Evaluating Freshness Loss of Green Tea with Q10 Method and Weibull Hazard Analysis under Accelerated Shelf Life Testing

The important quality of green tea is freshness, but high temperature, light, oxygen, and humidity during storage may reduce the freshness of green tea. Thus, this study investigated the freshness loss of green tea (FLGT) under an accelerated shelf-life testing (ASLT) by sensory evaluation and acceptability test. The FLGTs of the samples stored at 20°C, 30°C, and 40°C, were determined as 67 days, 55 days, and 45 days, respectively by the Q10 method. In addition, they were further determined as 67 days, 57 days, and 42 days, respectively, by the Weibull Hazard Analysis (WHA). The sensory evaluation and acceptability test confirmed the correctness of the above results by 2-alternative choice analysis and chemical analysis. The Q10 method was applied to predict the FLGTs stored at 4°C and −20°C which were 93 days and 150 days, which was further verified by 2-alternative choice analysis and chemical analysis. The results show that it is possible to predict the suitable drinking period of green tea during storage by the Q10 method.

Video conferencing as a face-to-face online meeting app: user preference based on usability testing

The global pandemic of Corona Virus Disease (Covid-19) that hit Indonesia since March 2020 has changed the face-to-face system from offline to online. Video Conference (VC) becomes an alternative choice for delivering material, both learning and working. VC is a technology that allows users to hold face-to-face meetings at their respective places simultaneously. Various VC apps are becoming increasingly popular these days, such as Google Meet, Zoom, Youtube, Webex, Skype, GoTo Meeting, and Big Blue Button (BBB). This study is intended to provide a usability test of VC applications (such as Zoom, Google Meet, and BBB) and provide recommendations for VC as an online conference media based on user preferences. The usability measurement technique used is the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the USE questionnaire. The results of this study show that Zoom has the highest usability value compared to Google Meet and BBB, Google Meet is ranked second and BBB is ranked third.

Chemoradiotherapy is an Alternative Choice for Patients with Primary Mediastinal Seminoma

Background: The low incidence of primary mediastinal seminomas has precluded the development of clinical trials on mediastinal seminomas. We investigated the clinicopathologic characteristics, prognosis of patients with primary mediastinal seminomas as well as the efficiency of nonsurgical treatments compared with treatments containing surgery.Methods: We retrospectively collected data on the clinicopathologic characteristics, treatments, toxicities, and survival of 27 patients from a single center between 2000 and 2018. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether they received operation. Survivals were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate analysis was performed using the log-rank test.Results: The median age was 28 (13-63) years. The most common symptoms were chest pain (29.6%), cough (25.9%), and dyspnea (22.2%). There were 13 and 14 patients in surgery and non-surgery group. Patients in the non-surgical group were more likely to be with poor performance scores (100% vs.76.9%) and disease invaded to adjacent structures(100% vs.76.9%) especially great vessels(100% vs.46.2%).The median follow-up period was 32.23 (2.7-198.2) months. There was no significant difference of overall survival (5-year 100% vs 100%), cancer-specific survival (5-year 100% vs.100%), local regional survival (5-year 91.7% vs.90.0%, p=0.948) , distant metastasis survival (5-year 100.0% vs. 90.9%, p=0.340) and progression-free survival (82.5% vs.90.0%, p=0.245) between patients with and without surgery. Conclusions: Primary mediastinal seminoma was with favorable prognosis, even though frequently invasion into adjacent structures brings difficulties to surgery administration. Chemoradiotherapy is an alternative treatment with both efficacy and safety.

Exploration of the Structure–Function Relationships of a Novel Frog Skin Secretion-Derived Bioactive Peptide, t-DPH1, through Use of Rational Design, Cationicity Enhancement and In Vitro Studies

Amphibian skin-derived antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have attracted increasing attention from scientists because of their excellent bioactivity and low drug resistance. In addition to being the alternative choice of antibiotics or anticancer agents, natural AMPs can also be modified as templates to optimise their bioactivities further. Here, a novel dermaseptin peptide, t-DPH1, with extensive antimicrobial activity and antiproliferative activity, was isolated from the skin secretion of Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis through ‘shotgun’ cloning. A series of cationicity-enhanced analogues of t-DPH1 were designed to further improve its bioactivities and explore the charge threshold of enhancing the bioactivity of t-DPH1. The present data suggest that improving the net charge can enhance the bioactivities to some extent. However, when the charge exceeds a specific limit, the bioactivities decrease or remain the same. When the net charge achieves the limit, improving the hydrophobicity makes no sense to enhance bioactivity. For t-DPH1, the upper limit of the net charge was +7. All the designed cationicity-enhanced analogues produced no drug resistance in the Gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli. These findings provide creative insights into the role of natural drug discovery in providing templates for structural modification for activity enhancement.

Planting Seeds: For a Food Secure Future

<p>Food insecurity affects a large number of young New Zealanders every day. It is associated with low-income families and exists when people do not have access to enough healthy food, experience hunger, consume less nutritious foods due to limited options or rely on food relief and banks (Dastgheib). In New Zealand, there is a rising concern for food insecurity among adolescents. In 2012, 11% of young people reported food insecurity often or always, with 33% reporting food insecurity concerns occasionally (this being a 3% and 5% increase from 2007) (Utter, Izumi and Denny). Other issues are the increasing rates of obesity and other health concerns. (Stevenson, Growing Healthy Communities 37). The New Zealand population has one of the highest levels of obesity in the world, and this is a reflection of food insecurity and poverty (Thomas and Hunt). When families are food insecure, they are more likely to turn to the ease and affordability of fast food and highly processed food for their meals (Utter, Izumi and Denny). However, a diet based on fast-food has a low nutritious value and may generate a vicious cycle of obesity. An unhealthy meal reduces the amount of energy and motivation someone has (Cespedes). When adolescents consume a high level of fast food, the motivation to work is decreased, leading to lower grades, suspension and unemployment later in life (Government of South Australia; Gorton 3). In addition to this, their health and wellbeing are threatened, and medical bills can rise significantly producing a cycle of poverty (Todd). This research proposal will try to break the cycle of food security and poverty by providing families with an alternative choice to fast-food and takeaways. A pavilion is designed for Otara, Auckland, which combines the programme of a church, greenhouse and a community kitchen to encourage a healthy lifestyle. It will be located near Ferguson Intermediate and provide the facilities and environment to help individuals overcome food insecurity in their households.</p>

Planting Seeds: For a Food Secure Future

<p>Food insecurity affects a large number of young New Zealanders every day. It is associated with low-income families and exists when people do not have access to enough healthy food, experience hunger, consume less nutritious foods due to limited options or rely on food relief and banks (Dastgheib). In New Zealand, there is a rising concern for food insecurity among adolescents. In 2012, 11% of young people reported food insecurity often or always, with 33% reporting food insecurity concerns occasionally (this being a 3% and 5% increase from 2007) (Utter, Izumi and Denny). Other issues are the increasing rates of obesity and other health concerns. (Stevenson, Growing Healthy Communities 37). The New Zealand population has one of the highest levels of obesity in the world, and this is a reflection of food insecurity and poverty (Thomas and Hunt). When families are food insecure, they are more likely to turn to the ease and affordability of fast food and highly processed food for their meals (Utter, Izumi and Denny). However, a diet based on fast-food has a low nutritious value and may generate a vicious cycle of obesity. An unhealthy meal reduces the amount of energy and motivation someone has (Cespedes). When adolescents consume a high level of fast food, the motivation to work is decreased, leading to lower grades, suspension and unemployment later in life (Government of South Australia; Gorton 3). In addition to this, their health and wellbeing are threatened, and medical bills can rise significantly producing a cycle of poverty (Todd). This research proposal will try to break the cycle of food security and poverty by providing families with an alternative choice to fast-food and takeaways. A pavilion is designed for Otara, Auckland, which combines the programme of a church, greenhouse and a community kitchen to encourage a healthy lifestyle. It will be located near Ferguson Intermediate and provide the facilities and environment to help individuals overcome food insecurity in their households.</p>

Paradoxical relationship between speed and accuracy in olfactory figure-background segregation

In natural settings, many stimuli impinge on our sensory organs simultaneously. Parsing these sensory stimuli into perceptual objects is a fundamental task faced by all sensory systems. Similar to other sensory modalities, increased odor backgrounds decrease the detectability of target odors by the olfactory system. The mechanisms by which background odors interfere with the detection and identification of target odors are unknown. Here we utilized the framework of the Drift Diffusion Model (DDM) to consider possible interference mechanisms in an odor detection task. We first considered pure effects of background odors on either signal or noise in the decision-making dynamics and showed that these produce different predictions about decision accuracy and speed. To test these predictions, we trained mice to detect target odors that are embedded in random background mixtures in a two-alternative choice task. In this task, the inter-trial interval was independent of behavioral reaction times to avoid motivating rapid responses. We found that increased backgrounds reduce mouse performance but paradoxically also decrease reaction times, suggesting that noise in the decision making process is increased by backgrounds. We further assessed the contributions of background effects on both noise and signal by fitting the DDM to the behavioral data. The models showed that background odors affect both the signal and the noise, but that the paradoxical relationship between trial difficulty and reaction time is caused by the added noise.

Comparison of Clinical Efficacy and Safety Between da Vinci Robotic and Laparoscopic Intersphincteric Resection for Low Rectal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Background and Aims: The intersphincteric resection (ISR) is beneficial for saving patients' anus to a large extent and restoring original bowel continuity. Laparoscopic ISR (L-ISR) has its drawbacks, such as two-dimensional images, low motion flexibility, and unstable lens. Recently, da Vinci robotic ISR (R-ISR) is increasingly used worldwide. The purpose of this article is to compare the feasibility, safety, oncological outcomes, and clinical efficacy of R-ISR vs. L-ISR for low rectal cancer.Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were searched to identify comparative studies of R-ISR vs. L-ISR. Demographic, clinical, and outcome data were extracted. Mean difference (MD) and risk ratio (RR) with their corresponding confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.Results: Five studies were included. In total, 510 patients were included, of whom 273 underwent R-ISR and 237 L-ISR. Compared with L-ISR, R-ISR has significantly lower estimated intraoperative blood loss (MD = −23.31, 95% CI [−41.98, −4.64], P = 0.01), longer operative time (MD = 51.77, 95% CI [25.68, 77.86], P = 0.0001), hospitalization days (MD = −1.52, 95% CI [−2.10, 0.94], P &lt; 0.00001), and postoperative urinary complications (RR = 0.36, 95% CI [0.16, 0.82], P = 0.02).Conclusions: The potential benefits of R-ISR are considered as a safe and feasible alternative choice for the treatment of low rectal tumors.

Outrage Fatigue? Cognitive Costs and Decisions to Blame

Across nine studies (N=1,672), we assessed the link between cognitive costs and the choice to express outrage by blaming. We developed the Blame Selection Task, a binary free-choice paradigm that examines the propensity to blame transgressors (versus an alternative choice)—either before or after reading vignettes and viewing images of moral transgressions. We hypothesized that participants’ choice to blame wrongdoers would negatively relate to how cognitively inefficacious, effortful, and aversive blaming feels (compared to the alternative choice). With vignettes, participants approached blaming and reported that blaming felt more efficacious. With images, participants avoided blaming and reported that blaming felt more inefficacious, effortful, and aversive. Blame choice was greater for vignette-based transgressions than image-based transgressions. Blame choice was positively related to moral personality constructs, blame-related social-norms, and perceived efficacy of blaming, and inversely related to perceived effort and aversiveness of blaming. The BST is a valid behavioral index of blame propensity, and choosing to blame is linked to its cognitive costs.

Ethnobotanical review of Medicinal Plants Used against Diarrhea and Dysentery in Northeastern India (Assam)

Background: Since primitive times, plants have been extensively utilized in conventional remedies for primary health care. It is observed that medicinal plants have various bioactive components. It becomes an alternative choice for synthetic medications to treat diarrhea and dysentery, which are the primary waterborne diseases with high mortality rates that bring substantial health threats to global populations. Objective: The present review aims to look over the ethnobotanical knowledge for the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery and folklore practices by the people prevailing in Assam. Methods: In this perspective, an extensive literature survey was carried out to understand the mechanism, control, and treatment of diarrhea and dysentery in different online academic databases and books. An advanced search was carried out in 'PubMed' and 'Google Scholar' using the term "Phytoconstituents" and "antidiarrheal" along with "Phytoconstituents" and "anti-amoebic". Results: Data retrieved from databases were analyzed and interpreted to conclude that in Assam, diarrhea and dysentery are the primary leading causes of mortality among children under five years. It is mainly due to the unhygienic livelihood, unavailability of safe drinking water, unhealthy food, seasonal rainfall, flood, and open defecation. The present investigations reveal that the people of Assam use 39 plant species belonging to 36 families to cure diarrhea and dysentery. Conclusion: The present study established the effective use of medicinal plants by various communities in Assam to treat diarrhea and dysentery. Furthermore, it can be used to develop a new therapeutic approach to create new chemical entities (NCE) in drug discovery, which are safe, fruitful, and inexpensive.