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PloS One 2023Asthma attacks are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in vulnerable populations, and identification of associations with asthma attacks is necessary to improve...
BACKGROUND
Asthma attacks are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in vulnerable populations, and identification of associations with asthma attacks is necessary to improve public awareness and the timely delivery of medical interventions.
OBJECTIVE
The study aimed to identify feature importance of factors associated with asthma in a representative population of US adults.
METHODS
A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using a modern, nationally representative cohort, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES 2017-2020). All adult patients greater than 18 years of age (total of 7,922 individuals) with information on asthma attacks were included in the study. Univariable regression was used to identify significant nutritional covariates to be included in a machine learning model and feature importance was reported. The acquisition and analysis of the data were authorized by the National Center for Health Statistics Ethics Review Board.
RESULTS
7,922 patients met the inclusion criteria in this study. The machine learning model had 55 out of a total of 680 features that were found to be significant on univariate analysis (P<0.0001 used). In the XGBoost model the model had an Area Under the Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve (AUROC) = 0.737, Sensitivity = 0.960, NPV = 0.967. The top five highest ranked features by gain, a measure of the percentage contribution of the covariate to the overall model prediction, were Octanoic Acid intake as a Saturated Fatty Acid (SFA) (gm) (Gain = 8.8%), Eosinophil percent (Gain = 7.9%), BMXHIP-Hip Circumference (cm) (Gain = 7.2%), BMXHT-standing height (cm) (Gain = 6.2%) and HS C-Reactive Protein (mg/L) (Gain 6.1%).
CONCLUSION
Machine Learning models can additionally offer feature importance and additional statistics to help identify associations with asthma attacks.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Nutrition Surveys; Asthma; Machine Learning; Cohort Studies
PubMed: 37992024
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288903 -
Food Chemistry Nov 2023Mutton possesses a typical flavor, known as "muttony" or "goaty", which significantly limits consumers' acceptability and its further popularization. Generally, this...
Mutton possesses a typical flavor, known as "muttony" or "goaty", which significantly limits consumers' acceptability and its further popularization. Generally, this unpleasant flavor originates from mutton tallow. Thus, we first characterized the key volatiles of the cooked mutton tallow (CMT) via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/olfactometry (GC-MS/O) and odor activity value (OAV). Combined with aroma recombination and omission tests, eleven compounds, involving 4-methyloctanoic acid, 4-methynonanoic acid, octanoic acid, decanoic acid, hexanal, heptanal, (E)-2-octenal, (E)-2-nonenal, (E)-2-decenal, 2-nonanone and 2-penty-furan, were screened out to be responsible for the "muttony" flavor. The objective of this study was to investigate the sensory property and acceptability of CMTs, elaborated with 4 different levels of thyme phenolic extract (TPE), through descriptive sensory analysis and key muttony-related compounds identification. The results showed that, of different TPEs employed, CMT plus TPE3 was the most effective strategy to control the key "muttony" contributors, thereby to improve flavor profile of CMT.
Topics: Thymus Plant; Volatile Organic Compounds; Flavoring Agents; Odorants; Olfactometry
PubMed: 37364310
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136666 -
Bioresource Technology Nov 2023Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biological polyesters, viewed as a replacement for petrochemical plastic. However, they suffer from suboptimal physical and mechanical...
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biological polyesters, viewed as a replacement for petrochemical plastic. However, they suffer from suboptimal physical and mechanical properties. Here, it was shown that a metabolically versatile Pseudomonas umsongensis GO16 can synthesise a blend of short chain length (scl) and medium chain length (mcl)-PHA. A defined mix of butyric (BA) and octanoic acid (OA) in different ratios was used. The PHA monomer composition varied depending on the feeding strategy. When OA and BA were fed at 80:20 ratio it showed 14, 8, 77 and 1 mol% of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate, (R)-3-hydroxyhexanoate, (R)-3-hydroxyoctanoate and (R)-3-hydroxydecanoate respectively. The polymer characterisation clearly shows that polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and mcl-PHA are produced individually. The two polymers are blended on the PHA granule level, as demonstrated by fluorescence microscopy and yeast two-hybrid assay. The resulting blend has a specific viscoelasticity compared to PHB and PHO. Mcl-PHA acts as a plasticiser and reduces PHB brittleness.
Topics: Polyhydroxyalkanoates; Pseudomonas; Polyesters
PubMed: 37572888
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129668 -
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies Nov 2023Screening of herbal plants for various therapeutic properties is the hour as it shows promising activity. Scientific evidence of the pharmacological activity of the...
BACKGROUND
Screening of herbal plants for various therapeutic properties is the hour as it shows promising activity. Scientific evidence of the pharmacological activity of the plant strengthens the traditional application of plants.
METHODS
Rose flowers (Rosa chinensis) were procured and grounded into a coarse powder. The DNA was isolated from rose flower and molecular identification was performed by rbcL-BF and rbcL-724R primers. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by using disc and agar diffusion methods and the anti-cancer effect of the rose flower extract (RE) was examined using MTT assay in lung cancer cell line. The mechanism of cell death induced by RE was qualitatively measured using Acridine orange/Ethidium bromide staining and Hoechst staining. GC-MS analysis was performed using GC-MS-5975C.
RESULT
The RE showed potent antimicrobial activity against various ATCC cultures. The rose extract strongly inhibits the growth of ESBL resistant organism along with inhibition of biofilm formation in the ESBL resistant organism. The extract caused apoptotic and necrotic cell death in lung cancer cells. GC-MS analysis demonstrated the presence of several biologically active compounds such as Clindamycin, Phytol, Octanoic acid, and Stigmasterol which might be the reason for the therapeutic properties of the plant.
CONCLUSION
This study shows the antimicrobial and biofilm inhibition activity against the clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumonia. The study shows the cytotoxic and apoptotic activity in A549 cancer cell line. Thus, the plant may act as a potent antimicrobial drug against resistant strains.
Topics: Humans; Rosa; Lung Neoplasms; Plant Extracts; Acetone; Anti-Infective Agents; A549 Cells
PubMed: 37950173
DOI: 10.1186/s12906-023-04222-2 -
Biochemistry Mar 2024The concept of tag-free protein modification has attracted considerable interest in chemical biology because of its flexible and straightforward reaction process. In...
The concept of tag-free protein modification has attracted considerable interest in chemical biology because of its flexible and straightforward reaction process. In 2021, a groundbreaking approach using lipoate ligase A (LplA) for tag-free enzymatic modification of antibodies was unveiled, demonstrating its potential for the generation of precise antibody conjugates. In this study, to further explore LplA-mediated antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) synthesis, we performed initial biological evaluations of ADCs synthesized using LplA. Using the anti-HER2 antibody trastuzumab, we introduced octanoic acid azide using LplA and subsequently obtained an ADC using click chemistry with the drug DBCO-VC-PAB-MMAE. The bioactivity of the synthesized anti-HER2-ADC was evaluated using HER2-positive SKBR-3 and HER2-negative MCF7 cells. Its toxicity and selectivity were found to be comparable to those of the FDA-approved Kadcyla. In addition, a stability study involving rat and human plasma demonstrated the stability of the LplA-mediated ADC. Additionally, the affinity for the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) was retained after conjugation. These preliminary in vitro evaluations suggested that LplA-derived ADCs can have considerable pharmaceutical potential. Our results can set the stage for further in vivo evaluations and safety assessments. We suggest that the integration of tag-free LplA methods into the production of ADCs can offer a novel and promising approach for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
Topics: Rats; Animals; Humans; Ligases; Immunoconjugates; Antineoplastic Agents; MCF-7 Cells; Trastuzumab; Cell Line, Tumor
PubMed: 38350078
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00513 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) May 2024We aimed to obtain the optimal formula for human milk fat substitute (HMFS) through a combination of software and an evaluation model and further verify its...
We aimed to obtain the optimal formula for human milk fat substitute (HMFS) through a combination of software and an evaluation model and further verify its practicability through an animal experiment. The results showed that a total of 33 fatty acid (FA) and 63 triglyceride (TAG) molecular species were detected in vegetable oils. Palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, 18:1/16:0/18:1, 18:2/16:0/18:2, 18:1/18:1/18:1 and 18:1/18:2/18:1, were the main molecular species among the FAs and TAGs in the vegetable oils. Based on the HMFS evaluation model, the optimal mixed vegetable oil formula was blended with 21.3% palm oil, 2.8% linseed oil, 2.6% soybean oil, 29.9% rapeseed oil and 43.4% maize oil, with the highest score of 83.146. Moreover, there was no difference in the weight, blood routine indices or calcium and magnesium concentrations in the feces of the mice between the homemade mixed vegetable oil (HMVO) group and the commercial mixed vegetable oil (CMVO) group, while nervonic acid (C24:1) and octanoic acid (C8:0) were absorbed easily in the HMVO group. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the mixing of the different vegetable oils was feasible via a combination of computer software and an evaluation model and provided a new way to produce HMFS.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Software; Plant Oils; Fatty Acids; Milk, Human; Mice; Triglycerides; Fat Substitutes; Palm Oil; Soybean Oil; Linseed Oil; Rapeseed Oil; Corn Oil; Caprylates; Palmitic Acid; Oleic Acid
PubMed: 38731587
DOI: 10.3390/molecules29092096 -
Neurogastroenterology and Motility Sep 2023Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a heterogeneous functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) with a highly prevalent symptom complex. The aim of our study is to investigate...
OBJECTIVES
Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a heterogeneous functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) with a highly prevalent symptom complex. The aim of our study is to investigate the relation between symptoms of FD and results of gastric emptying (GE) breath test in children.
METHODS
This study included patients (6-17 years old) presented at the general gastroenterology outpatient clinic with dyspeptic symptoms (Rome IV criteria) and underwent careful history taking with clinical examination. A GE breath test with a C-octanoic acid labeled (250 kcal) solid meal was performed and dyspepsia symptom scores, clarified using pictograms for postprandial fullness, bloating, belching, nausea, vomiting, epigastric pain and burning, were obtained every 15 min ranging from 0 to 4 for a total of 240 min. The severity of the complaints (overall and individual symptoms) as displayed by the symptom questionnaire was compared between normal and delayed GE groups. The relationship between GE time and the severity of FD symptoms was assessed using Mann-Whitney test.
RESULTS
Thirty nine FD patients (55% girls; mean age: 11.9 ± 3.3 years) participated in the study. Of these, 43% had delayed GE. The overall symptom severity in patients with delayed GE was similar to the symptoms of patients with a normal GE rate (149.5 ± 12.7 points vs. 123.9 ± 9.0; p = 0.19). Individual symptoms scores showed only nausea to be significantly increased in the group with delayed GE (21.5 ± 1.9 points vs. 33.2 ± 4.6; p = 0.048, p < 0.1).
CONCLUSION
Especially in children with nausea as presenting symptom of FD, a low threshold should be withheld to perform a GE breath test.
Topics: Female; Humans; Child; Adolescent; Male; Dyspepsia; Gastroparesis; Nausea; Abdominal Pain; Vomiting
PubMed: 37288616
DOI: 10.1111/nmo.14620 -
RSC Advances Jan 2024Hypersaline reservoirs are characterized by high salinity and high calcium and magnesium concentration. In order to enhance oil recovery of the hypersaline reservoirs, a...
Hypersaline reservoirs are characterized by high salinity and high calcium and magnesium concentration. In order to enhance oil recovery of the hypersaline reservoirs, a specialized ternary mixed surfactant system composed of nonionic alkanolamide surfactants and anionic surfactant was developed in this study. Through careful analysis and optimization, lauric acid diethanolamide (LDEA), octanoic acid diethanolamide (ODEA), and sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) were identified as promising candidates for the surfactant compounding system, and formed a ternary surfactant system composed of LDEA, ODEA, and SDS with the mass ratio of 4.64 : 0.66 : 1.00. Experimental results revealed that the interfacial tension of the system was consistently below 10 mN m and could even reach ultra-low levels (10 mN m) under conditions of calcium and magnesium ion content of 2000 mg L, surfactant concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 0.3 wt%, temperature ranging from 50 to 80 °C, and salinity ranging from 20 000 to 50 000 mg L. Furthermore, the mixed surfactant system exhibited favorable wetting capacity and emulsifying power. The static adsorption capacities of the mixed surfactant on oil sands were less than 2 mg g. This study offered a novel strategy for the actual exploitation of reservoirs with high calcium-magnesium and high salinity.
PubMed: 38188981
DOI: 10.1039/d3ra07116b -
The Journal of Physical Chemistry... Nov 2023We have synthesized inherently chiral cesium lead halide perovskite magic-sized clusters (PMSCs) and ligand-assisted metal halide molecular clusters (MHMCs) using the...
We have synthesized inherently chiral cesium lead halide perovskite magic-sized clusters (PMSCs) and ligand-assisted metal halide molecular clusters (MHMCs) using the achiral ligands octanoic acid (OCA) and octylamine (OCAm). UV-vis electronic absorption was used to confirm characteristic absorption bands while circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy was utilized to determine their chiroptical activity in the 412-419 and 395-405 nm regions, respectively. In contrast, the larger sized counterpart of PMSCs, namely, perovskite quantum dots (PQDs), do not show chirality. The inherent chirality of the clusters is tentatively attributed to a twisted chiral layered structure, defect-induced chiral structure, or twisted Pb-Br octahedra.
PubMed: 37983016
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c02581 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Feb 2024In this work, the assembly behavior and structure of a compound collector with different carboxyl group positions at the low-rank coal (LRC)-water interface were...
Effect of Carboxyl Group Position on Assembly Behavior and Structure of Hydrocarbon Oil-Carboxylic Acid Compound Collector on Low-Rank Coal Surface: Sum-Frequency Vibration Spectroscopy and Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study.
In this work, the assembly behavior and structure of a compound collector with different carboxyl group positions at the low-rank coal (LRC)-water interface were investigated through coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation (CGMD) combined with sum-frequency vibration spectroscopy (SFG). The choice of compound collector was dodecane +decanoic acid (D-DA) and dodecane +2-butyl octanoic acid (D-BA). CGMD results showed that the carboxyl group at the carbon chain's middle can better control the assembly process between carboxylic acid and D molecules. SFG research found that the carboxyl group at the carbon chain's termination had a greater impact on the displacement of the methyl/methylene symmetric stretching vibration peak, while the carboxyl group at the carbon chain's middle had a greater impact on the displacement of the methyl/methylene asymmetric stretching vibration peak. The spatial angle calculation results revealed that the methyl group's orientation angle in the D-BA molecule was smaller and the carboxyl group's orientation angle in the BA molecule was bigger, indicating that D-BA spread more flatly on the LRC surface than D-DA. This meant that the assembled structure had a larger effective adsorption area on the LRC surface. The flotation studies also verified that the assembly behavior and structure of D-BA with the carboxyl group at the carbon chain's middle at the LRC-water interface were more conducive to the improvement of flotation efficiency. The study of interface assembly behavior and structure by CGMD combined with SFG is crucial for the creation of effective compound collectors.
PubMed: 38474546
DOI: 10.3390/molecules29051034