212 research outputs found
Chemical Characterization of Capsule-Brewed Espresso Coffee Aroma from the Most Widespread Italian Brands by HS-SPME/GC-MS
Get PDFCoffee capsules market is on the rise as it allows access to a wide selection of coffee, differing in taste and brand. However, few data about the chemical characterization of the capsule-brewed coffee aroma are available. In this work, an untargeted approach using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and combined to chemometrics was performed to study and compare aromaprofile from65 capsule-brewed espresso coffees (ECs) commercialized by five of the most representative brands in Italy. Volatile profiles obtained from ECs were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis, which generally did not show a significant variability among coffees belonging to the same brand, except for those modified after the addition of specific flavor additives or aromatic substances (such as caramel, chocolate, etc.). Similarities may be related to the starting coffee brew or the processing method, which is likely the same for each individual brand. Additionally, partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) showed that capsules from a specific brand contain the highest concentration of pyrazines, thus characterized by an intense and characteristic aroma, and a stronger note than those from the other brands. This study supports that the chemical analysis in conjunction with chemometric tools is a useful approach for assessing flavor quality, even if the need remains to identify volatile markers of high-quality beverages
BananaGAN : Augmenting major banana disease detection using generated diseased pseudostem and rachis images
No full textEarly detection and timely management of crop diseases are essential for reducing yield loss. Traditional manual inspection is often time-consuming, laborious, and biased. Recently, automated imaging techniques have been successfully applied to the detection of crop diseases. Almost this type of research requires a huge amount of images with key typical symptoms from rare classes. The rare class images are the key to differentiated closely related diseased symptoms, but it is mostly internal and difficult to get them. Thus we exploited generative adversarial networks for generating rare classes such as banana pseudostem and rachis images creating new datasets with synthetic images and doing domain disease translation, converting an image with a certain disease into another image with another different disease. These synthetic images were tested in pre-trained disease detection models to see if they are good enough to balance the banana disease datasets and improve the object detection models’ overall accuracy and can be applied to other deep learning techniques such as classification and semantic segmentation. mAP score from the trained models with synthetic images was between 64% and 89% accuracy, which conclude that synthetic images are a useful tool as a data augmentation technique
Ultra-high Magnification Endocytoscopy and Molecular Markers for Defining Endoscopic and Histologic Remission in Ulcerative Colitis-An Exploratory Study to Define Deep Remission.
Get PDFBACKGROUND
Endoscopic and histological remission are both important treatment goals in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). We aimed to define cellular architecture, expression of molecular markers, and their correlation with endoscopic scores assessed by ultra-high magnification endocytoscopy (ECS) and histological scores.
METHODS
Patients with UC (n = 29) were prospectively recruited. The correlation among ECS score (ECSS), Mayo endoscopic score (MES), and histological scores were determined. Area under curve were plotted to determine the best thresholds for ECSS that predicted histological remission by Robarts (RHI) and Nancy Histological Index (NHI).Soluble analytes relevant to inflammation were measured in serum and mucosal culture supernatants using ProcartaPlex Luminex assays and studied by partial least square discriminant analysis and logistic model. Mucosal RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were performed to define differentially expressed genes/pathways.
RESULTS
Endocytoscope scoring system correlated strongly with RHI (r = 0.89; 95% CI, 0.51-0.98) and NHI (r = 0.86; 95% CI, 0.42-0.98) but correlated poorly with MES (r = 0.28; 95% CI, 0.27-0.70). We identified soluble brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNF), macrophage inflammatory proteins (MIP-1 α) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (sVCAM-1) predicted histological remission. Mucosal biopsy cultures also identified sVCAM-1 associated with healed mucosa. RNA-seq analysis identified gene expressions shared between ECSS, RHI, or NHI defined healing. A number of gene expressions and pathways were identified including inflammation and metabolic and tumor suppressors that discriminated healed from nonhealed mucosa.
CONCLUSIONS
Endocytoscopy represents an interesting tool that may sit between endoscopy and histology-but closer to the latter-identifying gene expression markers and pathways that are also identified by histology
Taurine as a biomarker for aging: A new avenue for translational research
Get PDFThe physiologic and irreversible process of ageing is accompanied by a wide range of structural and functional shifts at multiple different levels. It is also suggested that variations in the blood concentrations of metabolites, hormones, and micronutrients may play a role in the ageing process. Recently, Singh et al. 1,2 investigated a study on Taurine shortage as a driver and biomarker of ageing and its impact on a healthy lifespan.2 They further proposed that functional abnormalities in numerous organs associated with age-related illnesses have been linked to early-life Taurine insufficiency. Taurine deficiency in the elderly and the possible benefits of Taurine supplements One of the reasons for decreasing Taurine concentration is the loss of endogenous synthesis, which may contribute to the decrease in Taurine levels seen in the elderly. While it was previously believed that the liver was responsible for most Taurine synthesis in humans, new research suggests that other organs or common intermediates may play a larger role. The authors experimented with and analysed a life-span examination of various organisms, for example, mice to assess the impacts of Taurine supplementation. They also analysed after the administration of oral Taurine supplementation in conjunction with other interventions using multi-omics data sets (RNA sequencing, metabolomics etc.) across different species
Pancreatic Cancers with High Grade Tumor Budding Exhibit Hallmarks of Diminished Anti-Tumor Immunity.
Get PDFTumor budding is associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition and diminished survival in a number of cancer types including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). In this study, we dissect the immune landscapes of patients with high grade versus low grade tumor budding to determine the features associated with immune escape and disease progression in pancreatic cancer. We performed immunohistochemistry-based quantification of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes and tumor bud assessment in a cohort of = 111 PDAC patients in a tissue microarray (TMA) format. Patients were divided based on the ITBCC categories of tumor budding as Low Grade (LG: categories 1 and 2) and High Grade (HG: category 3). Tumor budding numbers and tumor budding grade demonstrated a significant association with diminished overall survival (OS). HG cases exhibit notably reduced densities of stromal (S) and intratumoral (IT) T cells. HG cases also display lower M1 macrophages (S) and increased M2 macrophages (IT). These findings were validated using gene expression data from TCGA. A published tumor budding gene signature demonstrated a significant association with diminished survival in PDAC patients in TCGA. Immune-related gene expression revealed an immunosuppressive TME in PDAC cases with high expression of the budding signature. Our findings highlight a number of immune features that permit an improved understanding of disease progression and EMT in pancreatic cancer
Inter-individual variability in the production of flavan-3-ol colonic metabolites: preliminary elucidation of urinary metabotypes
Get PDFPurpose: There is much information on the bioavailability of (poly)phenolic compounds following acute intake of various foods. However, there are only limited data on the effects of repeated and combined exposure to specific (poly)phenol food sources and the inter-individual variability in their bioavailability. This study evaluated the combined urinary excretion of (poly)phenols from green tea and coffee following daily consumption by healthy subjects in free-living conditions. The inter-individual variability in the production of phenolic metabolites was also investigated. Methods: Eleven participants consumed both tablets of green tea and green coffee bean extracts daily for 8 weeks and 24-h urine was collected on five different occasions. The urinary profile of phenolic metabolites and a set of multivariate statistical tests were used to investigate the putative existence of characteristic metabotypes in the production of flavan-3-ol microbial metabolites. Results: (Poly)phenolic compounds in the green tea and green coffee bean extracts were absorbed and excreted after simultaneous consumption, with green tea resulting in more inter-individual variability in urinary excretion of phenolic metabolites. Three metabotypes in the production of flavan-3-ol microbial metabolites were tentatively defined, characterized by the excretion of different amounts of trihydroxyphenyl-γ-valerolactones, dihydroxyphenyl-γ-valerolactones, and hydroxyphenylpropionic acids. Conclusions: The selective production of microbiota-derived metabolites from flavan-3-ols and the putative existence of characteristic metabotypes in their production represent an important development in the study of the bioavailability of plant bioactives. These observations will contribute to better understand the health effects and individual differences associated with consumption of flavan-3-ols, arguably the main class of flavonoids in the human diet
Recommended from our members
Correction to "Prevalence and Associated Factors of Hypertension Subtypes Among the Adult Population in Nepal: Evidence from Demographic and Health Survey Data" [Osong Public Health Res Perspect 2019;10(6):327-36].
Get PDFIn the article entitled Prevalence and Associated Factors of Hypertension Subtypes Among the Adult Population in Nepal: Evidence from Demographic and Health Survey Data [1], the name of the second author, Animesh Talukdar, was incorrect.
(Osong Public Health Res Perspect (2019) 10:6 (327-336) DOI: 10.24171/j.phrp.2019.10.6.02
- …
