The Optimization of Extraction Process, Antioxidant, Whitening and Antibacterial Effects of Fengdan Peony Flavonoids

Flavonoids have important biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant and whitening, which is a potential functional food raw material. However, the biological activity of Fengdan peony flavonoid is not particularly clear. Therefore, in this study, the peony flavonoid was extracted from Fengdan peony seed meal, and the antioxidant, antibacterial and whitening activities of the peony flavonoid were explored. The optimal extraction conditions were methanol concentration of 90%, solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:35 g:mL, temperature of 55 °C and time of 80 min; under these conditions, the yield of Fengdan peony flavonoid could reach 1.205 ± 0.019% (the ratio of the dry mass of rutin to the dry mass of peony seed meal). The clearance of Fengdan peony total flavonoids to 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical, hydroxyl radical and 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) free radical could reach 75%, 70% and 97%, respectively. Fengdan peony flavonoid could inhibit the growth of the Gram-positive bacteria. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of Fengdan peony flavonoid on S. aureus, B. anthracis, B. subtilis and C. perfringens were 0.0293 mg/mL, 0.1172 mg/mL, 0.2344 mg/mL and 7.500 mg/mL, respectively. The inhibition rate of Fengdan peony flavonoid on tyrosinase was 8.53–81.08%. This study intensely illustrated that the antioxidant, whitening and antibacterial activity of Fengdan peony total flavonoids were significant. Fengdan peony total flavonoids have a great possibility of being used as functional food materials.

Prospects of Vaccination Against COVID-19 and Road to DNA-based Vaccine: A Review

Covid-19 made the countries develop and adopt significant measures to control the spread of disease. For this purpose, firstly countries ordered the public to follow precautions, like, wearing a mask, sanitizer usage, and home quarantine. Then, countries endeavor for the preparation of vaccination started to not only stop the spread but to control and end the coronavirus. These efforts of vaccination started giving benefits in late 2020 and by the end of February 2021, many vaccines were approved conditionally and ready to use, while more were on the way to approval. Apparent from this, there is a great possibility that more clinically proven vaccines will be available on the market in the coming few years. Now, when there is the solution, "The Vaccine", the main point is how to meet the need for the vaccine on a global scale and capital generation for the purchase of vaccine. Till so far, mRNA vaccines are market-available, while DNA-type vaccines are under improvement, being experimented and tested. Because DNA vaccines usually only encode one protein from a pathogen; those may not be as effective if individuals need to mount an immune response to numerous proteins to gain protection, but this can be achieved by combining multiple vaccines. While mRNA vaccines guide the immune system to make a protein that will trigger an immune response without using a live virus and generate longer immunity.

Examination Of Damage on Enamel Surface Due to Removal of Metal and Ceramic Brackets: A Review

During fixed orthodontic treatment, there is great possibility that the dental enamel could be damaged due to the process of debonding the bracket. Enamel cracks are one of the most common aspects that can develop or increase during debonding. This review aimed to conduct an examination of cracks in the enamel that occur both prior to and following metal or ceramic brackets being debonded.

Examination Of Damage on Enamel Surface Due to Removal of Metal and Ceramic Brackets: A Review

During fixed orthodontic treatment, there is great possibility that the dental enamel could be damaged due to the process of debonding the bracket. Enamel cracks are one of the most common aspects that can develop or increase during debonding. This review aimed to conduct an examination of cracks in the enamel that occur both prior to and following metal or ceramic brackets being debonded.

Synergistic Effect of Magnetite and Bioelectrochemical Systems on Anaerobic Digestion

Conventionally, the anaerobic digestion of industrial effluent to biogas constitutes less than 65% methane, which warrants its potential methanation to mitigate carbon dioxide and other anthropogenic gas emissions. The performance of the anaerobic digestion process can be enhanced by improving biochemical activities. The aim of this study was to examine the synergistic effect of the magnetite and bioelectrochemical systems (BES) on anaerobic digestion by comparing four digesters, namely a microbial fuel cell (MFC), microbial electrolysis cell (MEC), MEC with 1 g of magnetite nanoparticles (MECM), and a control digester with only sewage sludge (500 mL) and inoculum (300 mL). The MFC digester was equipped with zinc and copper electrodes including a 100 Ω resistor, whereas the MEC was supplied with 0.4 V on the electrodes. The MECM digester performed better as it improved microbial activity, increased the content of methane (by 43% compared to 41% of the control), and reduced contaminants (carbon oxygen demand, phosphates, colour, turbidity, total suspended solids, and total organic carbon) by more than 81.9%. Current density (jmax = 25.0 mA/m2) and electrical conductivity (275 µS/cm) were also high. The prospects of combining magnetite and bioelectrochemical systems seem very promising as they showed a great possibility for use in bioelectrochemical methane generation and wastewater treatment.

The COVID-2019 Pandemic as a Catalyst of the Potential Loss of Democratic Foundations of Society’s Social Life

The pandemic-2020 has come quite unexpectedly despite the repeated warnings from WHO. It turned out that the infection’s spread in all countries of the world and the new-how to resist it depends on the ability to mobilize national system of health protection. So, on the quality of the provided medical service, on the accessibility to all levels of the society and on the ability of countries’ governments to provide with proper regulation of social life self-isolation, on-line work and quarantine regimes became the most effective tools in the world. It demanded the appropriate control mostly based on new technological solutions. Remote work and the possibilities of modern technologies to track and identify people may get elaboration after the end of the pandemic-2020. There is a great possibility to lose a part of democratic freedom of society due to using new systems of social life control in order to increase countries functioning effectiveness as the main units of a polycentric model of the world order. It is emphasized that polycentrism should lead neither to the totalitarianism of power nor to the loss of democratization of social life. The government should promote this process by increasing the effectiveness of its activity not substituting it for total control based on ICT. Received: 15 July 2021 / Accepted: 12 October 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021

Solid Waste Management as an instrument of sustainability in protestant denominations

Nowadays, there is a worldwide concern about issues related to the environment and one of the biggest environmental problems caused are generated by inadequate solid waste management and the lack of society's involvement. The present work deals with the management in Protestant Christian religious institutions, which are also producers of solid waste and, therefore, deserve to be studied scientifically, in order to answer the following guiding question: Solid waste management in Protestant Christian institutions in the city of Manaus asserts itself as an effective instrument for the concept of sustainability? The main purpose objective of this work is to evaluate how Protestant Christian religious institutions act in the management of solid waste, identifying if such these institutions do any kind of management of this generated waste, in order to monitor how it is done using quality management tools, methodology and analysis of the results achieved. The applied methodology will be descriptive, through observation, registration, analysis and correlation of the object or facts under study, however, without manipulating them. With the information collected from selected churches in all areas of the city, in equal quantity and, through a practical formulary and checklist based on Brazil’s the National Policy on Solid Waste (PNRS), it will be possible to build a DMAIC framework and sequentially apply the GUT tool, to notes on of the most urgent problems. The results of these notes will be put into the PDCA cycle for improvement planning and, finally, the 5W2H will be used to propose improvements, which will facilitate observation, data collection and analysis of the information obtained. The survey results showed a great possibility of these Christian communities to serve as environmental schools, and that if it would be carried out, could bring a real mass awareness of society, thanks to its enormous scope.

IMPORTÂNCIA DA ASSISTÊNCIA DA TERAPIA OCUPACIONAL AO CUIDADOR DE CRIANÇAS COM CÂNCER EM CUIDADOS PALIATIVOS

Cancer has a great possibility of cure, however there is a group of patients who can reach the critical stage and no longer respond to conventional therapies, making it impossible to obtain a cure. In such cases, it will be necessary to provide other types of care in order to provide support, information and comfort to patients in the final stage of life and their families, which characterizes Palliative Care. In pediatrics, palliative care is centered on the child and the family. This study aimed to conduct a literature review on the intervention of Occupational Therapy with caregivers of children in Palliative Care, due to childhood and juvenile cancer. We searched for articles that corresponded to the descriptors that could support this study, however the search resulted in only two articles, a factor that made the study turn to a bibliographic search. Despite the reduced number of articles on occupational therapy in caring for children in palliative care, this study made it possible to present the importance of the attention and contribution of Occupational Therapy in caring for caregivers of children in the final stage of life.

Electrochemical Biosensors for Tracing Cyanotoxins in Food and Environmental Matrices

The adoption of electrochemical principles to realize on-field analytical tools for detecting pollutants represents a great possibility for food safety and environmental applications. With respect to the existing transduction mechanisms, i.e., colorimetric, fluorescence, piezoelectric etc., electrochemical mechanisms offer the tremendous advantage of being easily miniaturized, connected with low cost (commercially available) readers and unaffected by the color/turbidity of real matrices. In particular, their versatility represents a powerful approach for detecting traces of emerging pollutants such as cyanotoxins. The combination of electrochemical platforms with nanomaterials, synthetic receptors and microfabrication makes electroanalysis a strong starting point towards decentralized monitoring of toxins in diverse matrices. This review gives an overview of the electrochemical biosensors that have been developed to detect four common cyanotoxins, namely microcystin-LR, anatoxin-a, saxitoxin and cylindrospermopsin. The manuscript provides the readers a quick guide to understand the main electrochemical platforms that have been realized so far, and the presence of a comprehensive table provides a perspective at a glance.