no comparative analysis of the characteristics of the references, the evidence for the content, in POC products is available. Objective The objective of this study was to compare the type of evidence behind five POC clinical information products. Methods This study is a comparative bibliometric analysis of references cited in monographs in POC products. Five commonly used products served as subjects for the study: ACP PIER, Clinical Evidence, DynaMed, FirstCONSULT, and UpToDate. The four clinical topics examined to identify content in the products were asthma, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and carbon monoxide poisoning. Four indicators were measured: distribution of citations, type of evidence, product currency, and citation overlap. The type of evidence was determined based primarily on the publication type found in the MEDLINE bibliographic record, as well as the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), both assigned by the US National Library of Medicine. MeSH is the controlled vocabulary used for indexing articles in MEDLINE/PubMed. Results FirstCONSULT had the greatest proportion of references with higher levels of evidence publication types such as systematic review and randomized controlled trial (137/153, 89.5%), although it contained the lowest total number of references (153/2330, 6.6%). DynaMed had the largest total number of references (1131/2330, 48.5%) and the largest proportion of current (2007-2009) references (170/1131, 15%). The distribution of references cited for each topic varied between products. For example, asthma had the most references listed in DynaMed, Clinical Evidence, and FirstCONSULT, while hypertension had the most references in UpToDate and ACP PIER. An unexpected finding was that the rate of citation overlap was less than 1% for each topic across all five products. Conclusions Differences between POC products are revealed by examining the references cited in the monographs themselves. Citation analysis extended to include key content indicators can be used to compare the evidence levels of the literature supporting the content found in POC products. PMID:21335319

Physicochemical, Antioxidant and Sensory Quality of Brazilian Blueberry Wine.

PubMed

Santos, Roberta O; Trindade, Simone C; Maurer, Luana H; Bersch, Andriely M; Sautter, Claudia K; Penna, Neidi G

2016-09-01

Currently, Rio Grande do Sul state is the main producer of blueberry in Brazil. Practically all production is commercialized in fresh state and only a small portion is subject to processing. The blueberry wine making process is an alternative to expand the beverage industry and offers to the consumer a value-added product as well as a new market for Brazilian blueberry producers. The objectives of this study were to produce wines from blueberries and to evaluate the effect of deacidification (with calcium carbonate) and chaptalization (with glucose syrup or sucrose) on physicochemical characteristics, antioxidant content, and sensory parameters. Samples were analyzed for total soluble solids, pH, total titratable acidity, total sugar content, alcohol content, monomeric and total anthocyanin, total flavonols, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity by DPPH and FRAP methods. The use of calcium carbonate caused a reduction in total titratable acidity, while the use of glucose syrup resulted in wines with low alcohol content. The blueberries wine from Climax and Aliceblue cultivars had higher content of anthocyanin when produced with glucose syrup. The use of calcium carbonate and glucose syrup also provided wines more appreciated by tasters in relation to color. With regard to flavor, George and Aliceblue were the cultivars with lower preference under the control treatments (without carbonate and sugar). The presence of phenolic compounds may have provided a positive influence on wine flavor, once the more preferred wines presented the greater phenolic content.

Oxalate Content of the Herb Good-King-Henry, Blitum Bonus-Henricus

PubMed Central

Li, Wanying; Savage, Geoffrey P.

2015-01-01

The total, soluble and insoluble oxalate contents of the leaves, stems and buds of Good-King-Henry (Blitum Bonus-Henricus) were extracted and measured using HPLC chromatography. The large, mature leaves contained 42% more total oxalate than in the small leaves and the soluble oxalate content of the large leaves was 33% higher than the smaller leaves. Cooking the mixed leaves, stems and buds in boiling water for two minutes significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the total oxalate when compared to the raw plant parts. Pesto sauce made from mixed leaves contained 257 mg total oxalate/100 g fresh weight; this was largely made up of insoluble oxalates (85% of the total oxalate content). Soup made from mixed leaves contained lower levels of total oxalates (44.26 ± 0.49 mg total oxalate/100 g fresh weight) and insoluble oxalate made up 49% of the oxalate contents. The levels of oxalates in the Good-King-Henry leaves were high, suggesting that the leaves should be consumed occasionally as a delicacy because of their unique taste rather than as a significant part of the diet. However, the products made from Good-King-Henry leaves indicated that larger amounts could be consumed as the oxalate levels were reduced by dilution and processing. PMID:28231194

Effect of fermentation and sterilization on anthocyanins in blueberry.

PubMed

Nie, Qixing; Feng, Lei; Hu, Jielun; Wang, Sunan; Chen, Haihong; Huang, Xiaojun; Nie, Shaoping; Xiong, Tao; Xie, Mingyong

2017-03-01

Blueberry products have various health benefits due to their high content of dietary anthocyanins. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of fermentation and sterilization on total anthocyanin content, composition and some quality attributes of blueberry puree. The blueberry puree used here was fermented for 40 h at 37 °C by Lactobacillus after sterilization. The method of ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was optimized for the rapid analysis of anthocyanins. Quality attributes including pH, color, total soluble solids and viscosity were measured. A total of 21 anthocyanins and five anthocyanidins were quantified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography. Fermented blueberry had reduced total anthocyanin content (29%) and levels of individual anthocyanins compared with fresh blueberry. Total anthocyanin content was decreased 46% by sterilization, and different degradation behavior of individual anthocyanin was appeared between fermented and sterilized-fermented blueberry puree. Fermentation and sterilization decreased the total soluble solids and pH and changed color parameters, while minimally influencing viscosity. The loss of total anthocyanin content by fermentation was related to the unstable structure of blueberry anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are sensitive to temperature (>80 °C), and degradation of anthocyanins by sterilization in blueberry should be considered in the fermentation procedure. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Retrieval of Aerosol Microphysical Properties Based on the Optimal Estimation Method: Information Content Analysis for Satellite Polarimetric Remote Sensing Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, W. Z.; Li, Z. Q.; Zheng, F. X.; Qie, L. L.

2018-04-01

This paper evaluates the information content for the retrieval of key aerosol microphysical and surface properties for multispectral single-viewing satellite polarimetric measurements cantered at 410, 443, 555, 670, 865, 1610 and 2250 nm over bright land. To conduct the information content analysis, the synthetic data are simulated by the Unified Linearized Vector Radiative Transfer Model (UNLVTM) with the intensity and polarization together over bare soil surface for various scenarios. Following the optimal estimation theory, a principal component analysis method is employed to reconstruct the multispectral surface reflectance from 410 nm to 2250 nm, and then integrated with a linear one-parametric BPDF model to represent the contribution of polarized surface reflectance, thus further to decouple the surface-atmosphere contribution from the TOA measurements. Focusing on two different aerosol models with the aerosol optical depth equal to 0.8 at 550 nm, the total DFS and DFS component of each retrieval aerosol and surface parameter are analysed. The DFS results show that the key aerosol microphysical properties, such as the fine- and coarse-mode columnar volume concentration, the effective radius and the real part of complex refractive index at 550 nm, could be well retrieved with the surface parameters simultaneously over bare soil surface type. The findings of this study can provide the guidance to the inversion algorithm development over bright surface land by taking full use of the single-viewing satellite polarimetric measurements.

Sedative and Analgesic Drugs Online: A Content Analysis of the Supply and Demand Information Available in Thailand.

PubMed

Pinyopornpanish, Kanokporn; Jiraporncharoen, Wichuda; Thaikla, Kanittha; Yoonut, Kulyapa; Angkurawaranon, Chaisiri

2018-03-21

Evidence from other countries has suggested that many controlled drugs are also offered online, even though it is illegal to sell these drugs without a license. To evaluate the current contents related to the supply and demand of sedatives and analgesic drugs available online in Thailand, with a particular focus on Facebook. A team of reviewers manually searched for data by entering keywords related to analgesic drugs and sedatives. The contents of the website were screened for supply and demand-related information. A total of 5,352 websites were found publicly available. The number of websites and Facebook pages containing the information potentially related to the supply and demand of analgesic drugs and sedatives was limited. Nine websites sold sedatives, and six websites sold analgesics directly. Fourteen Facebook pages were found, including 7 sedative pages and 7 analgesic pages. Within one year, the three remaining active pages multiplied in the number of followers by three- to nine-fold. The most popular Facebook page had over 2,900 followers. Both the internet and social media contain sites and pages where sedatives and analgesics are illegally advertised. These websites are searchable through common search engines. Although the number of websites is limited, the number of followers on these Facebook pages does suggest a growing number of people who are interested in such pages. Our study emphasized the importance of monitoring and developing potential plans relative to the online marketing of prescription drugs in Thailand.

Education Status of Oral Genetics at the Fourth Military Medical University and other Chinese Dental Schools.

PubMed

Zhang, Yan Li; Wang, Chang Ning; Fan, Zhi Peng; Jiao, Yang; Duan, Xiao Hong

To investigate the current state of genetics education at the Fourth Military Medical University (FMMU) and compare it with other dental schools of China. Detailed information about the history and current education status of Oral Genetics in the FMMU were collected and questionnaires were completed to acquire the feedback of twenty-seven students on the course. In the other thirty-five dental schools including the capitals of twenty-five provinces and four municipalities in China, information about the oral genetic course were collected by a telephone survey. The contents of survey included whether or not the Oral Genetic course is offered and some basic information about the curriculum (such as the content, hours, teachers' background and teaching methods). Among a total of thirty-six dental schools investigated, six of them (16.7%) offered the Oral Genetic course or related lectures/seminars. The length and contents of the curriculum vary among these schools. The FMMU offered the oral genetic curriculum both to undergraduates and graduated students. Their teachers had a broad range of backgrounds, such as dentistry, biology, genetics, and biochemistry. The students considered the Oral Genetics course to be helpful for their future professional careers. Genetic education in dentistry in China is still at a preliminary stage. More effort must be paid to spread the knowledge of Oral Genetics in China. In addition, domestic and international communications and networks for Oral Genetics should be set up in the near future.

Assimilation of repeated woody biomass observations constrains decadal ecosystem carbon cycle uncertainty in aggrading forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smallman, T. L.; Exbrayat, J.-F.; Mencuccini, M.; Bloom, A. A.; Williams, M.

2017-03-01

Forest carbon sink strengths are governed by plant growth, mineralization of dead organic matter, and disturbance. Across landscapes, remote sensing can provide information about aboveground states of forests and this information can be linked to models to estimate carbon cycling in forests close to steady state. For aggrading forests this approach is more challenging and has not been demonstrated. Here we apply a Bayesian approach, linking a simple model to a range of data, to evaluate their information content, for two aggrading forests. We compare high information content analyses using local observations with retrievals using progressively sparser remotely sensed information (repeated, single, and no woody biomass observations). The net biome productivity of both forests is constrained to be a net sink with <2 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 variation across the range of inputs. However, the sequestration of particular carbon pool(s) varies with assimilated biomass information. Assimilation of repeated biomass observations reduces uncertainty and/or bias in all ecosystem C pools not just wood, compared to analyses using single or no stock information. As verification, our repeated biomass analysis explains 78-86% of variation in litter dynamics at one forest, while at the second forest total dead organic matter estimates are within observational uncertainty. The uncertainty of retrieved ecosystem traits in the repeated biomass analysis is reduced by up to 50% compared to analyses with less biomass information. This study quantifies the importance of repeated woody observations in constraining the dynamics of both wood and dead organic matter, highlighting the benefit of proposed remote sensing missions.

Added sugar in the packaged foods and beverages available at a major Canadian retailer in 2015: a descriptive analysis.

PubMed

Acton, Rachel B; Vanderlee, Lana; Hobin, Erin P; Hammond, David

2017-01-01

Excess consumption of added sugars has been associated with a variety of health problems, but there is little information available characterizing added sugar in the Canadian food supply. This study examined the presence and types of added sugars in the packaged food and beverage products available at a major Canadian grocery retailer. We searched the ingredients lists of over 40 000 packaged food products available for sale in March 2015 for a variety of added sugar terms. Proportions of food products containing added sugar were identified overall and within food product categories. Differences in total sugar content were identified between food products with and without added sugar. Overall, 66% of the packaged food products analyzed contained at least 1 added sugar. The added sugar term "sugar" (and its variations) appeared the most frequently, followed by "dextrose." Added sugar presence and total sugar content varied within many product categories but were consistently higher in expected categories such as "beverages." Mean total sugar content was significantly higher in products with added sugar than in those without, both overall ( p < 0.001) and within most product subcategories ( p < 0.02). About two-thirds of the packaged foods and beverages available at a major Canadian grocery retailer contain added sugar, similar to recent patterns estimated for the US food supply. The results provide an estimation of the baseline characterization of added sugar in the Canadian food supply, which can be used to assess outcomes of future changes to sugar labelling policies in Canada.

Finding Multi-scale Connectivity in Our Geospace Observational System: A New Perspective for Total Electron Content Data Through Network Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGranaghan, R. M.; Mannucci, A. J.; Verkhoglyadova, O. P.; Malik, N.

2017-12-01

How do we evolve beyond current traditional methods in order to innovate into the future? In what disruptive innovations will the next frontier of space physics and aeronomy (SPA) be grounded? We believe the answer to these compelling, yet equally challenging, questions lies in a shift of focus: from a narrow, field-specific view to a radically inclusive, interdisciplinary new modus operandi at the intersection of SPA and the information and data sciences. Concretely addressing these broader themes, we present results from a novel technique for knowledge discovery in the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere (MIT) system: complex network analysis (NA). We share findings from the first NA of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) data, including hemispheric and interplanetary magnetic field clock angle dependencies [1]. Our work shows that NA complements more traditional approaches for the investigation of TEC structure and dynamics, by both reaffirming well-established understanding, giving credence to the method, and identifying new connections, illustrating the exciting potential. We contextualize these new results through a discussion of the potential of data-driven discovery in the MIT system when innovative data science techniques are embraced. We address implications and potentially disruptive data analysis approaches for SPA in terms of: 1) the future of the geospace observational system; 2) understanding multi-scale phenomena; and 3) machine learning. [1] McGranaghan, R. M., A. J. Mannucci, O. Verkhoglyadova, and N. Malik (2017), Finding multiscale connectivity in our geospace observational system: Network analysis of total electron content, J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 122, doi:10.1002/2017JA024202.

Added sugar in the packaged foods and beverages available at a major Canadian retailer in 2015: a descriptive analysis

PubMed Central

Acton, Rachel B.; Vanderlee, Lana; Hobin, Erin P.; Hammond, David

2017-01-01

Background: Excess consumption of added sugars has been associated with a variety of health problems, but there is little information available characterizing added sugar in the Canadian food supply. This study examined the presence and types of added sugars in the packaged food and beverage products available at a major Canadian grocery retailer. Methods: We searched the ingredients lists of over 40 000 packaged food products available for sale in March 2015 for a variety of added sugar terms. Proportions of food products containing added sugar were identified overall and within food product categories. Differences in total sugar content were identified between food products with and without added sugar. Results: Overall, 66% of the packaged food products analyzed contained at least 1 added sugar. The added sugar term "sugar" (and its variations) appeared the most frequently, followed by "dextrose." Added sugar presence and total sugar content varied within many product categories but were consistently higher in expected categories such as "beverages." Mean total sugar content was significantly higher in products with added sugar than in those without, both overall (p < 0.001) and within most product subcategories (p < 0.02). Interpretation: About two-thirds of the packaged foods and beverages available at a major Canadian grocery retailer contain added sugar, similar to recent patterns estimated for the US food supply. The results provide an estimation of the baseline characterization of added sugar in the Canadian food supply, which can be used to assess outcomes of future changes to sugar labelling policies in Canada. PMID:28401111

Optimization of supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of Piper Betel Linn leaves oil and total phenolic content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aziz, A. H. A.; Yunus, M. A. C.; Arsad, N. H.; Lee, N. Y.; Idham, Z.; Razak, A. Q. A.

2016-11-01

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (SC-CO2) Extraction was applied to extract piper betel linn leaves. The piper betel leaves oil was used antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anticancer and antistroke. The aim of this study was to optimize the conditions of pressure, temperature and flowrate for oil yield and total phenolic content. The operational conditions of SC-CO2 studied were pressure (10, 20, 30 MPa), temperature (40, 60, 80 °C) and flowrate carbon dioxide (4, 6, 8 mL/min). The constant parameters were average particle size and extraction regime, 355pm and 3.5 hours respectively. First order polynomial expression was used to express the extracted oil while second order polynomial expression was used to express the total phenolic content and the both results were satisfactory. The best conditions to maximize the total extraction oil yields and total phenolic content were 30 MPa, 80 °C and 4.42 mL/min leading to 7.32% of oil and 29.72 MPa, 67.53 °C and 7.98 mL/min leading to 845.085 mg GAE/g sample. In terms of optimum condition with high extraction yield and high total phenolic content in the extracts, the best operating conditions were 30 MPa, 78 °C and 8 mL/min with 7.05% yield and 791.709 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g sample. The most dominant condition for extraction of oil yield and phenolic content were pressure and CO2 flowrate. The results show a good fit to the proposed model and the optimal conditions obtained were within the experimental range with the value of R2 was 96.13% for percentage yield and 98.52% for total phenolic content.

Determination of total sulfur content via sulfur-specific chemiluminescence detection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kubala, S.W.; Campbell, D.N.; DiSanzo, F.P.

A specially designed system, based upon sulfur-specific chemiluminescence detection (SSCD), was developed to permit the determination of total sulfur content in a variety of samples. This type of detection system possesses several advantages such as excellent linearity and selectivity, low minimum detectable levels, and an equimolar response to various sulfur compounds. This paper will focus on the design and application of a sulfur-specific chemiluminescence detection system for use in determining total sulfur content in gasoline.

The Exchange of Social Support on Online Bariatric Surgery Discussion Forums: A Mixed-Methods Content Analysis.

PubMed

Atwood, Molly E; Friedman, Aliza; Meisner, Brad A; Cassin, Stephanie E

2018-05-01

Bariatric surgery patients often experience physical and psychosocial stressors, and difficulty adjusting to significant lifestyle changes. As a result, social support groups that provide patients with support, coping skills, and nutritional information are valuable components of bariatric care. Support group attendance at bariatric centers is associated with greater post-surgery weight loss; however, several barriers hinder attendance at in-person support groups (e.g., travel distance to bariatric centers). Consequently, online support forums are an increasingly utilized resource for patients both before and after surgery. This study examined and described the type and frequency of social support provided on a large online bariatric surgery forum. A total of 1,412 messages in the pre- (n = 822) and post-surgery (n = 590) sections of the forum were coded using qualitative content analysis according to Cutrona and Suhr's (1992) Social Support Behavior Code model (i.e., including informational, tangible, esteem, network, and emotional support types). The majority of messages provided informational and emotional support regarding: a) factual information about the bariatric procedure and nutrition; b) advice for coping with the surgery preparation process, and physical symptoms; and c) encouragement regarding adherence to surgical guidelines, and weight loss progress. Network, esteem, and tangible support types were less frequent than informational and emotional support types. The results inform healthcare providers about the types of social support available to bariatric patients on online support forums and, thus, encourage appropriate referrals to this resource.

Antioxidative Activities and Active Compounds of Extracts from Catalpa Plant Leaves

PubMed Central

Xu, Hongyu; Hu, Gege; Dong, Juane; Wei, Qin; Shao, Hongbo; Lei, Ming

2014-01-01

In order to screen the Catalpa plant with high antioxidant activity and confirm the corresponding active fractions from Catalpa ovata G. Don, C. fargesii Bur., and C. bungei C. A. Mey., total flavonoid contents and antioxidant activities of the extracts/fractions of Catalpa plant leaves were determined. The determined total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity were used as assessment criteria. Those compounds with antioxidant activity were isolated with silica gel column chromatography and ODS column chromatography. Our results showed that the total flavonoid content in C. bungei C. A. Mey. (30.07 mg/g·DW) was the highest, followed by those in C. fargesii Bur. (25.55 mg/g·DW) and C. ovata G. Don (24.96 mg/g·DW). According to the determination results of total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity in 3 clones of leaves of C. bungei C. A. Mey., the total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity in crude extracts from C. bungei C. A. Mey. 6 (CA6) leaves were the highest. Moreover, the results showed that the total flavonoid content and antioxidant activities of ethyl acetate (EA) fraction in ethanol crude extracts in CA6 leaves were the highest, followed by n-butanol, petroleum ether (PE), and water fractions. Two flavonoid compounds with antioxidant activity were firstly isolated based on EA fraction. The two compounds were luteolin (1) and apigenin (2), respectively. PMID:25431795

Antioxidant and anti-acetylcholinesterase activities of extracts from Rapistrum rugosum in Tunisia

PubMed Central

Amel, Omri Hichri; Malek, Besbes Hlila; Hichem, Ben Jannet; Ali, Lamari; Mahjoub, Aouni; Boulbaba, Selmi

2013-01-01

Objective To investigate the antioxidant potential and anti-acetylcholinesterase activity of Rapistrum rugosum extracts. Methods The crude, ethyl acetate, butanol and water extracts prepared from flowers, roots, stems and leaves of Rapistrum rugosum were tested at 1 mg/mL to determine their total polyphenol content, total flavonoid content and total condensed tannin content. Their antioxidant activity was assessed at different concentrations (0.0312, 0.0625, 0.1250, 0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 mg/mL) by using DPPH, ABTS, reducing power and β-carotene bleAChIng inhibition activity. Anti-acetylcholinesterase activity was also determined. Results The extract of leaves and stems had the highest total phenolic content [(110.45±0.03) mg gallic acid equivalent/g dry weight]. The ethyl acetate extract of flowers had the highest total flavonoid content [(24.62±0.13) mg quercetin equivalent/g dry weight]. The butanolic fraction of flowers had the highest total condensed tannin content [(317.85±0.01) mg catechin equivalent/g dry weight]. The crude extracts of flowers exhibited an interesting antioxidant activity for DPPH assay (93.00±0.01)% at 1 mg/mL. The greatest acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity (IC50=1.60 mg/mL) was exhibited by the crude extracts from the flowers. Conclusions The results demonstrated that Rapistrum rugosum contains active constituents which possess antioxidant and anti-acetylcholinesterase activities.

Antioxidative activities and active compounds of extracts from Catalpa plant leaves.

PubMed

Xu, Hongyu; Hu, Gege; Dong, Juane; Wei, Qin; Shao, Hongbo; Lei, Ming

2014-01-01

In order to screen the Catalpa plant with high antioxidant activity and confirm the corresponding active fractions from Catalpa ovata G. Don, C. fargesii Bur., and C. bungei C. A. Mey., total flavonoid contents and antioxidant activities of the extracts/fractions of Catalpa plant leaves were determined. The determined total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity were used as assessment criteria. Those compounds with antioxidant activity were isolated with silica gel column chromatography and ODS column chromatography. Our results showed that the total flavonoid content in C. bungei C. A. Mey. (30.07 mg/g · DW) was the highest, followed by those in C. fargesii Bur. (25.55 mg/g · DW) and C. ovata G. Don (24.96 mg/g · DW). According to the determination results of total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity in 3 clones of leaves of C. bungei C. A. Mey., the total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity in crude extracts from C. bungei C. A. Mey. 6 (CA6) leaves were the highest. Moreover, the results showed that the total flavonoid content and antioxidant activities of ethyl acetate (EA) fraction in ethanol crude extracts in CA6 leaves were the highest, followed by n-butanol, petroleum ether (PE), and water fractions. Two flavonoid compounds with antioxidant activity were firstly isolated based on EA fraction. The two compounds were luteolin (1) and apigenin (2), respectively.

Newspaper advertising by health maintenance organizations during the reform of healthcare services in Israel.

PubMed

Reuveni, H; Shvarts, S; Meyer, J; Elhayany, A; Greenberg, D

2001-06-01

On 1 January 1995 a new mandatory National Health Insurance Law was enacted in Israel. The new law fostered competition among the four major Israeli healthcare providers (HMOs or sick funds) already operating in the market due to the possibility that an unlimited number of patients and the relative budget share would shift among the HMOs. This led them to launch advertising campaigns to attract new members. To examine newspaper advertising activities during the early stages of healthcare market reform in Israel. Advertising efforts were reviewed during a study period of 24 months (July 1994 to June 1996). Advertisements were analyzed in terms of marketing strategy, costs and quality of information. During the study period 412 newspaper advertisements were collected. The total advertising costs by all HMOs was approximately US$4 million in 1996 prices. Differences were found in marketing strategy, relative advertising costs, contents and priorities among the HMOs. The content of HMOs' newspaper advertising was consistent with their marketing strategy. The messages met the criteria of persuasive advertising in that they cultivated interest in the HMOs but did not provide meaningful information about them. Future developments in this area should include consensus guidelines for advertising activities of HMOs in Israel, instruction concerning the content of messages, and standardization of criteria to report on HMO performance.

Sugar and phenol content in apple with or without watercore.

PubMed

Zupan, Anka; Mikulic-Petkovsek, Maja; Stampar, Franci; Veberic, Robert

2016-06-01

Watercore is a physiological disorder affecting fruit of some apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivars. Intercellular spaces are filled with fluid, which reduces intercellular air space volume. In this study individual phenolic content, sugars and organic acids in watercore affected flesh have been identified and quantified. Peroxidase activity was also measured, as a potential stress indicator. The study was performed on three cultivars prone to watercore development 'Delicious', 'Gloster' and 'Fuji'. Total phenolic content was higher in flesh of fruit without watercore in all three cultivars, which was mainly due to higher individual and total flavanol content. In contrast, total and individual dihydrochalcone content was higher in watercore flesh, where it was up to 2.4 times higher from the flesh of fruit without watercore. Also, peroxidase activity was higher in watercore flesh. Higher peroxidase activity and total and individual dihydrochalcone content leads us to believe that oxidative stress occurred. These results show that watercore has an influence on apple fruit sugar and phenol content even before any visual signs of internal breakdown and browning. With the development of non-destructive techniques for phenol content determination, the knowledge about phenolic changes in watercore affected fruits could aid with apple fruit sorting. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Effect of Harvesting Frequency, Variety and Leaf Maturity on Nutrient Composition, Hydrogen Cyanide Content and Cassava Foliage Yield

PubMed Central

Hue, Khuc Thi; Thanh Van, Do Thi; Ledin, Inger; Wredle, Ewa; Spörndly, Eva

2012-01-01

The experiment studied the effect of harvesting frequencies and varieties on yield, chemical composition and hydrogen cyanide content in cassava foliage. Foliage from three cassava varieties, K94 (very bitter), K98-7 (medium bitter) and a local (sweet), were harvested in three different cutting cycles, at 3, 6 and 9 months; 6 and 9 months and 9 months after planting, in a 2-yr experiment carried out in Hanoi, Vietnam. Increasing the harvesting frequency increased dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) production in cassava foliage. The K94 variety produced higher foliage yields than the other two varieties. Dry matter, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and total tannin content increased with months to the first harvest, whereas CP content decreased. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) content was lower at the first harvest than at later harvests for all cutting cycles. At subsequent harvests the content of total tannins tended to decline, while HCN content increased (p<0.05). Chemical composition differed somewhat across varieties except for total tannins and ash. Dry matter, NDF, ADF and total tannins were higher in fully matured leaves, while CP and HCN were lower in developing leaves. PMID:25049534

Effect of harvesting frequency, variety and leaf maturity on nutrient composition, hydrogen cyanide content and cassava foliage yield.

PubMed

Hue, Khuc Thi; Thanh Van, Do Thi; Ledin, Inger; Wredle, Ewa; Spörndly, Eva

2012-12-01

The experiment studied the effect of harvesting frequencies and varieties on yield, chemical composition and hydrogen cyanide content in cassava foliage. Foliage from three cassava varieties, K94 (very bitter), K98-7 (medium bitter) and a local (sweet), were harvested in three different cutting cycles, at 3, 6 and 9 months; 6 and 9 months and 9 months after planting, in a 2-yr experiment carried out in Hanoi, Vietnam. Increasing the harvesting frequency increased dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) production in cassava foliage. The K94 variety produced higher foliage yields than the other two varieties. Dry matter, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and total tannin content increased with months to the first harvest, whereas CP content decreased. Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) content was lower at the first harvest than at later harvests for all cutting cycles. At subsequent harvests the content of total tannins tended to decline, while HCN content increased (p<0.05). Chemical composition differed somewhat across varieties except for total tannins and ash. Dry matter, NDF, ADF and total tannins were higher in fully matured leaves, while CP and HCN were lower in developing leaves.

Determination of total phenolics, flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity of different mBHT fractions: A polyherbal medicine.

PubMed

Parthasarathi, Shanmugam; Park, Yong-Ki

2015-11-01

In this study, antioxidant activity, total phenolic and flavonoids content of four different fractions from the traditional Korean polyherbal medicine of Modified Bo-yang-Hwan-o-Tang (mBHT) was determined using spectrophotometric methods. Antioxidant activity of fractions was expressed as percentage of DPPH radicals inhibition and IC₅₀ values (μg/ml). Values in percentage ranged from 48.35 to 77.43%. The reducing powers of all the extracts were comparable with that of positive control sample of Butylated hydroxyl tolune (BHT) and ascorbic acid which was found to be dose dependent. Total phenolic content ranged from 106.83 ± 0.002 to 188.661 ± 0.002 mg/g, expressed as gallic acid equivalents. The total flavonoid contents varied from 28.44 ± 0.001 to 105.25 ± 0.001 mg/g, expressed as quarcetin equivalents. Ethyl acetate fractions of mBHT showed the highest phenolic (188.66 mg GAE/g) and flavonoids (105.25 mg QAE/g) contents and strong antioxidant activity. Total phenolics and flavonoid content of all the mBHT fractions were found reasonably correlated with IC₅₀ of DPPH (R²=0.980 and 0.932, respectively). The high contents of phenolic compounds indicated that these compounds responsible for antioxidant activity. Therefore, ethyl acetate fractions of mBHT can be regarded as promising candidates for natural plant sources of antioxidants.

Total alkaloid content in various fractions of Tabernaemonata sphaerocarpa Bl. (Jembirit) leaves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salamah, N.; Ningsih, D. S.

2017-11-01

Tabernaemontana sphaerocarpa Bl. (Jembirit) is one of the Apocynaceae family plants containing alkaloid compound. Traditionally, it is used as an anti-inflammatory medicine. It is found to have a new bisindole alkaloid compound that shows a potent cytotoxic activity in human cancer. This study aimed to know the total alkaloid content in some fractions of ethanolic extract of T. sphaerocarpa Bl. leaf powder was extracted by maceration method in 70% ethanol solvent. Then, the extract was fractionated in a separatory funnel using water, ethyl acetate, and hexane. The total alkaloid content in each fraction was analyzed with visible spectrophotometric methods based on the reaction with Bromocresol Green (BCG). The total alkaloids in water fraction and ethyl acetate fraction were (0.0312±0.0009)% and (0.0281±0.0014)%, respectively. Meanwhile, the total alkaloid content in hexane was not detected. The statistical analysis, performed in SPSS, resulted in a significant difference between the total alkaloids in water fraction and ethyl acetate fraction. The total alkaloid in water fraction of T. sphaerocarpa Bl. was higher than the one in ethyl acetate fraction.

Predictive relationship between polyphenol and nonfat cocoa solids content of chocolate.

PubMed

Cooper, Karen A; Campos-Giménez, Esther; Jiménez Alvarez, Diego; Rytz, Andreas; Nagy, Kornél; Williamson, Gary

2008-01-09

Chocolate is often labeled with percent cocoa solids content. It is assumed that higher cocoa solids contents are indicative of higher polyphenol concentrations, which have potential health benefits. However, cocoa solids include polyphenol-free cocoa butter and polyphenol-rich nonfat cocoa solids (NFCS). In this study the strength of the relationship between NFCS content (estimated by theobromine as a proxy) and polyphenol content was tested in chocolate samples with labeled cocoa solids contents in the range of 20-100%, grouped as dark (n = 46), milk (n = 8), and those chocolates containing inclusions such as wafers or nuts (n = 15). The relationship was calculated with regard to both total polyphenol content and individual polyphenols. In dark chocolates, NFCS is linearly related to total polyphenols (r2 = 0.73). Total polyphenol content appears to be systematically slightly higher for milk chocolates than estimated by the dark chocolate model, whereas for chocolates containing other ingredients, the estimates fall close to or slightly below the model results. This shows that extra components such as milk, wafers, or nuts might influence the measurements of both theobromine and polyphenol contents. For each of the six main polyphenols (as well as their sum), the relationship with the estimated NFCS was much lower than for total polyphenols (r2 < 0.40), but these relationships were independent of the nature of the chocolate type, indicating that they might still have some predictive capabilities.

Content and chemical form of mercury and selenium in Lake Ontario salmon and trout

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cappon, C.J.

1984-01-01

The content and chemical form of mercury and selenium were determined in the edible tissue of salmon (coho, chinook) and trout (lake, brown) taken offshore from Lake Ontario near Rochester, New York. For all species, total mercury content ranged from 0.3 to 0.8 micro g/g (fresh-weight), which is similar to concentrations commonly found in canned tuna. Most of the total mercury (63 to 79%) was present as methylmercury, the remainder being divalent inorganic mercury. For all species, 6 to 45% of the total selenium content was present as selenate (SeVI), the remainder being selenite (SeIV) and selenide (SEII). On amore » molar basis, total selenium content usually exceeded that of total mercury. Samples of smoked and unsmoked brown trout fillets were also examined. Based on the results of this study there is no immediate human health hazard from mercury and selenium. However, there is a need to report specific forms of these metals in Lake Ontario salmonid fish so that elevated concentrations can be better evaluated. 42 references, 1 figure, 4 tables.« less

A Member of Complementary Medicinal Food: Anatolian Royal Jellies, Their Chemical Compositions, and Antioxidant Properties.

PubMed

Kolayli, Sevgi; Sahin, Huseyin; Can, Zehra; Yildiz, Oktay; Malkoc, Meltem; Asadov, Alsever

2016-10-01

This study investigated various chemical and antioxidant properties of Anatolian royal jelly samples. Moisture, pH, total protein, 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA) and sugars were analyzed from 18 samples. Total phenolic contents, ferric reducing antioxidant capacity and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity were measured as antioxidant determinants. 10-HDA contents and total protein content of fresh weight ranged between 1.0% and 3.9%, and 11.4% and 15.8%, respectively. The main sugars detected were glucose and fructose. Maltose, trehalose, and melibiose were detected at less than 1.0% in all samples. Lactose, a milk sugar, was detected in only 3 samples, at values between 0.8% and 1.4%. Total henolic content ranged from 91.0 to 301.0 mg gallic acid equivalents/kg fresh weight. Antioxidant activity is due to both to the total phenolic content, proteins and fatty acids of royal jelly. Anatolian royal jelly samples were not different from other royal jelly samples from across the world. © The Author(s) 2015.

Melatonin and nitric oxide modulate glutathione content and glutathione reductase activity in sunflower seedling cotyledons accompanying salt stress.

PubMed

Kaur, Harmeet; Bhatla, Satish C

2016-09-30

The present findings demonstrate significant modulation of total glutathione content, reduced glutathione (GSH) content, oxidized glutathione (GSSG) content, GSH/GSSG ratio and glutathione reductase (GR; EC 1.6.4.2) activity in dark-grown seedling cotyledons in response to salt-stress (120 mM NaCl) in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seedlings. A differential spatial distribution of GR activity (monitored by confocal laser scanning microscopic (CLSM) imaging) is also evident. Melatonin and nitric oxide (NO) differentially ameliorate salt stress effect by modulating GR activity and GSH content in seedling cotyledons. Total glutathione content (GSH + GSSG) exhibit a seedling age-dependent increase in the cotyledons, more so in salt-stressed conditions and when subjected to melatonin treatment. Seedlings raised in presence of 15 μM of melatonin exhibit significant increase in GR activity in cotyledon homogenates (10,000 g supernatant) coinciding with significant increase in GSH content. GSSG content and GSH/GSSG ratio also increased due to melatonin treatment. A correlation is thus evident in NaCl-sensitized modulation of GSH content and GR activity by melatonin. GSH content is down regulated by NO provided as 250 μM of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) although total glutathione content remained in similar range. A reversal of response (enhanced total glutathione accumulation) by NO scavenger (cPTIO) highlights the critical role of NO in modulating glutathione homeostasis. SNP lowers the activity of hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT) - a regulatory enzyme in melatonin biosynthesis in control seedlings whereas its activity is upregulated in salt-stressed seedling cotyledons. Melatonin content of seedling cotyledons is also modulated by NO. NO and melatonin thus seem to modulate GR activity and GSH content during seedling growth under salt stress. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Proximate composition, energetic value, and relative abundance of prey fish from the inshore eastern Bering Sea: Implications for piscivorous predators

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ball, J.R.; Esler, Daniel N.; Schmutz, J.A.

2007-01-01

Changing ocean conditions and subsequent shifts in forage fish communities have been linked to numerical declines of some piscivorous marine birds and mammals in the North Pacific. However, limited information about fish communities is available for some regions, including nearshore waters of the eastern Bering Sea, where many piscivores reside. We determined proximate composition and energetic value of a suite of potential forage fish collected from an estuary on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, during 2002 and 2003. Across species, energy density ranged from 14.5 to 20.7 kJ g−1 dry mass and varied primarily as a function of lipid content. Total energy content was strongly influenced by body length and we provide species-specific predictive models of total energy based on this relationship; some models may be improved further by incorporating year and date effects. Based on observed energetic differences, we conclude that variation in fish size, quantity, and species composition of the prey community could have important consequences for piscivorous predators.

An investigation into the fatty acid content of selected fish-based commercial infant foods in the UK and the impact of commonly practiced re-heating treatments used by parents for the preparation of infant formula milks.

PubMed

Loughrill, Emma; Zand, Nazanin

2016-04-15

The importance of dietary lipids during infancy is paramount for rapid growth and development. Linoleic acid (LA), α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) were quantified using RP-HPLC with charged aerosol detection in a range of complementary infant foods and formula milk. Total daily intake of fatty acids for infants aged 6-9 months was calculated based on the consumption of complementary infant foods and formula milk. Total daily intakes of ALA, AA and DHA were below, whereas LA was above the recommended intake. This provides scope for product optimisation, to improve the nutritive value of commercial infant food products. The impact of re-heating treatments by parents on fatty acid content of formula milk was investigated and statistically significant changes were observed. Furthermore, the transparency of the labelling information declared by the manufacturers was within recommendations despite a degree of significant variation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Free and bound phenolic profiles and antioxidant activity of milled fractions of different indica rice varieties cultivated in southern China.

PubMed

Ti, Huihui; Li, Qing; Zhang, Ruifen; Zhang, Mingwei; Deng, Yuanyuan; Wei, Zhencheng; Chi, Jianwei; Zhang, Yan

2014-09-15

This study quantified free and bound phytochemicals and their antioxidant activity in the endosperm and bran/embryo of different indica rice varieties. Phytochemicals mainly existed as free form in the bran/embryo and as both free and bound forms in the endosperm. The average values of total phenolic content, flavonoid content, FRAP, ABTS and ORAC values in the bran/embryo were 3.1, 10.4, 8.2, 11.2 and 11.4 times higher than those in the endosperm, respectively. In whole brown rice, the bran contributed 59.2%, 53.7%, 47.7%, 55.5% and 56.9% of total phenolics, flavonoids, FRAP, ABTS and ORAC values, respectively. Seven individual phenolics (gallic, protocatechuic, chlorogenic, caffeic, syringic, coumaric and ferulic acids) were detected with most coumaric and ferulic acids in the bran. All measurements exhibited varietal differences. These findings provide important information for improving human health by encouraging the consumption of whole brown rice and its use in food product development. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physiology and pathophysiology of potassium homeostasis.

PubMed

Palmer, Biff F; Clegg, Deborah J

2016-12-01

Total body potassium content and proper distribution of potassium across the cell membrane is of critical importance for normal cellular function. Potassium homeostasis is maintained by several different methods. In the kidney, total body potassium content is achieved by alterations in renal excretion of potassium in response to variations in intake. Insulin and beta-adrenergic tone play critical roles in maintaining the internal distribution of potassium under normal conditions. Despite homeostatic pathways designed to maintain potassium levels within the normal range, disorders of altered potassium homeostasis are common. The clinical approach to designing effective treatments relies on understanding the pathophysiology and regulatory influences which govern the internal distribution and external balance of potassium. Here we provide an overview of the key regulatory aspects of normal potassium physiology. This review is designed to provide an overview of potassium homeostasis as well as provide references of seminal papers to guide the reader into a more in depth discussion of the importance of potassium balance. This review is designed to be a resource for educators and well-informed clinicians who are teaching trainees about the importance of potassium balance. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Online nutrition information for pregnant women: a content analysis.

PubMed

Storr, Tayla; Maher, Judith; Swanepoel, Elizabeth

2017-04-01

Pregnant women actively seek health information online, including nutrition and food-related topics. However, the accuracy and readability of this information have not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to describe and evaluate pregnancy-related food and nutrition information available online. Four search engines were used to search for pregnancy-related nutrition web pages. Content analysis of web pages was performed. Web pages were assessed against the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines to assess accuracy. Flesch-Kincaid (F-K), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), Gunning Fog Index (FOG) and Flesch reading ease (FRE) formulas were used to assess readability. Data was analysed descriptively. Spearman's correlation was used to assess the relationship between web page characteristics. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to check for differences among readability and other web page characteristics. A total of 693 web pages were included. Web page types included commercial (n = 340), not-for-profit (n = 113), blogs (n = 112), government (n = 89), personal (n = 36) and educational (n = 3). The accuracy of online nutrition information varied with 39.7% of web pages containing accurate information, 22.8% containing mixed information and 37.5% containing inaccurate information. The average reading grade of all pages analysed measured by F-K, SMOG and FOG was 11.8. The mean FRE was 51.6, a 'fairly difficult to read' score. Only 0.5% of web pages were written at or below grade 6 according to F-K, SMOG and FOG. The findings suggest that accuracy of pregnancy-related nutrition information is a problem on the internet. Web page readability is generally difficult and means that the information may not be accessible to those who cannot read at a sophisticated level. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Soil Greenhouse Gas Fluxes, Environmental Controls, and the Partitioning of N2O Sources in UK Natural and Seminatural Land Use Types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sgouridis, Fotis; Ullah, Sami

2017-10-01

Natural and seminatural terrestrial ecosystems (unmanaged peatlands and forests and extensive and intensive grasslands) have been under-represented in the UK greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. Mechanistic studies of GHG fluxes and their controls can improve the prediction of the currently uncertain GHG annual emission estimates. The source apportionment of N2O emissions can further inform management plans for GHG mitigation. We have measured in situ GHG fluxes monthly in two replicated UK catchments and evaluated their environmental controlling factors. An adapted 15N-gas flux method with low addition of 15N tracer (0.03-0.5 kg 15N ha-1) was used to quantify the relative contribution of denitrification to net N2O production. Total N2O fluxes were 40 times higher in the intensive grasslands than in the peatlands (range: -1.32 to 312.3 μg N m-2 h-1). The contribution of denitrification to net N2O emission varied across the land use types and ranged from 9 to 60%. Soil moisture was the key parameter regulating the partitioning of N2O sources (r2 = 0.46). Total N2O fluxes were explained by a simple model (r2 = 0.83) including parameters such as total dissolved nitrogen, organic carbon, and water content. A parsimonious model with the soil moisture content as a single scalar parameter explained 84% of methane flux variability across land uses. The assumption that 1% of the atmospherically deposited N on natural ecosystems is emitted as N2O could be overestimated or underestimated (0.3-1.6%). The use of land use-specific N2O emission factors and further information on N2O source partitioning should help constrain this uncertainty.

Assessment of phenolic profile and antioxidant power of five pistachio (Pistacia vera) cultivars collected from four geographical regions of Iran

PubMed Central

Taghizadeh, Seyedeh Faezeh; Davarynejad, Gholamhossein; Asili, Javad; Nemati, Seyed Hossein; Karimi, Gholamreza

2018-01-01

Objective: In this study, the levels and antioxidant activities of some secondary metabolites isolated from five pistachio (Pistacia vera) cultivars collected from four different geographical regions of Iran, were studied. Materials and Methods: Total phenolic compounds levels were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method. Total flavonoid content was determined as AlCl3 complex and expressed as mg of quercetin equivalents (QE)/g dry extract and total proantocyanidins content was expressed as mg of catechin equivalents (CA)/g dry extract. In order to evaluated the antioxidant activity of the compounds, DPPH and FRAP assays were used. Results: The highest level of total phenols (156.42 mg GA/g DE), total flavonoids (130.94 mg QE/g DE) and total proantocyanidins (152.816 mg CA/g DE) were obtained in Akbari cultivar from Rafsanjan, followed by Badami-e-sefid and Ahmad aghaei. The lowest amount of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total proanthocyanidin content (TPrAC) were found in Badami-e-sefid from Feizabad (128.140 mg GA/g DE, 93.176 mg QE/g DE and 118.870 mg CA/g DE, respectively). Also, a positive correlation (r2=0.9834) was found between antioxidant activity and total phenolic compounds. Conclusion: Pistachio increased their phytochemical compounds to contrast with abiotic stress. Our data could be useful for introducing special characteristics to the plants, and can be considered when planning a new breeding program or choosing a specific cultivar for a particular use. PMID:29387572

Preliminary assestment of lint cotton water content in gin-drying temperature studies

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Prior studies to measure total water (free and bound) in lint cotton by Karl Fischer Titration showed the method is more accurate and precise than moisture content by standard oven drying. The objective of the current study was to compare the moisture and total water contents from five cultivars de...

Relation between body composition and bone mineral density in young undregraduate students with different nutritional status

PubMed Central

Rodrigues, Edil de Albuquerque; dos Santos, Marcos André Moura; da Silva, Amanda Tabosa Pereira; Farah, Breno Quintella; Costa, Manoel da Cunha; Campos, Florisbela de Arruda Camara e Siqueira; Falcão, Ana Patrícia Siqueira Tavares

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Objective To investigate the relationship between total and segmental body fat, bone mineral density and bone mineral content in undergraduate students stratified according to nutritional status. Methods The study included 45 male undergraduate students aged between 20 and 30 years. Total and segmental body composition, bone mineral density and bone mineral content assessments were performed using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Subjects were allocated into three groups (eutrophic, overweight and obese). Results With the exception of upper limb bone mineral content, significantly higher (p<0.05) mean bone mineral density, bone mineral content, and relative body fat values were documented in the obese group. Total body and segmental relative body fat (lower limbs and trunk) were positively correlated (p<0.05) with bone mineral density in the overweight group. Upper limb fat was negatively correlated (p<0.05) with bone mineral content in the normal and eutrophic groups. Conclusion Total body and segmental body fat were correlated with bone mineral density and bone mineral content in male undergraduate students, particularly in overweight individuals. PMID:27074228

Results and Conclusions from the NASA Isokinetic Total Water Content Probe 2009 IRT Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reehorst, Andrew; Brinker, David

2010-01-01

The NASA Glenn Research Center has developed and tested a Total Water Content Isokinetic Sampling Probe. Since, by its nature, it is not sensitive to cloud water particle phase nor size, it is particularly attractive to support super-cooled large droplet and high ice water content aircraft icing studies. The instrument comprises the Sampling Probe, Sample Flow Control, and Water Vapor Measurement subsystems. Results and conclusions are presented from probe tests in the NASA Glenn Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) during January and February 2009. The use of reference probe heat and the control of air pressure in the water vapor measurement subsystem are discussed. Several run-time error sources were found to produce identifiable signatures that are presented and discussed. Some of the differences between measured Isokinetic Total Water Content Probe and IRT calibration seems to be caused by tunnel humidification and moisture/ice crystal blow around. Droplet size, airspeed, and liquid water content effects also appear to be present in the IRT calibration. Based upon test results, the authors provide recommendations for future Isokinetic Total Water Content Probe development.

Mathematics of Periodic Tables for Benzenoid Hydrocarbons.

PubMed

Dias, Jerry Ray

2007-01-01

The upper and lower bounds for invariants of polyhex systems based on the Harary and Harborth inequalities are studied. It is shown that these invariants are uniquely correlated by the Periodic Table for Benzenoid Hydrocarbons. A modified periodic table for total resonant sextet (TRS) benzenoids based on the invariants of Ds and r(empty) is presented; Ds is the number of disconnections among the empty rings for fused TRS benzenoid hydrocarbons. This work represents a contribution toward deciphering the topological information content of benzenoid formulas.

China and India, 2025: A Comparative Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

Charles Wolf ... [et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8330-5042-7 (pbk. : alk. paper ) 1. Economic development...http://www.rand.org/nsrd/about/isdp.html or contact the director (contact information is provided on the web page). v Contents Preface...2010. Year B ir th s p er 1 ,0 00 p o p u la ti o n 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 2030202520202015201020052000 2035 China India 2010 2020–2025 Figure 2.3 Total

Unprofessional content on Facebook accounts of US urology residency graduates.

PubMed

Koo, Kevin; Ficko, Zita; Gormley, E Ann

2017-06-01

To characterize unprofessional content on public Facebook accounts of contemporary US urology residency graduates. Facebook was queried with the names of all urologists who graduated from US urology residency programmes in 2015 to identify publicly accessible profiles. Profiles were assessed for unprofessional or potentially objectionable content using a prospectively designed rubric, based on professionalism guidelines by the American Urological Association, the American Medical Association, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Content authorship (self vs other) was determined, and profiles were reviewed for self-identification as a urologist. Of 281 graduates, 223 (79%) were men and 267 (95%) held MD degrees. A total of 201 graduates (72%) had publicly identifiable Facebook profiles. Of these, 80 profiles (40%) included unprofessional or potentially objectionable content, including 27 profiles (13%) reflecting explicitly unprofessional behaviour, such as depictions of intoxication, uncensored profanity, unlawful behaviour, and confidential patient information. When unprofessional content was found, the content was self-authored in 82% of categories. Among 85 graduates (42%) who self-identified as a urologist on social media, nearly half contained concerning content. No differences in content were found between men and women, MD and DO degree-holders, or those who did or did not identify as a urologist (all P > 0.05). The majority of recent residency graduates had publicly accessible Facebook profiles, and a substantial proportion contained self-authored unprofessional content. Of those identifying as urologists on Facebook, approximately half violated published professionalism guidelines. Greater awareness of trainees' online identities is needed. © 2017 The Authors BJU International © 2017 BJU International Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A study of information flow in hospice interdisciplinary team meetings

PubMed Central

DEMIRIS, GEORGE; WASHINGTON, KARLA; OLIVER, DEBRA PARKER; WITTENBERG-LYLES, ELAINE

2009-01-01

The aim of this study was to explore the information flow of hospice interdisciplinary meetings focusing on information access, exchange and documentation. The study participants were members of four hospice interdisciplinary teams in the Midwestern United States. Team members included a diverse range of professionals including physicians, nurses, social workers, bereavement counselors, and others. A total of 81 patient care discussions were videotaped and transcribed. A content analysis revealed several themes that needed to be addressed to improve the overall information flow, such as access to and recording of information, documentation of services, obtaining information from absent team members, data redundancy and updating of recorded information. On average, 5% of all utterances when discussing a patient case were focused on soliciting information from the member who had access to the patient chart. In 12.3% of all discussions, members referred to an absent member who could have provided additional information. In 8.6% of all discussions the same facts were repeated three times or more. Based on the findings we propose guidelines that can address potential informational gaps and enhance team communication in hospice. PMID:19012142

On the Capabilities of Using AIRSAR Data in Surface Energy/Water Balance Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moreno, Jose F.; Saatchi, Susan S.

1996-01-01

The capabilities of using remote sensing data, and in particular multifrequency/multipolarization SAR data, like AIRSAR, for the retrieval of surface parameters, depend considerably on the specificity of each application. The potentials, and limitations, of SAR data in ecological investigations are well known. Because the chemistry is a major component in such studies and because of the almost lacking chemical information at the wavelengths of SAR data, the capabilities of using SAR-derived information in such studies are considerably limited. However, in the case of surface energy/water balance studies, the determination of the amount of water content, both in the soil and in the plants, is a major component in all modeling approaches. As the information about water content is present in the SAR signal, then the role of SAR data in studies where water content is to be determined becomes clearly predominant. Another situation where the role of SAR data becomes dominant over other remote sensing systems is the case of dense canopies. Because of the penetration capabilities of microwave data, which is especially superior as compared to optical data, information about the canopy as a whole and even the underlying soil is contained in the SAR data, while only the top canopy provides the information content in the case of optical data. In the case of relatively dense canopies, as has been demonstrated in this study, such different penetration capabilities provide very different results in terms of the derived total canopy water content, for instance. However, although all such capabilities are well known, unfortunately there are also well known limitations. Apart from calibration-related aspects (that we will not consider in this study), and apart from other intrinsic problems (like image noise, topographic corrections, etc.) which also significantly affect the derived results, we will concentrate on the problem of extracting information from the data. Even at this level, methods are still not fully well established, especially over vegetation-covered areas. In this paper, an algorithm is described which allows derivation of three fundamental parameters from SAR data: soil moisture, soil roughness and canopy water content, accounting for the effects of vegetation cover by using optical (Landsat) data as auxiliary. Capabilities and limitations of the data and algorithms are discussed, as well as possibilities to use these data in energy/water balance modeling studies. All the data used in this study were acquired as part of the Intensive Observation Period in June-July 1991 (European Multisensor Aircraft Campaign-91), as part of the European Field Experiment in a Desertification- threatened Area (EFEDA), a European contribution to the global-change research sponsored by the IGBP program (Bolle et al., 1993).

Groundwater Depletion and the Sharp Increase of Seismicity in the Southern States, How GRACE Data Could Help?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hong, Z.; Hasan, E.; Hong, Y.; Xia, B.; Zhong, H.

2016-12-01

This study is a contribution to how NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data may be used to track anthropogenic related change in the groundwater in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) as well recently increased seismicity in the southern states. The SGP contains one of the most important groundwater aquifers in the United States, the Ogallala groundwater aquifer, which has been exploited since 1900. Meanwhile, the recent activities of oil and gas extraction from the unconventional shall reservoir systems has led to significantly increased groundwater withdrawal and injection of wastewater. Consequently, numerous induced fracture related earthquakes have been recorded in Oklahoma and Texas between 2002 and 2016 The current paper investigates the utility of GRACE data along with the Land Water Content (LWC) information from the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) to monitor and track the groundwater changes in three southern states of SGP (Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico). Additionally, the paper investigates links between active seismicity and the injection of the wastewater due to the oil and gas production. Using GRACE data yields unprecedented information about the inter-annual changes in the Total Water Storage (TWS) from 2002 to 2016 over SGP. The LWC data set sums the soil moisture records with the the total canopy water storage to reveal the total land surface water content. The arithmetic difference between the TWS and LWC is the Groundwater Anomaly (GWA) for any particular region. In the current study, the GWA analysis reveals the following: (1) statistically significant drop of the GWA of about - 27 mm from 2002 to 2007 due to natural and anthropogenic causes; (2) the increased precipitation records from 2008 to 2011 over SGP leads to significant recovery in TWS and an increase in the groundwater content of about 40 mm; (3) the period from 2012 to 2015 experienced increased GWA of about - 6 mm for the period. Using the available seismicity records showed high agreement between the seismicity and the oil production locations. Additionally, the correlation between the groundwater changes and the seismic activity in the study region showed that the changes in groundwater levels are associated with regions of induced seismic activities.

Solid fat content as a substitute for total polar compound analysis in edible oils

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The solid fat contents (SFC) of heated edible oil samples were measured and found to correlate positively with total polar compounds (TPC) and inversely with triglyceride concentration. Traditional methods for determination of total polar compounds require a laboratory setting and are time intensiv...

Simultaneous measurement of unfrozen water content and ice content in frozen soil using gamma ray attenuation and TDR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Xiaohai; Zhou, Jian; Kinzelbach, Wolfgang; Stauffer, Fritz

2014-12-01

The freezing temperature of water in soil is not constant but varies over a range determined by soil texture. Consequently, the amounts of unfrozen water and ice change with temperature in frozen soil, which in turn affects hydraulic, thermal, and mechanical properties of frozen soil. In this paper, an Am-241 gamma ray source and time-domain reflectometry (TDR) were combined to measure unfrozen water content and ice content in frozen soil simultaneously. The gamma ray attenuation was used to determine total water content. The TDR was used to determine the dielectric constant of the frozen soil. Based on a four-phase mixing model, the amount of unfrozen water content in the frozen soil could be determined. The ice content was inferred by the difference between total water content and unfrozen water content. The gamma ray attenuation and the TDR were both calibrated by a gravimetric method. Water contents measured by gamma ray attenuation and TDR in an unfrozen silt column under infiltration were compared and showed that the two methods have the same accuracy and response to changes of water content. Unidirectional column freezing experiments were performed to apply the combined method of gamma ray attenuation and TDR for measuring unfrozen water content and ice content. The measurement error of the gamma ray attenuation and TDR was around 0.02 and 0.01 m3/m3, respectively. The overestimation of unfrozen water in frozen soil by TDR alone was quantified and found to depend on the amount of ice content. The higher the ice content, the larger the overestimation. The study confirmed that the combined method could accurately determine unfrozen water content and ice content in frozen soil. The results of soil column freezing experiments indicate that total water content distribution is affected by available pore space and the freezing front advance rate. It was found that there is similarity between the soil water characteristic and the soil freezing characteristic of variably saturated soil. Unfrozen water content is independent of total water content and affected only by temperature when the freezing point is reached.

Micropropagation of Agave salmiana: Means to Production of Antioxidant and Bioactive Principles

PubMed Central

Puente-Garza, César A.; Gutiérrez-Mora, Antonia; García-Lara, Silverio

2015-01-01

Maguey, Agave salmiana, is an important plant for the “pulque” beverage and functional food industries; however, it has several constraints for elite and homogeneous plant production. In this study, a micropropagation process was established to generate in vitro plants. The effect of the method on metabolite content and antioxidant (AOX) activity in regenerated plants was evaluated. Young germinated plantlets were micropropagated from axillary shoots using Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with L2 vitamins, 0.04 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 10 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine. Total soluble sugars from the aqueous fraction and total phenolic acids, total saponins, and AOX activity of the methanol fraction were determined in wild-type (WT) plants, in in vitro (IN) plants, and ex vitro acclimated plants (EN). The results showed that IN plants have a 50% lower soluble sugar content compared to WT, and EN. The total phenolic acids content was at least 30% higher in micropropagated (IN) and regenerated (EN) plants compared to WT. The total saponin content in IN, and EN plants was 36 and 25 times higher compared to WT. The AOX capacity of IN plants was on average three times higher compared to other treatments. However, no correlation was found between the AOX activity and total phenolic acids or total saponins. A negative and significant correlation (r = –0.927; p = 0.003) was found between the AOX activity and the total soluble sugars content. Micropropagated plants of A. salmiana have a different phytochemical content and bioactivity after the in vitro process compared to WT plants. The micropropagation process could be used as a platform for phytochemical enhancement of Agave plants. PMID:26635850

Micropropagation of Agave salmiana: Means to Production of Antioxidant and Bioactive Principles.

PubMed

Puente-Garza, César A; Gutiérrez-Mora, Antonia; García-Lara, Silverio

2015-01-01

Maguey, Agave salmiana, is an important plant for the "pulque" beverage and functional food industries; however, it has several constraints for elite and homogeneous plant production. In this study, a micropropagation process was established to generate in vitro plants. The effect of the method on metabolite content and antioxidant (AOX) activity in regenerated plants was evaluated. Young germinated plantlets were micropropagated from axillary shoots using Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with L2 vitamins, 0.04 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 10 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine. Total soluble sugars from the aqueous fraction and total phenolic acids, total saponins, and AOX activity of the methanol fraction were determined in wild-type (WT) plants, in in vitro (IN) plants, and ex vitro acclimated plants (EN). The results showed that IN plants have a 50% lower soluble sugar content compared to WT, and EN. The total phenolic acids content was at least 30% higher in micropropagated (IN) and regenerated (EN) plants compared to WT. The total saponin content in IN, and EN plants was 36 and 25 times higher compared to WT. The AOX capacity of IN plants was on average three times higher compared to other treatments. However, no correlation was found between the AOX activity and total phenolic acids or total saponins. A negative and significant correlation (r = -0.927; p = 0.003) was found between the AOX activity and the total soluble sugars content. Micropropagated plants of A. salmiana have a different phytochemical content and bioactivity after the in vitro process compared to WT plants. The micropropagation process could be used as a platform for phytochemical enhancement of Agave plants.

Antioxidant capacity, phenolic acids and caffeine contents of some commercial coffees available on the Romanian market.

PubMed

Trandafir, Ion; Nour, Violeta; Ionica, Mira Elena

2013-03-01

In the present study a simple and highly sensitive RP-HPLC method has been established for simultaneous determination of chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, vanillic acid and caffeine in coffee samples. The method has been applied to eight different coffees available on the Romanian market which were previously analysed concerning the total polyphenols content and antioxidant capacity. Reduction of the DPPH radical was used to determine the antioxidant capacity of the coffee extracts while the total polyphenols content was determined by spectrophotometry (Folin Ciocalteu's method). The total polyphenols content ranged from 1.98 g GAE/100 g to 4.19 g GAE/100 g while the caffeine content ranged from 1.89 g/100 g to 3.05 g/100 g. A large variability was observed in chlorogenic acid content of the investigated coffee samples which ranged between 0.6 and 2.32 g/100 g.

Antioxidant Content, Antioxidant Activity, and Antibacterial Activity of Five Plants from the Commelinaceae Family

PubMed Central

Tan, Joash Ban Lee; Yap, Wei Jin; Tan, Shen Yeng; Lim, Yau Yan; Lee, Sui Mae

2014-01-01

Commelinaceae is a family of herbaceous flowering plants with many species used in ethnobotany, particularly in South America. However, thus far reports of their bioactivity are few and far between. The primary aim of this study was to quantify the antioxidant and antibacterial activity of five Commelinaceae methanolic leaf extracts. The antioxidant content was evaluated by the total phenolic content (TPC), total tannin content (TTC), and total flavonoid content (TFC) assays. The antioxidant activities measured were DPPH free radical scavenging (FRS), ferric reducing power (FRP), and ferrous ion chelating (FIC); of the five plants, the methanolic leaf extract of Tradescantia zebrina showed the highest antioxidant content and activity, and exhibited antibacterial activity against six species of Gram-positive and two species of Gram-negative bacteria in a range of 5–10 mg/mL based on the broth microdilution method. PMID:26785239

Lanthanides in soils of the Cherepovets steel mill impact zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ladonin, D. V.

2017-06-01

Contents of different lanthanide forms in soddy-calcareous soils at different distances from the Cherepovets steel mill (Vologda oblast) have been studied. Increased contents of Pr and Tb are found in soils near the pollution source. Less manifested increases in the contents of other lanthanides (from La to Gd) are also observed. Along with the increase in total content, technogenic pollution increases the content of acid-soluble lanthanides and affects their degree of extraction. The residual fraction strongly bound to aluminosilicates contains 80 to 95% of lanthanides. Soil processes result in the partial binding of lanthanides with organic matter (5-18% of their total content) and Fe and Mn (hydr)oxides (0.1-5% of the total content). The individual properties of lanthanides are clearly manifested in their interaction with these soil components. The highest share of the fraction bound to organic matter contains medium lanthanides, and the highest share of the fraction bound to Fe and Mn (hydr)oxides contains heavy lanthanides.

Assessing advertising content in a hospital advertising campaign: An application of Puto and Wells (1984) measure of informational and transformational advertising content.

PubMed

Menon, Mohan K; Goodnight, Janelle M; Wayne, Robin J

2006-01-01

The following is a report of a study designed to measure advertising content based on the cognitive and affective elements of informational (i.e., information processing) and transformational (i.e., experiential) content using the measure of advertising informational and transformational content developed by Puto and Wells (1984). A university hospital advertising campaign designed to be high in transformational content did not appear to affect perceived quality of local university hospitals relative to private hospitals or increase the likelihood of choosing a university hospital in the future. Further, experiences with university hospitals that seemed to be in direct contrast to the content of the advertisements based on subject perceptions affected how university hospital advertisements were perceived in terms of content. Conclusions and implications for hospital advertising campaigns are discussed.

Characterization of pH-sensitive hydrogels by conductimetry and calorimetry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sheppard, N.F. Jr.; Chen, Jey-Hsin; Lawson, H.C.

1993-12-31

The total and freezing water contents, and electrical conductivity of pH-sensitive hydrogels formed from poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate - co - dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) were measured as a function of copolymer composition and pH. For an 80/20 HEMA/DMAEMA gel (mole ratio), the water content increases from 37% at pH 10 of the bathing solution value at pH 10 to 90% at low pH. The difference between total and freezing water content in the gels is approximately 25%, consistent with values reported in the literature. An examination of the results in the context of the Yasuda free- volume model suggests that freezing water content,more » rather than total water content, may be suitable for modelling of hydrogel conductivity.« less

Fruit quality, anthocyanin and total phenolic contents, and antioxidant activities of 45 blueberry cultivars grown in Suwon, Korea.

PubMed

Kim, Jin Gook; Kim, Hong Lim; Kim, Su Jin; Park, Kyo-Sun

2013-09-01

Blueberry fruits from 45 commercial cultivars (39 northern highbush and 6 half highbush blueberry) grown in Suwon, Korea were analyzed for fruit size, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, total anthocyanin content, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity. Fruit characteristics varied widely among the 45 blueberry cultivars. Fruit weight ranged from 0.9 to 3.6 g, soluble solids content from 8.3 to 14.3 °Brix, and titratable acidity from 0.8% to 3.6%. Antioxidant activity ranged from 0.7 to 2.1 mg of quercetin equivalents per gram of fresh berries in different blueberry cultivars. Among the 45 blueberry cultivars, high amounts of anthocyanins and polyphenols, and high antioxidant activity were observed in 'Elliott', 'Rubel', 'Rancocas', and 'Friendship'.

How social media meet patients’ questions: YouTube™ review for children oral thrush.

PubMed

Di Stasio, D; Romano, A N; Paparella, R S; Gentile, C; Minervini, G; Serpico, R; Candotto, V; Laino, L

2018-01-01

YouTube™ is increasingly being used by patients to obtain health-related information. No studies have evaluated the content of YouTube™ videos on children oral thrush. The aim of this work is to examine the quality of information offered by this platform about oral thrush in children. Searching term “oral thrush in children” (OTC) displayed a total of 2.790 results. Of the top 60 videos analyzed, 27 were excluded. The main source of upload was from generalist information YouTube® channels (GC) followed by healthcare professionals (HP), individual users (IU), and healthcare information channels (HC); usefulness of videos is successfully correlated with the number of visualization, number of likes and viewing rate and was interdependent with the number of visualizations, number of likes and VR. However, videos on the oral thrush do not have satisfactory quality information. HP themselves, along with HC, do not seem to provide more appropriate information on COT, than GC or IU.

Phytochemical screening, total phenolic, total flavonoids contents and antioxidant activity of cinchona ledgeriana leaves ethanol extract

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sundowo, Andini; Artanti, Nina; Hanafi, M.; Minarti, Primahana, Gian

2017-11-01

C ledgeriana is a medicinal plant that contains alkaloids, especially on the barks for commercial production of quinine as antimalarial. The main alkaloids in this plant are cinchonine, cinchonidine, quinine and quinidine. Besides for antiamalarial this plant is also commonly used to treat whooping cough, influenza and dysentery. Compare to other medicinal plants, nowadays only very few studies were conducted in Cinchona species. Our current study aims to determine the content of phytochemical, total phenol and total flavonoids from C. ledgeriana leaves 70% ethanol extract. The extraction was performed by maceration method using 70% ethanol solvent and then fractionated into hexane, ethylacetate and butanol. Phytochemical screening was performed to determine the content of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins and saponins. Total phenol and flavonoid contents of the extract were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu and alumunium chloride colorimetric methods using gallic acid and quercetin as standards. The antioxidant activity was determined by using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. The results of phytochemical screening showed that the 70% ethanol extract of C. ledgeriana leaves contained alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins and saponins. The total phenol and total flavonoids analysis showed that ethyl acetate fraction had the highest total phenol (40.23%) and total flavonoids (65.34%).

Tidal cycles of total particulate mercury in the Jade Bay, lower Saxonian Wadden Sea, southern North Sea.

PubMed

Jin, Huafang; Liebezeit, Gerd

2013-01-01

In this study, we evaluate the nature of the relationship between particulate matter and total mercury concentrations. For this purpose, we estimate both of the two values in water column over 12-h tidal cycles of the Jade Bay, southern North Sea. Total particulate mercury in 250 mL water samples was determined by oxygen combustion-gold amalgamation. Mercury contents varied from 63 to 259 ng/g suspended particulate matter (SPM) or 3.5-52.8 ng/L in surface waters. Total particulate mercury content (THg(p)) was positively correlated with (SPM), indicating that mercury in tidal waters is mostly associated with (SPM), and that tidal variations of total particulate mercury are mainly due to changes in (SPM) content throughout the tidal cycle. Maximum values for THg(p) were observed during mid-flood and mid-ebb, while the lowest values were determined at low tide and high tide. These data suggest that there are no mercury point sources in the Jade Bay. Moreover, the THg(p) content at low tide and high tide were significantly lower than the values recorded in the bottom sediment of the sampling site (>200 ng/g DW), while THg(p) content during the mid-flood and mid-ebb were comparable to the THg content in the surface bottom sediments. Therefore, changes in THg(p) content in the water column due to tidal forcing may have resulted from re-suspension of underlying surface sediments with relatively high mercury content.

Effect of high hydrostatic pressure on phenolic compounds, ascorbic acid and antioxidant activity in cashew apple juice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Queiroz, C.; Moreira, C. F. F.; Lavinas, F. C.; Lopes, M. L. M.; Fialho, E.; Valente-Mesquita, V. L.

2010-12-01

The cashew apple is native to Brazil, but there is insufficient information regarding the nutritional properties of this fruit. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of high pressure processing (HPP) at room temperature (25 °C) on phenolic compound and ascorbic acid contents and antioxidant capacity of cashew apple juice. This study showed that HPP at 250 or 400 MPa for 3, 5 and 7 min did not change pH, acidity, total soluble solids, ascorbic acid or hydrolysable polyphenol contents. However, juice pressurized for 3 and 5 min showed higher soluble polyphenol contents. Antioxidant capacity, measured by the ferric-reducing antioxidant power method, was not altered by HPP, but when treated at 250 MPa for 3 min, it resulted in an increased value when 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl was used. These data demonstrate that HPP can be used in the food industry for the generation of products with higher nutritional quality.

Neural networks applied to discriminate botanical origin of honeys.

PubMed

Anjos, Ofélia; Iglesias, Carla; Peres, Fátima; Martínez, Javier; García, Ángela; Taboada, Javier

2015-05-15

The aim of this work is develop a tool based on neural networks to predict the botanical origin of honeys using physical and chemical parameters. The managed database consists of 49 honey samples of 2 different classes: monofloral (almond, holm oak, sweet chestnut, eucalyptus, orange, rosemary, lavender, strawberry trees, thyme, heather, sunflower) and multifloral. The moisture content, electrical conductivity, water activity, ashes content, pH, free acidity, colorimetric coordinates in CIELAB space (L(∗), a(∗), b(∗)) and total phenols content of the honey samples were evaluated. Those properties were considered as input variables of the predictive model. The neural network is optimised through several tests with different numbers of neurons in the hidden layer and also with different input variables. The reduced error rates (5%) allow us to conclude that the botanical origin of honey can be reliably and quickly known from the colorimetric information and the electrical conductivity of honey. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The story of landscape evolution in Lower Austria told by sedimentological analysis and luminescence dating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hofer, Ingo; Thiel, Christine; Terhorst, Birgit; Jaburova, Iva; Buylaert, Jan-Pieter; Murray, Andrew; Frechen, Manfred

2010-05-01

Loess/palaeosol sequences contain detailed information about palaeoenvironmental changes during the Quaternary. Furthermore, because of its long distance aeolian transport, which resets the luminescence signal to zero prior to deposition, loess is highly suitable for luminescence dating. This allows the determination of geodynamic processes with time. The loess deposits in the Kremser Feld (Lower Austria) are up to 30 m thick. The loess/paleosol sequence of Stratzing is situated at the eastern margin of the west-east elongated hill of the ‘Galgenberg'; this location is famous for its archaeological finds, e.g. the sculpture "Fanny", one of the oldest identifiable representations of the human figure (Neugebauer-Maresch, 1993). The loess profile examined here has a total depth of 7.5 m and is subdivided into 19 prominent horizons. For each horizon the grain size distribution, pH-value, total carbonate content, total organic content and sulphur content was derived in order to reconstruct the environmental conditions leading to sedimentation and soil formation. To set up a geochronological framework for the loess deposition and the subsequent soil formation, nine samples were dated by means of elevated temperature post-IR IRSL (Thiel et al., submitted). Besides a general discussion about the sedimentological data we will discuss horizon 18 in more detail; this is a paleosol rich in clay and poor in mineralic carbonate. The sulphur content is relatively high and indicates higher humidity and warmer climate, all making the unexpectedly low organic carbon content of particular interest. The luminescence ages reveal an important hiatus above this well-developed palaeosol (from ~ 100 to ~ at least 200 ka) clearly showing that this loess/palaeosol sequence is not a continuous record. This implies either significant erosion or lack of loess deposition in this area. Neugebauer-Maresch, C., 1993. Kunst und geistige Welt. - In: Neugebauer-Maresch, C., (ed): Altsteinzeit im Osten Österreichs. Wissenschaftliche Schriftenreihe Niederösterreich 95/96/97 (St. Pölten). Thiel, C., Buylaert, J. P., Terhorst, B., Murray, A. S., Hofer, I., Tsukamoto, S., Frechen, M., submitted. Luminescence dating of the Stratzing loess profile (Austria) - Testing the potential of an elevated temperature post-IR IRSL protocol. Quaternary International.

Phenolic content and antioxidant properties of seeds from different grape cultivars grown in Iran.

PubMed

Mirbagheri, Vasigheh Sadat; Alizadeh, Ebrahim; Yousef Elahi, Mostafa; Esmaeilzadeh Bahabadi, Sedigheh

2018-02-01

This study investigated the antioxidant activity and phenolic composition of seed extracts from three grape cultivars grown in Iran. Folin Ciocalteu method was used for the determination of the total phenolic contents and GC-MS was used for the analysis of phenolic compositions. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method was used to evaluate the antioxidant activity. The highest and the lowest total phenolic contents of seed extract were found in the black and green grape, respectively. The content of individual phenols such as Frulic acid, Gentistic acid, Syringic acid, (+) Catechin, Chlorogenic acid and (-)- Epicatchin gallate was cultivars dependent. The antioxidant activity of the seed extracts ranged from 34.03% (Green) to 53.63% (Black). Generally, the Black grape seed extract with the total phenolic content (3 ± 0.01 mg tannic acid/g DM), DPPH (53.63 ± 0.34%), IC 50 and AEAC (7.41 and 16.92 mg/mL) showed the highest level of total antioxidant capacity.

Total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, crude fibre and digestibility in non-traditional wheat flakes and muesli.

PubMed

Sumczynski, Daniela; Bubelova, Zuzana; Sneyd, Jan; Erb-Weber, Susanne; Mlcek, Jiri

2015-05-01

The five different types of muesli composed of non-traditional wheat flakes were prepared and analysed. Dickkopf wheat, red wheat, kamut and spelt were compared with commercial wheat flakes. Wheat flakes and muesli were assessed for basic analyses (dry matter, ash, protein, starch and fat content), total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant activity (ABTS and DPPH assays), crude fibre content and in vitro digestibility. Furthermore, sensory evaluation of muesli involving scale and ranking preference tests was provided. Flakes and muesli made from Dickkopf wheat and red wheat showed the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content and, consequently, the highest antioxidant activity. Moreover, these cereals were high in crude fibre and thus were less digestible. On the other hand, the lowest total phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity were determined in commercial flakes and muesli produced from these flakes. The flakes made from non-traditional wheat were sensorially comparable to commercial products. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Codified Hashtags for Weather Warning on Twitter: an Italian Case Study

PubMed Central

Grasso, Valentina; Crisci, Alfonso

2016-01-01

Introduction: During emergencies increasing numbers of messages are shared through social media platforms becoming a primary source of information for lay people and emergency managers. For Twitter codified hashtagging is emerging as a practical way to coordinate messages during emergencies and quickly identify relevant information. This paper considers a case study on the use of codified hashtags concerning weather warning in Italy in three different regions. Methods: From November 3rd to December 2nd 2014, tweets identified by the 3 codified hashtags #allertameteoTOS, #allertameteoLIG and #allertameteoPIE were retrieved, collecting a total of 35,558 tweets published by 7361 unique tweets authors, with the aim to assess if codified hashtags could represent an effective way to align formal and informal sources of information during weather related emergencies. An auxiliary R-package was built to lead the analytics used in this study. Authors performed a manual coding of users, hashtags and content of messages of all Twitter data considered. Results: Content analysis showed that tweets were overwhelmingly related to situational updates, with a high percentage containing geo-location information. Communication patterns of different user types were discussed for the three contexts. In accordance with previous studies, individuals showed an active participation primarily functioning as information hub during the emergency. Discussion: In the proposed cases codified hashtags have proven to be an effective tool to convey useful information on Twitter by formal and informal sources. Where institutions supported the use of the predefined hashtag in communication activities, like in Tuscany, messages were very focused, with more than 90% of tweets being situational updates. In this perspective, use of codified hashtags may potentially improve the performance of systems for automatic information retrieval and processing during disasters. Keywords: social media, emergency management, Twitter, severe weather PMID:27500010

Achieving the WHO sodium target: estimation of reductions required in the sodium content of packaged foods and other sources of dietary sodium.

PubMed

Eyles, Helen; Shields, Emma; Webster, Jacqui; Ni Mhurchu, Cliona

2016-08-01

Excess sodium intake is one of the top 2 dietary risk factors contributing to the global burden of disease. As such, many countries are now developing national sodium reduction strategies, a key component of which is a sodium reduction model that includes sodium targets for packaged foods and other sources of dietary sodium. We sought to develop a sodium reduction model to determine the reductions required in the sodium content of packaged foods and other dietary sources of sodium to reduce adult population salt intake by ∼30% toward the optimal WHO target of 5 g/d. Nationally representative household food-purchasing data for New Zealand were linked with branded food composition information to determine the mean contribution of major packaged food categories to total population sodium consumption. Discretionary salt use and the contribution of sodium from fresh foods and foods consumed away from the home were estimated with the use of national nutrition survey data. Reductions required in the sodium content of packaged foods and other dietary sources of sodium to achieve a 30% reduction in dietary sodium intakes were estimated. A 36% reduction (1.6 g salt or 628 mg Na) in the sodium content of packaged foods in conjunction with a 40% reduction in discretionary salt use and the sodium content of foods consumed away from the home would reduce total population salt intake in New Zealand by 35% (from 8.4 to 5.5 g/d) and thus meet the WHO 2025 30% relative reduction target. Key reductions required include a decrease of 21% in the sodium content of white bread, 27% for hard cheese, 42% for sausages, and 54% for ready-to-eat breakfast cereals. Achieving the WHO sodium target in New Zealand will take considerable efforts by both food manufacturers and consumers and will likely require a national government-led sodium reduction strategy. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Flavonoid and lignan intake in a Mediterranean population: proposal for a holistic approach in polyphenol dietary analysis, the Moli-sani Study.

PubMed

Pounis, G; Di Castelnuovo, A; Bonaccio, M; Costanzo, S; Persichillo, M; Krogh, V; Donati, M B; de Gaetano, G; Iacoviello, L

2016-03-01

The objective of this study is to extract and assess data on the dietary intake of flavonoids and lignans in a healthy free-living Mediterranean population, using newly updated harmonized European Union food composition data. This work also aimed at analyzing in a holistic way the total content of the diet in major classes of polyphenols. Six thousand nine hundred and eighty-one men and 7048 women (aged ⩾ 35 years) of the Moli-sani cohort, randomly recruited from the general population, were analyzed. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) and Nutrition-Food Frequency Questionnaire was used for dietary assessment. The polyphenol content of each food group was evaluated using Eurofir BioActive Substances in Food Information System and the United States Department of Agriculture food composition tables (FCTs), when data were missing. Flavonol, flavone, flavanone, flavanol, anthocyanin, isoflavone and lignan intakes were calculated and polyphenol antioxidant content (PAC) score (-28, 28) constructed, to assess the total content of the diet in these nutrients. Seasonal and citrus fruits, leafy, grain, pod and root vegetables, and onions and garlic accounted for different proportions (11-70%) of the total intake of different polyphenols. Within the Moli-sani population, men or older, or no/former smokers, or physically active or obese/overweight individuals presented higher consumption of flavonoids, lignans and PAC score (P for all <0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed that PAC score and its seven components were positively associated with Mediterranean diet (MeD) adherence in both genders (β-coefficient >0, P<0.001). In addition, 1 unit increase in PAC score was associated with 7.1-7.8% increase in the likelihood of high MeD adherence (P<0.001). The intake of flavonoids and lignans in an European Union population was calculated using harmonized European Union FCT data. In addition, a holistic approach in dietary analysis of polyphenol intake was proposed.

Two-dimensional imaging of gas temperature and concentration based on hyperspectral tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Ming-yuan; Jin, Xing; Wang, Guang-yu; Song, Junling

2016-10-01

Two-dimensional imaging of gas temperature and concentration is realized by hyperspectral tomography, which has the characteristics of using multi-wavelengths absorption spectral information, so that the imaging could be accomplished in a small number of projections and viewing angles. A temperature and concentration model is established to simulate the combustion conditions and a total number of 10 near-infrared absorption spectral information of H2O is used. An improved simulated annealing algorithm by adjusting search step is performed the main search algorithm for the tomography. By adding random errors into the absorption area information, the stability of the algorithm is tested, and the results are compared with the reconstructions provided by algebraic reconstruction technique which takes advantage of 2 spectral information contents in imaging. The results show that the two methods perform equivalent in low-level noise environment, but at high-level, hyperspectral tomography turns out to be more stable.

Microstructural modifications induced by accelerated aging and lipid absorption in remelted and annealed UHMWPEs for total hip arthroplasty

PubMed Central

Puppulin, Leonardo; Zhu, Wenliang; Sugano, Nobuhiko

2014-01-01

Three types of commercially available ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) acetabular cups currently used in total hip arthroplasty have been studied by means of Raman micro-spectroscopy to unfold the microstructural modification induced by the oxidative degradation after accelerated aging with and without lipid absorption. The three investigated materials were produced by three different manufacturing procedures, as follows: irradiation followed by remelting, one-step irradiation followed by annealing, 3-step irradiation and annealing. Clear microstructural differences were observed in terms of phase contents (i.e. amorphous, crystalline and intermediate phase fraction). The three-step annealed material showed the highest crystallinity fraction in the bulk, while the remelted polyethylene is clearly characterized by the lowest content of crystalline phase and the highest content of amorphous phase. After accelerated aging either with or without lipids, the amount of amorphous phase decreased in all the samples as a consequence of the oxidation-induced recrystallization. The most remarkable variations of phase contents were detected in the remelted and in the single-step annealed materials. The presence of lipids triggered oxidative degradation especially in the remelted polyethylene. Such experimental evidence might be explained by the highest amount of amorphous phase in which lipids can be absorbed prior to accelerated aging. The results of these spectroscopic characterizations help to rationalize the complex effect of different irradiation and post-irradiation treatments on the UHMWPE microstructure and gives useful information on how significantly any single step of the manufacturing procedures might affect the oxidative degradation of the polymer. PMID:25179830

Gingival crevicular fluid protein content and alkaline phosphatase activity in relation to pubertal growth phase.

PubMed

Perinetti, Giuseppe; Franchi, Lorenzo; Castaldo, Attilio; Contardo, Luca

2012-11-01

To evaluate gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) protein content and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in growing subjects in relation to stages of skeletal maturation, ie, the growth phase, as prepubertal, pubertal, and postpubertal. Fifty healthy growing subjects (31 girls and 19 boys; age range, 7.8-17.7 years) were enrolled in this study that followed a double-blind, prospective, cross-sectional design. Collection of GCF was performed at the mesial and distal sites of both central incisors, for the maxilla and mandible. Growth phase was assessed through the cervical vertebral maturation method. GCF parameters were expressed as total protein content, total ALP activity, and normalized ALP activity. The total GCF protein content was similar between the different growth phases. On the contrary, the total ALP activity showed a peak for the pubertal growth phase. The normalized GCF ALP activity was only poorly associated with growth phase. No differences were seen between the maxillary and mandibular sites, or between the sexes, for any GCF parameter. The total GCF protein content is not sensitive to the growth phase. However, GCF ALP activity has potential as a diagnostic aid for identification of the pubertal growth phase in individual subjects when expressed as total, but not normalized, values.

Overview of classical test theory and item response theory for the quantitative assessment of items in developing patient-reported outcomes measures.

PubMed

Cappelleri, Joseph C; Jason Lundy, J; Hays, Ron D

2014-05-01

The US Food and Drug Administration's guidance for industry document on patient-reported outcomes (PRO) defines content validity as "the extent to which the instrument measures the concept of interest" (FDA, 2009, p. 12). According to Strauss and Smith (2009), construct validity "is now generally viewed as a unifying form of validity for psychological measurements, subsuming both content and criterion validity" (p. 7). Hence, both qualitative and quantitative information are essential in evaluating the validity of measures. We review classical test theory and item response theory (IRT) approaches to evaluating PRO measures, including frequency of responses to each category of the items in a multi-item scale, the distribution of scale scores, floor and ceiling effects, the relationship between item response options and the total score, and the extent to which hypothesized "difficulty" (severity) order of items is represented by observed responses. If a researcher has few qualitative data and wants to get preliminary information about the content validity of the instrument, then descriptive assessments using classical test theory should be the first step. As the sample size grows during subsequent stages of instrument development, confidence in the numerical estimates from Rasch and other IRT models (as well as those of classical test theory) would also grow. Classical test theory and IRT can be useful in providing a quantitative assessment of items and scales during the content-validity phase of PRO-measure development. Depending on the particular type of measure and the specific circumstances, the classical test theory and/or the IRT should be considered to help maximize the content validity of PRO measures. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier HS Journals, Inc. All rights reserved.

Towards a better understanding of the nomenclature used in information-packaging efforts to support evidence-informed policymaking in low- and middle-income countries

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The growing recognition of the importance of concisely communicating research evidence and other policy-relevant information to policymakers has underpinned the development of several information-packaging efforts over the past decade. This has led to a wide variability in the types of documents produced, which is at best confusing and at worst discouraging for those they intend to reach. This paper has two main objectives: to develop a better understanding of the range of documents and document names used by the organizations preparing them; and to assess whether there are any consistencies in the characteristics of sampled documents across the names employed to label (in the title) or describe (in the document or website) them. Methods We undertook a documentary analysis of web-published document series that are prepared by a variety of organizations with the primary intention of providing information to health systems policymakers and stakeholders, and addressing questions related to health policy and health systems with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. No time limit was set. Results In total, 109 individual documents from 24 series produced by 16 different organizations were included. The name ‘policy brief/briefing’ was the most frequently used (39%) to label or describe a document, and was used in all eight broad content areas that we identified, even though they did not have obviously common traits among them. In terms of document characteristics, most documents (90%) used skimmable formats that are easy to read, with understandable, jargon-free, language (80%). Availability of information on the methods (47%) or the quality of the presented evidence (27%) was less common. One-third (32%) chose the topic based on an explicit process to assess the demand for information from policy makers and even fewer (19%) engaged with policymakers to discuss the content of these documents such as through merit review. Conclusions This study highlights the need for organizations embarking on future information-packaging efforts to be more thoughtful when deciding how to name these documents and the need for greater transparency in describing their content, purpose and intended audience. PMID:24889015

Total Phenolic, Phenolic Acid, Anthocyanin, Flavan-3-ol, and Flavonol Profiles and Antioxidant Properties of Pinto and Black Beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) as Affected by Thermal Processing.

PubMed

Xu, Baojun; Chang, Sam K C

2009-06-10

The effects of boiling and steaming processes at atmospheric and high pressures on the phenolic components and antioxidant properties of pinto and black beans were investigated. In comparison to the original raw beans, all processing methods caused significant (p < 0.05) decreases in total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), condensed tannin content (CTC), monomeric anthocyanin content (MAC), DPPH free-radical scavenging activity (DPPH), ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and oxygen radical absorbing capacity (ORAC) values in both pinto and black beans. Steaming processing resulted in a greater retention of TPC, DPPH, FRAP, and ORAC values than the boiling processes in both pinto and black beans. To further investigate how thermal processing affected phenolic compositions and to elucidate the contribution of individual phenolic compounds to antioxidant properties, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols were quantitatively analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). All thermal processing significantly (p < 0.05) affected individual phenolic acids, anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols, significantly (p < 0.05) reduced total phenolic acid contents in both pinto and black beans and total flavonol contents in pinto beans, and dramatically reduced anthocyanin contents in black beans. Phenolic acids and flavonols may play important roles on the overall antioxidant activities of pinto beans, while anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols may play important roles on the overall antioxidant activities of black beans.

Variability of the caprine whey protein genes and their association with milk yield, composition and renneting properties in the Sarda breed: 2. The BLG gene.

PubMed

Dettori, Maria Luisa; Pazzola, Michele; Pira, Emanuela; Puggioni, Ornella; Vacca, Giuseppe Massimo

2015-11-01

The variability of the promoter region and the 3'UTR (exon-7) of the BLG gene, encoding the β-lactoglobulin, was investigated by sequencing in 263 lactating Sarda goats in order to assess its association with milk traits. Milk traits included: milk yield, fat, total protein and lactose content, pH, daily fat and protein yield (DFPY), freezing point, milk energy, somatic cell count, total microbial mesophilic count, rennet coagulation time (RCT), curd firming rate (k20) and curd firmness (a30). A total of 7 polymorphic sites were detected and the sequence analysed was given accession number KM817769. Only three SNPs (c.-381C>T, c.-323C>T and c.*420C>A) had minor allele frequency higher than 0.05. The effects of farm, stage of lactation and the interaction farm × stage of lactation significantly influenced all the milk traits (P T and c.*420C>A (P T (P < 0.001). The c.-381TT homozygous goats showed lower pH, RCT and k20 than c.-381CT (P < 0.05). In conclusion the polymorphism of the goat BLG gene did not affect the total protein content of the Sarda goat milk, and only weakly influenced RCT and k20. On the other hand, an interesting effect on milk yields and DFPY emerged in two SNPs. This information might be useful in dairy goat breeding programs.

Quantification of tocopherols, tocotrienols, and γ-oryzanol contents and their distribution in some commercial rice varieties in Taiwan.

PubMed

Huang, Shao-Hua; Ng, Lean-Teik

2011-10-26

The eight vitamin E isomers [α-, β-, γ-, and δ-tocopherols (T) and α-, β-, γ-, and δ-tocotrienols (T3)] and γ-oryzanol are known to possess diverse biological activities. This study examined the contents of these compounds and their distribution in 16 commercial rice varieties in Taiwan. Results showed that the order of vitamin E, total T, total T3, and γ-oryzanol contents was rice bran > brown rice > rice husk > polished rice. γ-T3 was the highest vitamin E isomer present in all rice samples, while β-T, β-T3, δ-T, and δ-T3 were present in trace amounts. The Japonica varieties contained a higher total T, total T3, and γ-oryzanol than the Indica varieties. They also have a higher level of α-T and α-T3 but a lower level of γ-T and γ-T3 than the Indica varieties. However, no obvious difference in total T, total T3, and γ-oryzanol content was noted between black- and red-colored rice varieties.

Effect of processing on phenolic acids composition and radical scavenging capacity of barley pasta.

PubMed

De Paula, Rosanna; Rabalski, Iwona; Messia, Maria Cristina; Abdel-Aal, El-Sayed M; Marconi, Emanuele

2017-12-01

Phenolic acids, total phenolics content and DPPH radical scavenging capacity in raw ingredients, fresh and dried spaghetti, and in uncooked and cooked spaghetti were evaluated and compared with semolina spaghetti as a reference. Ferulic acid was the major phenolic acid found in the free and bound phenolic extracts in all the investigated pasta samples. The addition of barley flour into pasta at incorporation levels of 30, 50 and 100% increased phenolic acids and total phenolics content. Pasta processing did not significantly affect the total phenolics content and free radical scavenging capacity, but a significant reduction in total phenolic acids measured by HPLC was found. Drying process differently affected individual phenolic compounds in the free and bound fractions, and thus, the total phenolic acids content. Free vanillic, caffeic and p-coumaric acids did not significantly change, while p-hydroxybenzoic and ferulic acids of the free extracts showed higher values compared to the corresponding fresh pasta. Cooking did not greatly affect total phenolic acids, more leading to conserving free and bound phenolic compounds. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mobile Health to Maintain Continuity of Patient-Centered Care for Chronic Kidney Disease: Content Analysis of Apps.

PubMed

Lee, Ying-Li; Cui, Yan-Yan; Tu, Ming-Hsiang; Chen, Yu-Chi; Chang, Polun

2018-04-20

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health problem with a high economic burden, which is particularly prevalent in Taiwan. Mobile health apps have been widely used to maintain continuity of patient care for various chronic diseases. To slow the progression of CKD, continuity of care is vital for patients' self-management and cooperation with health care professionals. However, the literature provides a limited understanding of the use of mobile health apps to maintain continuity of patient-centered care for CKD. This study identified apps related to the continuity of patient-centered care for CKD on the App Store, Google Play, and 360 Mobile Assistant, and explored the information and frequency of changes in these apps available to the public on different platforms. App functionalities, like patient self-management and patient management support for health care professionals, were also examined. We used the CKD-related keywords "kidney," "renal," "nephro," "chronic kidney disease," "CKD," and "kidney disease" in traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, and English to search 3 app platforms: App Store, Google Play, and 360 Mobile Assistant. A total of 2 reviewers reached consensus on coding guidelines and coded the contents and functionalities of the apps through content analysis. After coding, Microsoft Office Excel 2016 was used to calculate Cohen kappa coefficients and analyze the contents and functionalities of the apps. A total of 177 apps related to patient-centered care for CKD in any language were included. On the basis of their functionality and content, 67 apps were recommended for patients. Among them, the most common functionalities were CKD information and CKD self-management (38/67, 57%), e-consultation (17/67, 25%), CKD nutrition education (16/67, 24%), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) calculators (13/67, 19%). In addition, 67 apps were recommended for health care professionals. The most common functionalities of these apps were comprehensive clinical calculators (including eGFR; 30/67; 45%), CKD medical professional information (16/67, 24%), stand-alone eGFR calculators (14/67, 21%), and CKD clinical decision support (14/67, 21%). A total of 43 apps with single- or multiple-indicator calculators were found to be suitable for health care professionals and patients. The aspects of patient care apps intended to support self-management of CKD patients were encouraging patients to actively participate in health care (92/110, 83.6%), recognizing and effectively responding to symptoms (56/110, 50.9%), and disease-specific knowledge (53/110, 48.2%). Only 13 apps contained consulting management functions, patient management functions or teleconsultation functions designed to support health care professionals in CKD patient management. This study revealed that the continuity of patient-centered care for CKD provided by mobile health apps is inadequate for both CKD self-management by patients and patient care support for health care professionals. More comprehensive solutions are required to enhance the continuity of patient-centered care for CKD. ©Ying-Li Lee, Yan-Yan Cui, Ming-Hsiang Tu, Yu-Chi Chen, Polun Chang. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 20.04.2018.

Mobile Health to Maintain Continuity of Patient-Centered Care for Chronic Kidney Disease: Content Analysis of Apps

PubMed Central

Lee, Ying-Li; Cui, Yan-Yan; Tu, Ming-Hsiang; Chen, Yu-Chi

2018-01-01

Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health problem with a high economic burden, which is particularly prevalent in Taiwan. Mobile health apps have been widely used to maintain continuity of patient care for various chronic diseases. To slow the progression of CKD, continuity of care is vital for patients’ self-management and cooperation with health care professionals. However, the literature provides a limited understanding of the use of mobile health apps to maintain continuity of patient-centered care for CKD. Objective This study identified apps related to the continuity of patient-centered care for CKD on the App Store, Google Play, and 360 Mobile Assistant, and explored the information and frequency of changes in these apps available to the public on different platforms. App functionalities, like patient self-management and patient management support for health care professionals, were also examined. Methods We used the CKD-related keywords “kidney,” “renal,” “nephro,” “chronic kidney disease,” “CKD,” and “kidney disease” in traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, and English to search 3 app platforms: App Store, Google Play, and 360 Mobile Assistant. A total of 2 reviewers reached consensus on coding guidelines and coded the contents and functionalities of the apps through content analysis. After coding, Microsoft Office Excel 2016 was used to calculate Cohen kappa coefficients and analyze the contents and functionalities of the apps. Results A total of 177 apps related to patient-centered care for CKD in any language were included. On the basis of their functionality and content, 67 apps were recommended for patients. Among them, the most common functionalities were CKD information and CKD self-management (38/67, 57%), e-consultation (17/67, 25%), CKD nutrition education (16/67, 24%), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) calculators (13/67, 19%). In addition, 67 apps were recommended for health care professionals. The most common functionalities of these apps were comprehensive clinical calculators (including eGFR; 30/67; 45%), CKD medical professional information (16/67, 24%), stand-alone eGFR calculators (14/67, 21%), and CKD clinical decision support (14/67, 21%). A total of 43 apps with single- or multiple-indicator calculators were found to be suitable for health care professionals and patients. The aspects of patient care apps intended to support self-management of CKD patients were encouraging patients to actively participate in health care (92/110, 83.6%), recognizing and effectively responding to symptoms (56/110, 50.9%), and disease-specific knowledge (53/110, 48.2%). Only 13 apps contained consulting management functions, patient management functions or teleconsultation functions designed to support health care professionals in CKD patient management. Conclusions This study revealed that the continuity of patient-centered care for CKD provided by mobile health apps is inadequate for both CKD self-management by patients and patient care support for health care professionals. More comprehensive solutions are required to enhance the continuity of patient-centered care for CKD. PMID:29678805

[Effects of nitrogen application levels on yield and active composition content of Desmodium styracifolium].

PubMed

Zhou, Jiamin; Yin, Xiaohong; Chen, Chaojun; Huang, Min; Peng, Fuyuan; Zhu, Xiaoqi

2010-06-01

To find out the optimal nitrogen application level of Desmodium styracifolium. A field experiment using randomized block design was carried out to study the effects of 5 nitrogen application levels (150, 187.5, 225.0, 262.5 and 300.0 kg x hm(-2)) on yield and active component content of D. styracifolium. Nitrogen application could increase the yield and contents of polysaccharide, total flavonoides and total saponins of D. styracifolium. However, the enhancing extent of the active component content and the yield were not always significant with the increase of nitrogen level. In which, the yield were not significantly different among the nitrogen application levels of 225.0, 262.5, 300.0 kg x hm(-2) the polysaccharide content was no significantly difference among the nitrogen application levels of 225.0, 262. 5 and 300.0 kg x hm(-2), the total flavonoides content under the nitrogen level of 300.0 kg x hm(-2) was significantly lower than that of 150.0 kg hm(-2) (P < 0.01), and the total saponins content under the nitrogen level of 300.0 kg x hm(-2) was no significant difference compared with that of 262.5 kg x hm(-2). The optimal nitrogen application level of D. styracifolium was 225.0-262.5 kg x hm(-2).

Carotenoids, vitamins (A, B2, C and E) and total folate of traditional foods from Black Sea Area countries.

PubMed

Sanches-Silva, Ana; Albuquerque, Tânia G; Finglas, Paul; Ribeiro, Tiago; Valente, Ana; Vasilopoulou, Effie; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Alexieva, Iordanka; Boyko, Nadiya; Costea, Cármen-Eugenia; Hayran, Osman; Jorjadze, Mariam; Kaprelyants, Leonid; Karpenko, Dmitry; D'Antuono, L Filippo; Costa, Helena S

2013-11-01

Carotenoids, vitamins (A, B2, C and E) and total folate are related to health promotion. However, there are still many food matrices for which the content of these compounds is not available. In order to fill this gap, traditional foods from Black Sea Area countries (BSAC) were analysed in order to investigate their potential health benefits. The most abundant carotenoid was β-carotene. Plum jam was the sample with the highest β-carotene content (608 µg 100 g(-1) edible portion). The group of vegetables and vegetable-based foods contributed most to β-carotene content. Evergreen cherry laurel presented the highest l-ascorbic acid content (29.9 mg 100 g(-1) edible portion), while the highest riboflavin and total folate contents were found for roasted sunflower seeds. Approximately 61% of the analysed samples showed quantifiable amounts of α-tocopherol but did not contain retinol. Despite the great variability in the content of carotenoids, vitamins and total folate, most of the analysed traditional foods from BSAC can be considered good sources of these compounds. Therefore, owing to their putative health benefits, the consumption of those with higher contents of these compounds should be encouraged and promoted. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Evaluation of antioxidant capacity and phenol content in jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) fruit pulp.

PubMed

Jagtap, Umesh B; Panaskar, Shrimant N; Bapat, V A

2010-06-01

The antioxidant capacity of jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. Fam. Moracae) fruit pulp (JFP) obtained from Western Ghats India was determined by evaluating the scavenging activity using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing power assays and N, N-dimethyl-p-phenylendiamine (DMPD) radical cation decolorization assay. JFP was analyzed for total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoids content (TFC). The ethanol and water are the best solvents for the extracting phenols and flavonoids from the JFP. The antioxidant activities of JFP extracts were correlated with the total phenolic and flavonoids content. The results indicated that the jackfruit pulp is one natural source of antioxidant compounds.

A new strategy for umbilical cord blood collection developed at the first Colombian public cord blood bank increases total nucleated cell content.

PubMed

Vanegas, Diana; Triviño, Lady; Galindo, Cristian; Franco, Leidy; Salguero, Gustavo; Camacho, Bernardo; Perdomo-Arciniegas, Ana-María

2017-09-01

The total nucleated cell dosage of umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an important factor in determining successful allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation after a minimum human leukocyte antigen donor-recipient match. The northern South American population is in need of a new-generation cord blood bank that cryopreserves only units with high total nucleated cell content, thereby increasing the likelihood of use. Colombia set up a public cord blood bank in 2014; and, as a result of its research for improving high total nucleated cell content, a new strategy for UCB collection was developed. Data from 2933 collected and 759 cryopreserved cord blood units between 2014 and 2015 were analyzed. The correlation of donor and collection variables with cellularity was evaluated. Moreover, blood volume, cell content, CD34+ count, clonogenic capacity, and microbial contamination were assessed comparing the new method, which combines in utero and ex utero techniques, with the conventional strategies. Multivariate analysis confirmed a correlation between neonatal birth weight and cell content. The new collection method increased total nucleated cell content in approximately 26% and did not alter pre-cryopreservation and post-thaw cell recovery, viability, or clonogenic ability. Furthermore, it showed a remarkably low microbial contamination rate (1.2%). The strategy for UCB collection developed at the first Colombian public cord blood bank increases total nucleated cell content and does not affect unit quality. The existence of this bank is a remarkable breakthrough for Latin-American patients in need of this kind of transplantation. © 2017 The Authors Transfusion published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of AABB.

Polyphenol content and antioxidant activity of fourteen wild edible fruits from Burkina Faso.

PubMed

Lamien-Meda, Aline; Lamien, Charles Euloge; Compaoré, Moussa M Y; Meda, Roland N T; Kiendrebeogo, Martin; Zeba, Boukare; Millogo, Jeanne F; Nacoulma, Odile G

2008-03-06

A total of fourteen (14) species of wild edible fruits from Burkina Faso were analyzed for their phenolic and flavonoid contents, and their antioxidant activities using the DPPH, FRAP and ABTS methods. The data obtained show that the total phenolic and total flavonoid levels were significantly higher in the acetone than in the methanol extracts.Detarium microcarpum fruit had the highest phenolic and the highest flavonoid content,followed by that of Adansonia digitata, Ziziphus mauritiana, Ximenia americana and Lannea microcarpa. Significant amounts of total phenolics were also detected in the other fruit species in the following order of decreasing levels: Tamarindus indica > Sclerocaryabirrea > Dialium guineense > Gardenia erubescens > Diospyros mespiliformis > Parkiabiglobosa > Ficus sycomorus > Vitellaria paradoxa. Detarium microcarpum fruit also showed the highest antioxidant activity using the three antioxidant assays. Fruits with high antioxidant activities were also found to possess high phenolic and flavonoid contents. There was a strong correlation between total phenolic and flavonoid levels and antioxidant activities.

Students' Attitudes to Information in the Press: Critical Reading of a Newspaper Article With Scientific Content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveras, B.; Márquez, C.; Sanmartí, N.

2014-08-01

This research analyses what happens when a critical reading activity based on a press article dealing with an energy-related problem is implemented with two groups of students of 13-14 years old and 16-17 years old in the same school (a total of 117 students). Specifically, the research analyses the students' profiles from the standpoint of their attitudes to the information given in the news story and the use they make of it when writing an argumentative text. It also analyses the difficulties the students have when it comes to applying their knowledge about energy in a real-life context. Lastly, some strategies are suggested for helping students to critically analyse the scientific content of a newspaper article. Three reader profiles were identified (the credulous reader, the ideological reader and the critical reader). No significant differences were found in reading profiles in terms of age or scientific knowledge. The findings show that the activity helped to link science learning in school with facts relating to an actual context, particularly in the case of students with more science knowledge.

Pollen preservation and Quaternary environmental history in the southeastern United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Delcourt, P.A.; Delcourt, H.R.

Reconstructions of Quaternary environmental history based upon modern pollen/vegetation/climate calibrations are more tenable if the factors responsible for variation in pollen assemblages are evaluated. Examination of the state of preservation of Quaternary palynomorphs provides quantitative data concerning the degree of information loss due to alteration of pollen assemblages by syndepositional and post-depositional deterioration. The percentage, concentration, and influx values for total indeterminable pollen are useful criteria in providing an objective and quantitative basis for evaluating the comparability of pollen spectra within and between sites. Supporting data concerning sediment particle-size distribution, organic matter content, and concentration, influx, and taxonomic composition ofmore » both determinable pollen and plant macrofossils aid in reconstructing past depositional environments. The potential is high for deterioration of pollen in sediments from the southeastern United States, although considerable variation is found in both kind and degree of deterioration between lacustrine and alluvial sites of different ages and in different latitudes. Modern analogs are a basis for late Quaternary environmental reconstructions when pollen deterioration has not significantly biased the information content of fossil pollen assemblages.« less

Comparative 454 pyrosequencing of transcripts from two olive genotypes during fruit development

PubMed Central

Alagna, Fiammetta; D'Agostino, Nunzio; Torchia, Laura; Servili, Maurizio; Rao, Rosa; Pietrella, Marco; Giuliano, Giovanni; Chiusano, Maria Luisa; Baldoni, Luciana; Perrotta, Gaetano

2009-01-01

Background Despite its primary economic importance, genomic information on olive tree is still lacking. 454 pyrosequencing was used to enrich the very few sequence data currently available for the Olea europaea species and to identify genes involved in expression of fruit quality traits. Results Fruits of Coratina, a widely cultivated variety characterized by a very high phenolic content, and Tendellone, an oleuropein-lacking natural variant, were used as starting material for monitoring the transcriptome. Four different cDNA libraries were sequenced, respectively at the beginning and at the end of drupe development. A total of 261,485 reads were obtained, for an output of about 58 Mb. Raw sequence data were processed using a four step pipeline procedure and data were stored in a relational database with a web interface. Conclusion Massively parallel sequencing of different fruit cDNA collections has provided large scale information about the structure and putative function of gene transcripts accumulated during fruit development. Comparative transcript profiling allowed the identification of differentially expressed genes with potential relevance in regulating the fruit metabolism and phenolic content during ripening. PMID:19709400

Use of fibre-optic endoscopes in studies of gastric digestion in carnivorous vertebrates.

PubMed

Jackson, S; Cooper, J

1988-01-01

1. Two methods of assessing gastric digestion rates of three prey types fed to Sooty albatrosses Phoebetria fusca were compared: removal of stomach contents, using a water-flushing stomach pump (a technique used commonly in diet studies), and inspection using a fibre-optic gastroscope (a previously unused technique). 2. The stomach pump yielded quantitative information, but proved stressful and resulted in incomplete recovery of meals ingested 3-6 hr before pumping. Gastric morphology of the animals studied and digestion state of their stomach contents may influence the effectiveness of this technique. 3. Inspection using the gastroscope yielded qualitative information only but permitted serial inspection of the same animal, and was less stressful than the stomach pump. Times for total evacuation of the stomach were 6-12 hr less when estimated using the gastroscope than when using the stomach pump. 4. The specifications of endoscopes relevant to their use by biologists are given. 5. Previous non-medical biological uses of endoscopes are given. Potential uses include underwater observations, sampling of digestive juices and stomach linings for enzyme analyses, observations of ingested prey, and assessment of parasite infestation.

H2 16O line list for the study of atmospheres of Venus and Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavrentieva, N. N.; Voronin, B. A.; Fedorova, A. A.

2015-01-01

IR spectroscopy is an important method of remote measurement of H2 16O content in planetary atmospheres with initial spectroscopic information from the HITRAN, GEISA, etc., databases adapted for studies in the Earth's atmosphere. Unlike the Earth, the atmospheres of Mars and Venus mainly consist of carbon dioxide with a CO2 content of about 95%. In this paper, the line list of H2 16O is obtained on the basis of the BT2 line list (R.J. Barber, J. Tennyson, G.J. Harris, et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 368, 1087 (2006)). The BT2 line list containing information on the centers, intensities, and quantum identification of lines is supplemented with the line contour parameters: the self-broadening and carbon dioxide broadening coefficients and the temperature dependence coefficient at 296 K in the range of 0.001-30000 cm-1. Transitions with intensity values 10-30, 10-32, and 10-35 cm/molecule, the total number of which is 323310, 753529, and 2011072, respectively, were chosen from the BT2 line list.

Content and Quality of Information Provided on Canadian Dementia Websites

PubMed Central

Dillon, Whitney A.; Prorok, Jeanette C.; Seitz, Dallas P.

2013-01-01

Purpose Information about dementia is important for persons with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers and the Internet has become the key source of health information. We reviewed the content and quality of information provided on Canadian websites for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods We used the terms “dementia” and “Alzheimer” in Google to identify Canadian dementia websites. The contents of websites were compared to 16 guideline recommendations provided in Canadian Consensus Conference on Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia. The quality of information provided on websites was evaluated using the DISCERN instrument. The content and quality of information provided on selected websites were then described. Results Seven websites were identified, three of which provided relatively comprehensive and high-quality information on dementia. Websites frequently provided information about diagnosis of dementia, its natural course, and types of dementia, while other topics were less commonly addressed. The quality of information provided on the websites varied, and many websites had several areas where the quality of information provided was relatively low according to the DISCERN instrument. Conclusions There is variation in the content and quality of dementia websites, although some websites provide high-quality and relatively comprehensive information which would serve as a useful resource for PWD, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Improvements in the content and quality of information provided on AD websites would provide PWD and their caregivers with access to better information. PMID:23440180

Comparative analysis of microsatellites in five different antagonistic Trichoderma species for diversity assessment.

PubMed

Rai, Shalini; Kashyap, Prem Lal; Kumar, Sudheer; Srivastava, Alok Kumar; Ramteke, Pramod W

2016-01-01

Microsatellites provide an ideal molecular markers system to screen, characterize and evaluate genetic diversity of several fungal species. Currently, there is very limited information on the genetic diversity of antagonistic Trichoderma species as determined using a range of molecular markers. In this study, expressed and whole genome sequences available in public database were used to investigate the occurrence, relative abundance and relative density of SSRs in five different antagonistic Trichoderma species: Trichoderma atroviride, T. harzianum, T. reesei, T. virens and T. asperellum. Fifteen SSRs loci were used to evaluate genetic diversity of twenty isolates of Trichoderma spp. from different geographical regions of India. Results indicated that relative abundance and relative density of SSRs were higher in T. asperellum followed by T. reesei and T. atroviride. Tri-nucleotide repeats (80.2%) were invariably the most abundant in all species. The abundance and relative density of SSRs were not influenced by the genome sizes and GC content. Out of eighteen primer sets, only 15 primer pairs showed successful amplification in all the test species. A total of 24 alleles were detected and five loci were highly informative with polymorphism information content values greater than 0.40, these markers provide useful information on genetic diversity and population genetic structure, which, in turn, can exploit for establishing conservation strategy for antagonistic Trichoderma isolates.

Potential and real ecological threat of heavy metals in contaminated soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motuzova, Galina; Barsova, Natalia; Makarichev, Ivan; Karpova, Elena

2013-04-01

Introduction. Microelements or heavy metals (HM) occur in nature and are required for living organisms at low concentrations. High content of HM in soils characterize their potential danger for ecosystem. Their real ecological threat is presented by the mobility of HM in soils. The aim of this work was to characterize the potential and real danger of HM on the basis of HM mobility in soils and their influence of the most important soils properties. Materials and methods. Two types of materials are presented in this paper. The first ones are presented by the summarized information about the content of Cu, Zn, Mn and their mobile species in the soils of Russia and are included into the National Atlas of Russian soils (2011). The second part is presented by the results of laboratory experiments with some samples of Podzols, Podzoluvisol and Chernozem. The following parameters have been determined: a) the main chemical properties of soils; b) the water extracts from soils were investigated by the potentiometric titration with HM salts; c) the properties of the samples of humic acids (HA, extracted by 1n. NaOH) and HA-Cu complexes were determined: molecular-masses distribution (MMD), infrared spectra (IRS), hydrophobility, 1? NMR spectra Results and discussions. The major part of HM in soils of natural landscapes is firmly bound to several minerals. Their threat for living organisms is largely dependent on a relatively higher mobility of HM in soils. The main factors affecting the mobility of HM include soil reaction and sorption processes. In soils of natural landscapes the share of mobile HM compounds is estimated as some per cents from their total content. Having used the data about microelements in soils, their availability to living organisms, 14 natural biogeochemical provinces have been distinguished at the territory of the European part of the former USSR. It permitted to show the adverse impact rendered by microelements at low or high concentrations on living organisms. Within the last 20-40 years a bulk of information has been accumulating to study the impact of technogenic sources on the HM content in soils and the ratio between their compounds. They serve as evidence that in the contaminated soils the total content of HM is several orders (2-3) higher than that in soils of natural landscapes. Based upon a comprehensive analysis of data obtained in field and laboratory it is possible to speak about following differences in soils of natural and technogenic landscapes. (1) The total content of HM in contaminated soils reveals weak connection with their content in soil-forming rocks being depended on technological and landscape-geochemical conditions. (2) A share of mobile forms of HM from their total content increases in comparison to that in natural soils, what is associated with soil contamination and even toxicity, because they can be easily taken up by plants and other living organisms. (3) The surplus of HM in soils leads to degradation of the most important properties so vital for soil fertility (acid base saturation, ion exchange capacity, the humus status, absorbing capacity and others). The enhanced knowledge of soil chemical properties which are subject to contamination by HM, regularities in sorption of heavy metals bond to soil components, the composition of compounds formed by soil with heavy metals allows forecasting the real ecological threat of landscape contamination with HM. The indices of the foregoing soil chemical properties serve as a basis for application of current technologies for soil remediation from HM. Acknowledgments. This work was supported by the Russian Found of Basic Researches (projects no. 06-05-48894, 09-05-00575, 11-05-90351)

Assessing the Availability of Healthier Children's Meals at Leading Quick-Service and Full-Service Restaurants.

PubMed

Sliwa, Sarah; Anzman-Frasca, Stephanie; Lynskey, Vanessa; Washburn, Kyle; Economos, Christina

2016-04-01

To compare the calorie, fat, saturated fat, and sodium content of available children's meal combinations in leading restaurants with national recommendations. Cross-sectional. Children's menu offerings and corresponding nutrition information were collected (May, 2014) from Web sites of the top 10 quick-service (QSR) and top 10 full-service (FSR) restaurant chains that offered a children's menu and provided nutrition information. Total calories (kcal), percent calories from fat and saturated fat, and total sodium (mg) were calculated for children's meal combinations (QSR N = 1,363; FSR N = 6,654). Combinations with ≤ 600 kcal, ≤ 35% kcal from fat, ≤ 10% kcal from saturated fat, ≤ 770 mg sodium, and those that met all 4 of these criteria were identified. Frequencies by restaurant segment. The majority of QSR (72%) and FSR (63%) meal combinations had ≤ 600 kcal. Only 31.9% of combinations at QSRs and 21.7% at FSRs met all 4 criteria. In both segments the calorie target was most frequently met, and the sodium target the least. Children's meal combinations with ≤ 600 kcal are available at leading restaurant chains, but many meals fail to meet current national recommendations for fat, saturated fat, and sodium. Menu labeling legislation may address caloric content but implications for other nutrients remain unclear. Copyright © 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

There's an App for That? Highlighting the Difficulty in Finding Clinically Relevant Smartphone Applications.

PubMed

Wiechmann, Warren; Kwan, Daniel; Bokarius, Andrew; Toohey, Shannon L

2016-03-01

The use of personal mobile devices in the medical field has grown quickly, and a large proportion of physicians use their mobile devices as an immediate resource for clinical decision-making, prescription information and other medical information. The iTunes App Store (Apple, Inc.) contains approximately 20,000 apps in its "Medical" category, providing a robust repository of resources for clinicians; however, this represents only 2% of the entire App Store. The App Store does not have strict criteria for identifying content specific to practicing physicians, making the identification of clinically relevant content difficult. The objective of this study is to quantify the characteristics of existing medical applications in the iTunes App Store that could be used by emergency physicians, residents, or medical students. We found applications related to emergency medicine (EM) by searching the iTunes App Store for 21 terms representing core content areas of EM, such as "emergency medicine," "critical care," "orthopedics," and "procedures." Two physicians independently reviewed descriptions of these applications in the App Store and categorized each as the following: Clinically Relevant, Book/Published Source, Non-English, Study Tools, or Not Relevant. A third physician reviewer resolved disagreements about categorization. Descriptive statistics were calculated. We found a total of 7,699 apps from the 21 search terms, of which 17.8% were clinical, 9.6% were based on a book or published source, 1.6% were non-English, 0.7% were clinically relevant patient education resources, and 4.8% were study tools. Most significantly, 64.9% were considered not relevant to medical professionals. Clinically relevant apps make up approximately 6.9% of the App Store's "Medical" Category and 0.1% of the overall App Store. Clinically relevant apps represent only a small percentage (6.9%) of the total App volume within the Medical section of the App Store. Without a structured search-and-evaluation strategy, it may be difficult for the casual user to identify this potentially useful content. Given the increasing adoption of devices in healthcare, national EM associations should consider curating these resources for their members.

How useful are medication patient information leaflets to older adults? A content, readability and layout analysis.

PubMed

Liu, Fang; Abdul-Hussain, Sarah; Mahboob, Shams; Rai, Vijay; Kostrzewski, Andrzej

2014-08-01

Patient information leaflets (PILs) are the most important information source for older patients to effectively manage their drug therapy. The objective of this study is to evaluate the appropriateness of current available PILs for use by older adults. The content of the PILs were assessed by checking the availability of information relevant to older patients including pharmacokinetics, safety and dose instructions. The layout of the PILs was evaluated using criteria derived from the relevant regulatory guidelines on the design of PILs. The Gunning Fog Index was used to determine the readability of the PILs to older adults. Total of 48 PILs were analysed involving 25 drug substances for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. One out of the 48 PILs contained information on pharmacokinetic changes in older patients and only 15 % of the PILs specified the age of the older person. Thirty-one percent of the PILs provided nonspecific warnings to the older population, while only 15 % included specific side effects that could occur in the older generation. Text font sizes of the PILs were generally too small for older adults to read, with only 9 % of the PILs used type size 12 or over. The readability of 63 % of the PILs had a score above 12, which is considered difficult for older people to understand. Currently available medication PILs are inappropriate for use by older adults to manage their medications effectively, which could adversely affect patient safety and adherence to drug therapy.

Fruit quality, anthocyanin and total phenolic contents, and antioxidant activities of 45 blueberry cultivars grown in Suwon, Korea

PubMed Central

Kim, Jin Gook; Kim, Hong Lim; Kim, Su Jin; Park, Kyo-Sun

2013-01-01

Blueberry fruits from 45 commercial cultivars (39 northern highbush and 6 half highbush blueberry) grown in Suwon, Korea were analyzed for fruit size, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, total anthocyanin content, total phenolic content, and antioxidant activity. Fruit characteristics varied widely among the 45 blueberry cultivars. Fruit weight ranged from 0.9 to 3.6 g, soluble solids content from 8.3 to 14.3 °Brix, and titratable acidity from 0.8% to 3.6%. Antioxidant activity ranged from 0.7 to 2.1 mg of quercetin equivalents per gram of fresh berries in different blueberry cultivars. Among the 45 blueberry cultivars, high amounts of anthocyanins and polyphenols, and high antioxidant activity were observed in ‘Elliott’, ‘Rubel’, ‘Rancocas’, and ‘Friendship’. PMID:24009199

Antioxidant activity of honey supplemented with bee products.

PubMed

Juszczak, Lesław; Gałkowska, Dorota; Ostrowska, Małgorzata; Socha, Robert

2016-06-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate the influence of supplementation of multiflower honey with bee products on the phenolic compound content and on antioxidant activity. Average total phenolic and flavonoids contents in the multiflower honeys were 36.06 ± 10.18 mg GAE/100 g and 4.48 ± 1.69 mg QE/100 g, respectively. The addition of royal jelly did not affect significantly the phenolic compound content and antioxidant activity. Supplementation of honey with other bee products, i.e. beebread, propolis, pollen, resulted in significant increase in the total phenolic and flavonoids contents, and in antiradical activity and reducing power, with the largest effect found for addition of beebread. Significant linear correlations between the total phenolic and flavonoids contents and antiradical activity and reducing power were found.

Floods of April-June 1957 in Oklahoma and western Arkansas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Weiss, D.L.; Sullivan, C.W.

1957-01-01

Floods of unusual magnitude in volume for the three-month period in Oklahoma and western Arkansas resulted from several heavy rains. In one storm period 20 inches of precipitation fell within 24 hours, on May 15, 16, near Hennessey, Okla., according to information obtained by a 'bucket survey.' Total precipitation for the three-month period at many points of observation equaled the normal yearly totals. Ten lives are known to have been lost. Hundreds of families were evacuated from lowlands where homes were inundated for many days. The Arkansas River at Van Buren, Ark., was above flood stage for 74 days. This report contains tabulation of peak stages and discharges for 96 gaging stations, 9 sites other than gaging stations, maximum contents of 11 reservoirs, isohyetal maps showing total precipitation by months and for the three-month period, and other data related to the floods. (available as photostat copy only)

Jujube honey from China: physicochemical characteristics and mineral contents.

PubMed

Zhou, Juan; Suo, Zhirong; Zhao, Pinpin; Cheng, Ni; Gao, Hui; Zhao, Jing; Cao, Wei

2013-03-01

We investigated and compared the physicochemical properties (moisture, color, ash, pH, electrical conductivity, free acidity, lactonic acidity, total acidity, fructose, glucose, sucrose, diastase activity, and HMF) and mineral contents (Al, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, As, Cd, Pb, and Zn), as well as total proline and total protein contents of 23 jujube honey samples collected from different regions of China. The mineral content was determined by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The physicochemical values were in the range of approved limits (conforming to EU legislation) in all 23 samples. The physicochemical properties of jujube honey showed significant variations among samples. The mean pH value of the jujube honeys was 6.71. The most abundant minerals were potassium, calcium, sodium, and magnesium, ranging between 1081.4 and 2642.9, 97.1 and 194.2, 7.79 and 127.8, and 10.36 and 24.67 mg/kg, respectively, and potassium made up 71% of the total mineral content. This study demonstrated remarkable variation in physicochemical parameters and mineral contents of jujube honey, mainly depending on its geographic source. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

An Evaluation of Total Solar Reflectance and Spectral Band Ratioing Techniques for Estimating Soil Water Content

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reginato, R. J.; Vedder, J. F.; Idso, S. B.; Jackson, R. D.; Blanchard, M. B.; Goettelman, R.

1977-01-01

For several days in March of 1975, reflected solar radiation measurements were obtained from smooth and rough surfaces of wet, drying, and continually dry Avondale loam at Phoenix, Arizona, with pyranometers located 50 cm above the ground surface and a multispectral scanner flown at a 300-m height. The simple summation of the different band radiances measured by the multispectral scanner proved equally as good as the pyranometer data for estimating surface soil water content if the multispectral scanner data were standardized with respect to the intensity of incoming solar radiation or the reflected radiance from a reference surface, such as the continually dry soil. Without this means of standardization, multispectral scanner data are most useful in a spectral band ratioing context. Our results indicated that, for the bands used, no significant information on soil water content could be obtained by band ratioing. Thus the variability in soil water content should insignificantly affect soil-type discrimination based on identification of type-specific spectral signatures. Therefore remote sensing, conducted in the 0.4- to 1.0-micron wavelength region of the solar spectrum, would seem to be much More suited to identifying crop and soil types than to estimating of soil water content.

Proximate biochemical composition and caloric content calculated from elemental CHN analysis: a stoichiometric concept.

PubMed

Gnaiger, E; Bitterlich, G

1984-06-01

Carbohydrate, lipid, and protein compositions are stoichiometrically related to organic CHN (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen) contents. Elemental CHN analyses of total biomass and ash, therefore, provide a basis for the calculation of proximate biochemical composition and bomb caloric value. The classical nitrogen to protein conversion factor (6.25) should be replaced by 5.8±0.13. A linear relation exists between the mass fraction of non-protein carbon and the carbohydrate and lipid content. Residual water in dry organic matter can be estimated with the additional information derived from hydrogen measurements.The stoichiometric CHN method and direct biochemical analysis agreed within 10% of ash-free dry biomass (for muscle, liver and fat tissue of silver carp; gut contents composed of detritus and algae; commercial fish food). The detrital material, however, had to be corrected for non-protein nitrogen.A linear relationship between bomb caloric value and organic carbon fractions was derived on the basis of thermodynamic and stoichiometric principles, in agreement with experimental data published for bacteria, algae, protozoa and invertebrates. The highly automatic stoichiometric CHN method for the separation of nutrient contents in biomass extends existing ecophysiological concepts for the construction of balanced carbon and nitrogen, as well as biochemical and energy budgets.

The boron content of selected foods and the estimation of its daily intake among free-living subjects.

PubMed

Naghii, M R; Wall, P M; Samman, S

1996-12-01

Boron is an essential micronutrient for higher plants. The results of studies in animals and humans have suggested a potential role for boron as a modulator of the steroid hormone pathway. As part of a study to obtain baseline information on boron in humans, the boron content of selected foods (66 items) consumed in Australia was determined. Mean values are presented for the element per 100 g or 100 ml of food and per serving. Major sources of the element were nuts, dried fruits, legumes, fresh vegetables and fruits. The boron content of these foods correlated positively and strongly with values provided by the comprehensive Finnish Tables of mineral composition of foods and with the US Food and Drug Administration Total Diet Study. Because of the similarity in methods employed by this study and that used for the comprehensive Finnish Tables, the latter was used to analyze the boron content in 7-day weighed food records of 32 subjects. Using data obtained from the food records and assigning the corresponding values from the Finnish Tables for the boron content of foods, the average daily consumption of boron for a selected group of Australians was found to be 2.23 +/- 1.23 mg/day.