Aquaculture is growing rapidly as a food-producing sector and in recent years, fishmeal prices have climbed by more than twofold on a global scale. This review of previous studies was performed to contribute to the extant literature on the aquaculture sector to aid cost reduction of aquafeeds by identifying substitute protein that can replace fishmeal. The review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) using the SCOPUS and WOS (Web of Science), DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals), Academia, and Pubmed Central databases with the following search terms: “fishmeal,” “alternative protein source” and “aquafeeds.” This resulted in 5,331 articles from the SCOPUS and WOS databases. Finally, the titles and abstracts of the articles were screened, giving a total of 162 articles that were used in the study; another 58 articles came from open databases. Results have shown that 100% replacement of fishmeal with blood meal did not affect the growth of fish as well as 75% to 100% combination of poultry-by-product (PBM), feather meal (FEM), and blood meal (BM). Moreover, a 10% replacement of fishmeal using seaweed (Gracilaria arcuata) has no adverse effect on feed efficiency and growth performance of tilapia, a 50% replacement of fishmeal using black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens), and 25% replacement using soybean (Glycine max) also showed better results for fish growth. With that, this review shows that alternative protein can be a great alternative to the aquaculture sector in reducing the cost of aquafeeds since alternative proteins are much cheaper than the usual fishmeal.

Malaria remains a life-threatening disease in many tropical countries. Honduras has successfully reduced malaria transmission as different control methods have been applied focusing mainly on indoor mosquitoes. The selective pressure exerted by the use of insecticides inside the households could modify the feeding behavior of the mosquitoes forcing them to search for available animal hosts outside the houses. These animal hosts in the peridomicile could consequently become an important factor in maintaining vector populations in endemic areas. Herein, we investigated the blood meal sources and Plasmodium spp. infection on anophelines collected outdoors in endemic areas of Honduras. Individual PCR reactions with species-specific primers were used to detect five feeding sources on 181 visibly engorged mosquitoes. In addition, a subset of these mosquitoes where chosen for pathogen analysis by a nested PCR approach. Most mosquitoes fed on multiple hosts (2 to 4), and 24.9% of mosquitoes were fed on a single host, animal or human. Chicken and bovine were the most frequent blood meal sources (29.5% and 27.5% respectively). The average human blood index (HBI) was 22.1%. None of the mosquitoes was found to be infected with Plasmodium spp. Our results show the opportunistic and zoophilic behavior of Anopheles mosquitoes in Honduras.

Aedes aegypti is the primary mosquito vector of several human arboviruses including dengue virus (DENV). Vector control is the principal intervention to decrease the transmission of these viruses. The characterization of molecules involved in the mosquito physiological responses to blood-feeding may help to identify novel targets useful in the design of effective control strategies. In this study, we evaluated the in vivo effect of feeding adult female mosquitoes with human blood containing either heat-inactivated (IB), normal serum (NB), and RNA-seq based transcript expression was compared against sugar-fed (SF) mosquitoes. In the in vitro experiments, we treated Aag2 cells with a recombinant version of the complement proteins (hC3 or hC5a) and compared transcript expression to untreated control cells after 24h. The transcript expression analysis revealed that human complement proteins modulate approximately 2,300 transcripts involved in multiple biological functions, including the immune system. We also found 161 up-regulated and 168 down-regulated transcripts differentially expressed when hC3 and hC5a were compared against the control untreated cells. We conclude that active human complement induces significant changes in the transcriptome of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes, which can influence the infective capacity of pathogens ingested during blood meals.

There are a number of Anopheles species playing either primary or secondary roles in malaria transmission. Hence, understanding the species composition, their bionomics, and behaviors are all important in designing and implementing vector control intervention tools. Moreover, accurate identification of different species is vital. This study aimed to assess species composition, sporozoite infection rate, and blood meal origins of malaria mosquitoes in two malaria-endemic villages of Boreda district in Gamo zone, southwest Ethiopia. Thirty houses, 20 for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light traps and 10 for Pyrethrum Spray Catches (PSC), were randomly selected for bimonthly mosquito collection from October 2019 to February 2020. Enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test was done to detect the blood meal origins and circumsporozoite proteins (CSPs). The entomological inoculation rate (EIR) was calculated by multiplying the sporozoite and human biting rates from PSCs. Anopheles gambiae and An. funestus complexes were further identified into species by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Anopheles species with some morphological structures confusing with An. gambiae or An. funestus complexes were father confirmed by PCR. A total of 15 Anopheles species were documented, of which An. demeilloni was the dominant one. Only An. arabiensis was positive for P. falciparum CSP. The overall P. falciparum CSP rate of An. arabiensis was 0.54%. The overall estimated P. falciparum EIR of An. arabiensis from PSC was 1.5 infectious bites/person/five months. Of the 145 freshly fed Anopheles mosquitoes tested for blood meal source, 57.9% (84/145) had bovine blood meal, 22 (15.2%) had human blood meal origin alone and 24 (16.5%) had mixed blood meal origins of human and bovine. An. demeilloni mainly fed on bovine blood (102/126 = 80.9%). Among 420 morphologically classified An. demeilloni, 11 (2.6%) were confirmed as An. lessoni (one of the An. funestus complexes) by PCR. A substantial number of morphologically classified An. salbaii, An. maculipalpis and An. fuscivenosus were found to be An. arabiensis by PCR. Regardless of the high diversity of Anopheles mosquitoes, An. arabiensis is playing the primary role in malaria transmission. Morphological misclassification of species could be a challenge in malaria mosquito monitoring and surveillance, and hence it should be supported by more sensitive techniques for confirmation.

The liver health of Gilthead sea bream and European sea bass fed fishmeal-free diets including various proportions of plant proteins, insect and poultry by-product meals, was investigated through biochemical and histological analyses using a new Liver Index (LI) formula. Four isoproteic (45% DM) and isolipidic (20% DM) diets were compared: a control, plant-based diet (CV) and other three test ones where 40% of a plant protein-rich ingredient mixture was replaced by Hermetia illucens (H40) or poultry by-product (P40) meals alone or in combination (H10P30). The trials lasted 12 and 18 weeks for sea bream and sea bass, respectively. The results so far ob-tained highlighted species-specific differences in the physiological response to dietary changes. In sea bream, the biochemical and histological responses suggest favorable physiological status and liver health, with higher serum cholesterol (CHO) and triglyceride (TAG) levels and moderate hepatocyte lipid accumulation with the H10P30 diet compared to CV (p<0.05). In sea bass, all diets resulted in elevated serum TAG levels and liver lipid accumulation particularly in fish fed the P40 one (p<0.05) which resulted in the highest LI, coupled with higher frequency of severe lipid accumulation, hypertrophy, cord loss, peripheral nuclei displacement and pyknosis. In conclusion sea bream well adapted to the test diets, while sea bass exhibited altered hepatic lipid metabolism leading to incipient liver steatosis, likely due to the high lipid content of the diets including the insect and poultry meals. The LI developed in this study proved to be a reliable tool for assessing the effects of dietary changes on liver health of sea bream and sea bass, consistent with biochemical and histological findings.

This study addresses the urgent need for sustainable protein sources in aquaculture due to the depletion of marine resources and rising costs. Animal protein sources, particularly poultry by-product meal (PBM) and insect exuviae meal, are investigated as viable alternatives to fishmeal (FM). Research confirms the successful replacement of FM with a combination of PBM and insect exuviae meal (up to 50%) in the diet of European seabass without compromising growth, feed conversion, gut health and liver fat content. In particular, growth performance was robust with both PBM formulations, with the 25% PBM diet showing better results. Histological examinations showed good gut and liver health, contradicting the concerns of previous studies. The study emphasizes the importance of holistic analyzes that go beyond growth parameters and include histomorphological investigations. The results show that PBM in combination with insect/exuviae meal is well tolerated by seabass, which is consistent with literature reports of mitigating negative effects on gut health. A detailed analysis of the microbiota revealed a decrease in the Firmicutes/Proteobacteria ratio due to an increase in potentially pathogenic bacteria. However, the formulation containing insect exuviae partially counteracted this effect by preserving the beneficial Lactobacillus and promoting the synthesis of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), particularly butyrate. Chitin-rich components from insect exuviae were associated with improved gut health, which was supported by increased production of SCFA, which are known for their anti-inflammatory properties. The study concludes that a combination of PBM and insect/exuviae meal can replace up to 50% of FM in the diet of seabass, supporting sustainable aquaculture practices. Despite some changes in the microbiota, the negative effects are mitigated by the addition of insect exuviae, highlighting their potential as a prebiotic to increase fish productivity and contribute to a circular economy in aquaculture.

Individuals with metabolic syndrome have increased risk for developing health conditions, in-cluding cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Modifiable risk factors, such as exercise and diet, are key components in the prevention and control of metabolic syndrome. Specifically, dietary pat-terns and habits are extremely successful in controlling more than one of the metabolic syn-drome risk factors. Meal timing and frequency have been associated with type 2 diabetes, cardi-ovascular diseases, and other chronic conditions. However, there is limited evidence linking metabolic syndrome to meal timing and meal frequency. This review summarizes and discusses how meal timing and frequency impact metabolic outcomes in adults.

Dietary habits, including meal frequency, meal timing, and skipping meals, have been extensively studied due to their association with the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This study describes dietary habits, meal timing, meal frequency, skipping meals, and late-night eating in Kuwaiti adults. The Kuwait National Nutrition Surveillance System data was utilized to reach the objectives of this study. The findings reveal that approximately 50% of the adults in Kuwait eat after 10 p.m., 29% skip breakfast, and 9.8% skip dinner. Furthermore, adults in Kuwait consume 4.4 meals per day on average. Women skip breakfast more often and have extended night fasting than men (p&lt;0.001). Married adults skip breakfast and dinner less than unmarried adults (p&lt;0.001). In conclusion, this descriptive study provides valuable insights into the dietary habits of Kuwaiti adults, emphasizing the importance of further investigating the association between meal timing, meal frequency, and the prevalence of NCDs in Kuwait.

Over the last five decades, weed management systems have relied primarily on synthetic herbicides. Due to the concerns over the potential impact of chemicals on human health and the environment, efforts are being made to reduce the heavy reliance on synthetic herbicides. To reduce the use of synthetic herbicides, the use of natural products such as essential oils, plant extracts, allelochemicals, agricultural by-products, and some microbes are gaining attention because of their short environmental half-life and low toxicity. They are a good alternative to synthetic herbicides, especially in organic agriculture, since they focus on environmental protection, and ecological stability. Most of the commercially available natural herbicides are non-selective and require careful application in order to preserve the cash crops. Although many studies in this direction have been undertaken, the use of these natural products is still not common because of their cost the difficulties in their synthesis due to their complex structure, cost effectiveness, poor performance, and rapid degradation. When used singly, these natural herbicides do not perform as well as the chemical herbicides. An integrated approach may provide better results. Using a combination of natural herbicides may be more effective than using just one.

BACKGROUND This study investigated the association of postprandial plasma glucose (PPG) with cancer mortality using a general cohort of US adults. METHODS This cohort study included 14,860 US adults who attended the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1988 to 1994, with mortality being followed up to December 31, 2019. The experimental exposures were levels of plasma glucose, including PPG with a fasting time of 0-3.9 h (PPG_0-3.9h) and 4-7.9 h (PPG_4-7.9h), plasma glucose with a fasting time ≥ 8 h (PG_fasting), and plasma glucose at 2 h after oral glucose tolerance test (PG_2hOGTT). Plasma glucose-associated cancer mortality risk was assessed using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS A 1-natural-log-unit increase in PPG_4-7.9h was associated with a higher multivariate-adjusted risk for cancer mortality [hazard ratio (HR), 3.24; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.50-7.00]. However, PPG_0-3.9h, PG_fasting, PG_2hOGTT, hemoglobin A_1c, and insulin were not significantly associated with cancer mortality. The positive association of PPG_4-7.9h with cancer mortality remained in those without a prior diagnosis of cancer. CONCLUSIONS High PPG_4-7.9h is associated with a higher cancer mortality risk in US adults. Lowering PPG_4-7.9h may reduce cancer mortality.

Duckweeds are the smallest flowering plants on Earth. They grow fast on water's surface and produce large amounts of biomass. Further, duckweeds display high adaptability, and species are found around the globe growing under different environmental conditions. In this work, we report the composition of 21 ecotypes of fourteen species of duckweeds belonging to the two sub-families of the group (Lemnoideae and Wolffioideae). It is reported the presence of starch and the composition of soluble sugars, cell walls, amino acids, phenolics, and tannins. These data were combined with literature data recovered from 85 publications to produce a compiled analysis that affords the examination of duckweeds as possible food sources for human consumption. We compare duckweeds compositions with some of the most common food sources and conclude that duckweed, which is already in use as food in Asia, can be an interesting food source anywhere in the world.

This study delves into the extraction and compositional analysis of soybean meal protein isolates (SMPI) compared to soy protein isolates (SPI), focusing on their functional and structural properties, digestibility, amino acid composition, and the impact of various proteases on antinutritional factors. By leveraging alkaline (0.25 % of NH4OH) extraction and isoelectric precipitation, SMPI was efficiently obtained. Compositional characteristics revealed that SMPI has high moisture, protein, and ash, but lower fat, and carbohydrate content compared to SPI. Alcalase, Neutrase and Pepsin hydrolysis indicated lower digestibility of SMPI than SPI. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis provided similar molecular structure and protein molecular weight distribution. This comprehensive analysis underscores the valorization of soybean meal, promoting its use beyond conventional animal feed towards nutritional supplements and bio-based products, thereby contributing to environmental sustainability and the enhancement of global food systems.

Background: Several kinds of research say that adjuvant blood glucose and blood pressure are usual, but an efficient solution for medical application count remains. This review analyzes the pandemic blood pressure and blood glucose to identify the publications which tell about the clinical practices and research gaps in systematic research.Methods: A study guides to identify the research of Blood Pressure (BP) and Blood Glucose. In order to analyze the recent innovations and research on BP and Blood glucose, the relevant publications and literature from journals were identified.Results: Co-morbidity of BP and Blood glucose is reported as very high. The commonness of blood pressure is thrice as high in type I diabetes patients and almost two times higher in type II diabetes patients when compared to others without Diabetes. The pervasiveness of getting depression is more in the female when compared with men. A detailed study about the linkage of BP and blood glucose tells that the relationship between them is not exactly clear.Limitations: Nearly all reviews providing the linkage of BP and blood glucose are with some limitations and they are not providing any clear conclusion.Conclusions: Present research tells that people having high blood glucose will have a greater chance of getting high blood pressure. More research is needed to state the linkage between BP, blood glucose, and the growth of diabetes mellitus issues and to provide support for managing Diabetes.

Insect meal as a protein source has been considered a sustainable way to feed animals. H. illucens and T. molitor larvae meal are considered high protein sources for poultry, also presenting considerable amounts of fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. However, other potential components in insect meal and insect oil have been more studied nowadays. Chitin, lauric acid, and antimicrobial peptides can present antimicrobial and prebiotic functions, indicating that low inclusions of insect meal can beneficially affect broilers` health and immune responses. This systematic review was developed to study the impact of insect products on health parameters of broilers, and a metanalysis was conducted to evaluate the effects on performance. A database was obtained based on a selection of manuscripts from 2016 to January 2023, following the mentioned parameters. There were positive effects of both H. illucens and T. molitor meal or oil products on poultry health status, especially in microbiota population, immune responses, and antimicrobial properties. The average daily gain was greater in broilers fed T. molitor meal compared to H. illucens meal (p = 0.002). The results suggest that low levels of insect meal were suitable for broilers, without result in negative effects on performance, while the insect oil can totally replace soybean oil without negative impacts.

The black soldier larvae meal (BSFLM) has been the most extensively studied insect protein source in shrimp nutrition. However, both the availability and prices of BSFLM are still a constraint for its widespread use as an ingredient in animal feeds. The present study investigated the growth and economic performance of post-larval (PL) P. vannamei fed nursery diets with a progressive replacement of fish meal (FML) for BSFLM at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%. These replacements corresponded to a dietary inclusion (% of the diet, as-is) of FML and BSFLM of 16.50 and 6.33%, 11.00 and 13.04%, 5.50 and 19.74%, and 0 and 26.46%, respectively. A total of 102,647 shrimp at the age of PL15 with 2.7 ± 0.2 mg body weight (BW) were stocked in fifty 1.5-m3 tanks under 1,369 PLs/m3 (2,053 ± 33 PLs/tank) and reared for 42 days. Final shrimp survival (90.5 ± 7.6%), daily weight gain (14.7 ± 1.1 mg/day), and apparent feed intake (0.67 ± 0.03 g of feed per stocked shrimp) were unaffected by dietary treatment. The highest gained yield (791 ± 52 and 776 ± 38 g/m3) and final BW (621 ± 7.2 and 632 ± 7.2 mg) were attained when FML was replaced for BSFLM at 50 and 75% with the lowest at 0% (726 ± 34 g/m3 and 598 ± 8.1 mg, respectively). Shrimp fed diets with 0 and 100% replacement of FML exhibited the highest feed conversion ratio (1.25 ± 0.04 and 1.24 ± 0.08) compared to those fed a diet with 50% (1.16 ± 0.06). At a price of USD 2.00/kg, BSFLM demonstrated a favorable ROI (Return of Investment) when compared to FML, irrespective of the replacement level. With 25 and 50% replacement, BSFLM remained cost-competitive up to 3.50 USD/kg. At 75% FML replacement, there were no significant differences in ROI with a price range of 2.00 up to 3.04 USD/kg. At full replacement, ROI dropped significantly at a BSFLM price of 2.50 USD/kg and beyond. It can be concluded that FML can be fully replaced for BSFLM in well-balanced nursery diets for P. vannamei. While the full replacement of FML for BSFLM was successfully accomplished, the competitive ROI was sustained only when the price of BSFLM did not exceed 3.04 USD/kg at its dietary highest inclusion of 19.74%. Further research may be necessary to fine-tune cost-effective inclusion levels of BSFLM to optimize the economic outcomes while considering the fluctuating prices of FML.

The increasing prevalence of obesity and sedentary lifestyles has led to an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) worldwide. In Taiwan, middle-aged women are at a greater risk of MetS, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease than men are because they have more subcutaneous fat and larger waist circumferences compared to men with equal visceral fat levels. This study investigated the effects of calorie restriction supplemented with fish oil (CRF) in middle-aged women with MetS. For 12 weeks, 75 eligible participants were randomly assigned either calorie restriction (CR) or CRF. Both dietary intervention groups were further divided into two age groups: ≤45 and >45 years. The changes in MetS severity, inflammatory status, iron status, and red blood cell fatty acid profile were evaluated. Seventy-one participants completed the trial. Both dietary interventions significantly ameliorated MetS and improved the participants’ inflammatory status. CR significantly increased total iron binding capacity, whereas CRF increased hepcidin levels. Furthermore, CRF significantly increased the n-6/n-3 and arachidonic acid/docosahexaenoic acid ratios. In conclusion, CR and CRF improved the anthropometric and MetS characteristics of early-middle aged women, including body weight, blood glucose levels, triglyceride levels, as well as the scores for the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and quantitative insulin sensitivity cheque index. Dietary intervention was more effective in >45-year-old women than ≤45-year-old women.

Abstract: The search for alternative protein sources to soy-bean meal (SBM) in animal feeding is a strategic objective to reduce production costs and contribute to a sustainable animal produc-tion. Spirulina, due to the high protein content, has emerged as a potential cost-effective, sus-tainable, viable and high nutritional value food resource for many animal species. Insect larvae (Tenebrio molitor and Hermetia illucens) are also considered potential alternatives to SBM, given their high edible percentage of almost 100%, as well as a protein value higher than that of vegetable proteins. Rapeseed meal and grain legumes, such as faba beans, peas, lupins and chickpea can also be used as locally producible protein ingredients. This study reviews the nutritional value of these potential alternatives to SBM in pig diets, effects on animal perfor-mance, digestion, immune system, physicochemical and sensorial characteristics of meat, in-cluding processed meat products of pork. Limits on their use in pig feeding are also reviewed to indicate gaps to be filled in future research on the supplementation level of these potential al-ternative protein sources into pig diets.

To develop a lower-cost, excellent performance, and environmentally friendly phe-nol-formaldehyde (PF) resin, soybean meal was used to modify PF resin, and soybean meal-phenol-formaldehyde (SMPF) resins were prepared. Their physicochemical properties and curing performance were investigated, showing that SMPF resins have higher curing tempera-tures than PF resin. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results indicated that the cross-linking reaction occurred between the amino groups of soybean protein and the hy-droxymethyl phenol. Moreover, with the addition of soybean meal, the viscosity of SMPF in-creased while the gel time decreased. It is worth mentioning that SMPF-2 resin has favorable viscosity, short gel time, low curing temperature (135.78 °C), and high water resistance and bonding strength (1.01 MPa). Finally, all the plywoods bonded with SMPF resins have good water resistance and bonding strength, which could meet the Standard (GB/T 17657-2013, type I) for plywood. The optimized SMPF resins showed the potential application to replace part of PF resin in the wood industry.

Dietary approach is essential to obesity control, but the effectiveness of changes in meal frequency (MF) as strategies for loss and maintenance of body mass remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of MF on a hypocaloric diet on weight loss, active ghrelin levels and metabolic indicators of women with obesity. This is a randomized, parallel clinical trial, including forty women, randomized in two groups, both following a hypocaloric diet, according to MF (G1 – six meals/day; G2 – three meals/day). Dietary, laboratory, anthropometric and body composition indicators were assessed, as well as energy expenditure (EE), before and after the 90 days of intervention. After intervention, both groups decreased body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, fat mass (FM), insulin and HOMA-IR. G1 increased insulin sensitivity and G2 reduced triglyceride and FM and increased fat-free mass (FFM). MF increased ghrelin levels. There were no differences in EE variables. Hypocaloric diet with different MF promoted a reduction in total weight, BMI, WC and FM and an improvement in glycidic metabolism. However, the accomplishment of the three meals/day increased the FFM and active ghrelin and reduced triglyceride, while six meals/day was more beneficial in increasing insulin sensitivity.

Background: High blood pressure (BP) has been implicated as a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in several global populations, including in individuals of African ancestry. Despite the elevated burden of high BP-induced cardiovascular diseases in Africa and other global populations with African ancestry, limited genetic studies have been carried out to explore the genetic machinery driving this phenomenon. Methods: We performed univariate and multivariate analyses using Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and summary statistics data of 77,850 individuals of African ancestry for systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) traits. The six independent cohorts used included individuals derived from the African Partnership for Chronic Disease Research (APCDR), the UK Biobank, and the Million Veteran Program (MVP). Subsequently, we annotated, prioritized, visualized, and interpreted our meta-analyses results using FUMA, to gain further insight into the molecular mechanism(s) that contribute to the genetics of BP traits. Finally, loci attaining genome-wide significance, GWS (p<5x10-8) were also followed up with Bayesian fine-mapping to identify potential causal variants. Results: Our meta-analyses altogether identified 350 GWAS SNPs for SBP (166 SNPs) and DBP (184 SNPs, including two novel loci) whilst our multivariate GWAS method identified 166 SNPs (including three novel loci). Interestingly, in FUMA there was significant tissue enrichment of up-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the sigmoid and transverse colon for SBP, as well as 10 significant gene sets from MAGMA gene set analyses, However, for DBP, no significant DEGs nor gene sets in MAGMA were found; instead, in DBP for gene property analysis for tissue specificity nine candidates were found to be significant and all nine were in different brain regions. Finally, Bayesian fine-mapping revealed that only 11 variants from the lead SNPs had >50% posterior probability (PP) of being causal and they included novel variant rs562545 (MOBP, PP = 77%) and 10 other previously published variants. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the importance of performing GWAS in large sample sizes of global populations of African ancestry, including continental Africans; which yield novel insights, from novel loci to novel pathways/tissue expression candidates. Large-scale genomic datasets are required to enhance further discovery and fine-mapping of high-risk loci/variants in highly susceptible groups for cardiovascular disease and other related traits. Our study highlights the need for diversity in genetic research and the importance of expanding large GWASs to include ancestrally diverse populations.

The study aimed to showcase how implementing a patient blood management (PBM) program effectively cut unnecessary red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in a New York City urban community teaching hospital. Analyzing seven years from 2013 to 2019, a retrospective review of RBC transfusions was conducted. Following PBM introduction, considerable improvements were observed annually. These included a drop in mean pretransfusion hemoglobin levels from 7.26g/dL (2013) to 6.58g/dL (2019), a 34% reduction in yearly RBC unit transfusions, and fewer units given to patients with pre-Hgb levels ≥7g/dL (1210 units in 2013 to 310 units in 2019). Furthermore, the study noted a decline in two-unit RBC orders when Hgb levels were ≥7g/dL from 65 orders in 2013 to merely 3 in 2019. The estimated total cost-savings attributed to the six-year PBM program duration after full implementation in 2014 amounted to $2.1 million US dollars. Overall, PBM implementation significantly decreased RBC transfusions and enhanced transfusion practices. The findings emphasize that successful PBM strategies don't always necessitate extensive resources or increased budgets but instead rely on the application of intuitive methods, as evidenced by this study.

Rapeseed meal (RM) is an important agroindustrial by-product produced in large quantities by oil extraction from seeds. However, the efficient utilization of RM as animal feed is limited by its low metabolizable energy, poor palatability, and high levels of fiber and anti-nutritional components. Here, we investigate the potential of enriching RM with single-cell protein by fermentation with conventional and unconventional yeasts, to make a nutritionally improved feed component. The process of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation improved the parameters of the waste biomass, especially the protein content, the amount of crude fiber, and the degree of biotransformation of isoflavone compounds present in the waste material. Fermentation yielded the highest protein gain for the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ethanol Red strain (ΔN=2.38%) at a biomass load of 12.5 g and for Scheffersomyces stipitis (ΔN=2.34%) at an enzyme dose of 0.125ml/10g DM. Crude fiber content (CF) was reduced by 2.55–7.18%. The SSF process resulted in the conversion of isoflavones to forms with fewer adverse effects and lower estrogenic activity.

The impact of cyclic heat stress (CHS) and lighting events on pig feeding behavior (FB) was investigated. The FB of 90 gilts was recorded in real time under two ambient temperatures (AT): thermoneutrality (TN, 22 °C) or CHS (22°/35 °C). The day was divided into four periods: PI (06-08 h); PII (08-18 h); PIII (18-20 h); and PIV (20-06 h). Automatic and Intelligent Precision Feeders recorded each feed event for each pig. An estimated meal criterion (49 minutes) was used to calculate the FB variables. Feed behavior in both ATs followed a circadian pattern. The CHS reduced the feed intake by 6.9%. Pigs prioritized feed intake during the coolest hours of the day; however, nocturnal cooling did not allow the pigs to compensate for the reduced meal size due to CHS. The highest meal size and most of the meals were observed during the lighting-on period. Pigs reduced their interval between meals during periods II and III. The lighting program increased the meal size when the lights were switched on and reduced the meal size when the lights were switched off. Thus, the dynamics of the FB were largely influenced by AT, while the meal size was affected by the lighting program.

My hypothesis is that the signs and symptoms of Long COVID can be explained by a shortage of blood in the body and a resulting deficient blood flow through nearly all organs. This shortage arises through damage to the blood-producing organs during the acute phase, while the breakdown of blood continues as normal, after an initial increase. In order to ensure the perfusion of organs that are directly necessary for survival, the body takes the emergency measure of diverting blood from other organs and tissues. The perfusion of the blood-producing organs is also affected by this distribution measure, which hinders the smooth recovery of the total blood volume. The body is stuck in this vicious circle: a shortage of circulating blood hinders the recovery of blood production. This explains the long duration of Long COVID. My proposed treatment of Long COVID focuses on the recovery of the correct volume of blood in the body of the right composition by the very careful administration of donor blood products under continuous expert supervision. A trial treatment can be performed in any hospital without much additional preparations, and has a lower associated risk for the patient than analysing the total blood. A diagnosis ex juvantibus, by therapeutic response, is therefore preferable, and will result in the healing process starting earlier. Indications in blood laboratory values of a shortage of blood are a high serum ferritin due to internal breakdown of blood and values for haematocrit and albumin at reciprocal extremes of the reference ranges due to a stagnation of blood production.

The purpose of this work was to evaluate a novel methodology developed by Digital Blood Corporation (DBC) to calculate critical blood values using four non-invasive measured values as input. The values obtained using a point-of-care testing (POCT) device were utilized for comparison and reference. Radial arterial blood was collected for the POCT comparator analysis using the Abbott i-STAT^® device. The non-invasive methodology from DBC requires four parameters to be directly measured: temperature, hemoglobin, pO2, and pCO2. Subsequently, sodium, potassium, chloride, ionized calcium, total carbon dioxide, pH, bicarbonate, and oxygen saturation are calculated using an algorithm. The agreement between the POCT and DBC’s methodology was analyzed using Bland-Altman difference plots. For a second data set, pO2 and pCO2 values collected with the POCT were used as input for DBC’s algorithm to test its robustness. Data from 37 healthy ambulatory individuals, mean age: 42.4 + 13 years; range: 18-64 years, were included in the primary analysis. In the case of the non-invasive gained four input values the greatest variation between POCT and DBC’s approach was observed for pO2 and consequently for algorithm values that depend upon pO2 precision. Replacing transcutaneous pO2 and pCO2 with POCT values demonstrates the principal ability of DBC’s algorithm to predict the additional 8 blood values in sufficient agreement with a standard POCT device in healthy patients. The algorithm developed by DBC appears to be robust in the case of healthy patients but does need the four measured input values with preciseness comparable to a POCT device to give reliable and clinically relevant results. The present study thus serves as a proof of concept to facilitate future study and further development of this methodology into a non-invasive device.

(1) Background: This study aimed to evaluate whether the implementation of a modified blood sampling protocol, which focused on need-based laboratory testing and minimized venous sampling by replacing it with point-of-care testing (POCT) via capillary puncture, successfully reduced iatrogenic blood loss, incidence of anemia, and frequency of blood transfusion in extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWIs) without negatively affecting neonatal outcomes. (2) Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 313 ELBWIs of gestational age (GA) between 23 and 28 weeks, born between 2013 and 2019. The infants were divided into two groups: before (period I) and after (period II) the implementation of the modified blood sampling protocol in January 2016. Propensity score matching was conducted to minimize selection bias. Clinical data, including the frequency and amount of blood sampling, frequency and volume of blood transfusion, and clinical characteristics, such as gestational age, birth weight, and neonatal outcome data, were collected and compared between the two groups. (3) Results: No significant differences in the GA or birth weight between the two periods were observed. The total sampling volume during a month after birth (16.7 ± 4.1 mL vs. 15.6 ± 4.4 mL, P=0.03) and total sampling volume during hospital days (51.4 ± 29.7 mL vs. 44.3 ± 27.5 mL, P=0.04) in period II were significantly lower than that in period I. There were no differences in the mortality or morbidity between the two periods. Although the transfusion frequency and amount did not have significant differences between the periods, we observed a positive correlation between the transfusion frequency and sampling volume (coefficient: 0.09, 95% CI: 0.08–0.11). (4) Conclusions: The modified blood sampling protocol effectively reduced the iatrogenic blood loss without negatively affecting the neonatal outcomes.

Sustainability enhancement is one of the main challenges of aquaculture. Since feeds represent one of the major costs from an environmental point of view, it is priority to find sustainable alterna-tive ingredients for aquaculture diet. Insect meals have some advantages as ingredients for aqua-culture, like its sustainability and nutritional value. However, the biggest drawback of full-fat in-sect meal is its fatty acid profile. The objective of this work was to assess the effects of partial plant or marine-derived ingredients replacements with full-fat Tenebrio molitor meal (TM) at two differ-ent levels on growth performance and fatty acids profiles of Solea senegalensis. For this purpose, a control diet and four experimental diets were tested, two of them contained 5 and 10% w/w TM that replaced mostly fish meal. Two other experimental diets included 10 and 15% w/w TM that replaced mostly plant meals. The inclusion of insect meal resulted in an improvement in growth rate and feed efficiency in both cases. Moreover, dietary inclusion of insect meal increased muscle total protein and decreased total lipid, without changes in phospholipids, and maintaining the relative level of n-3 PUFA. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that full-fat TM inclusion up to 15% in S. senegalensis diets had no negative effects or even positive effects on fish survival, growth performance, nutrient utilization and flesh quality.

: Organic poultry need high-quality proteins in their diet. The EU’s organic regulation forbids synthetic amino acids; therefore, soybean, with its balanced essential amino acid content, has become the most used protein source, though much of it is imported from non-EU countries. Soybean, however, has some important problems related to sustainability and crop competition; therefore, it must be substituted with a high-protein-value alternative such as insect meal. In this study, 900 Aviagen Savanna broilers were reared using three different organic diets. The diets used the following as protein feed material: soybean only (S100), 50% black soldier fly larvae meal (BSL) and 50% soybean (BSL50), and 100% BSL only (BSL100). Broiler performance, welfare, and fatty acids (FA) in the thigh and breast were analyzed. BSL50 and BSL100 negatively affected growth performance, while BSL100 worsened all of the market-related measures of performance. Meat quality was worse in BSL50 and BSL100, with a significant increase in saturated FA (SFA) and a corresponding decrease in polyunsaturated FA (PUFA). Among SFA, lauric acid (C12:0) more notably increased. The increase in SFA represents a negative aspect of BSL meal inclusion, namely the production of lauric acid; however, this trend could have a beneficial effect, which will be more deeply explored with regard to its impact on animal and human health.

Combined radiation with hemorrhage (combined injury, CI), exacerbates hematopoietic acute radiation syndrome and mortality compared to radiation alone (RI). We evaluated the effects of RI or CI on blood cell depletion as a biomarker to differentiate the two. Male CD2F1 mice were exposed to 8.75 Gy γ- radiation (60Co). Within 2 h of RI, animals were bled under anesthesia 0% (RI) or 20% (CI) of total blood volume. Blood samples were collected at 4-5 h and days 1, 2, 3, 7, and 15 after RI. CI decreased WBC at 4-5 h and continued to decrease them until day 3; counts then stayed at the nadir up to day 15. CI decreased neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils more than RI on day 1 or day 2. CI decreased RBCs, hemoglobin and hematocrit on days 7 and 15 compared to RI, whereas Hemorrhage alone returned to the baseline on days 7 and 15. RBCs depleted after CI faster than post RI. Hemorrhage alone increased platelet counts on days 2, 3, and 7, which returned to the baseline on day 15. Our data suggest that WBC depletion may be a biomarker within 2 days post-CI and RBC depletion after 3 days post-CI.

The problem of blood delivery has been a critical concern in past decades. However, the unsteady behavior of blood donors, along with the uncertainties associated with demands in a crisis imposes several challenges for resource management. In this research work, we analyze the blood delivery behavior in a crisis modeled by coupled queues of patients and blood sources. Using Markovian modeling and results associated with G-network, we derive two critical probabilities, namely lack of unit of blood (unit of donations) or not having any storage capacity left to accept new donors' blood. We propose a closed-form solution to calculate the optimal blood storage size, and also we suggest sufficient conditions that guarantee the feasibility of the model. Finally, we conduct a sensitivity analysis to investigate the impact of model parameters on storage size and the proportion of time that storage is full.

Appetitive traits have been associated with eating behaviors and weight in youth. However, the relationships among adults have received less attention. In this study, we measured appetitive traits among 520 female college students from a University in eastern Chinese using the Chinese translated Adults Eating Behavior Questionnaire (C-AEBQ) and found that two food approach traits (food enjoyment and emotional over-eating) were positively while two food avoidance traits (slowness in eating and satiety responsiveness) were negatively associated with BMI. Individual trait was differentially associated with eating behaviors. Specifically, a positive correlation was found between food responsiveness and higher frequency of selecting delivery food, spicy food, and sugared beverage; conversely, satiety responsiveness was associated with higher frequency of skipping meals. Using latent profile analysis, participants were classified into four appetitive patterns: food approacher, food approacher with emotional under-eating, food avoider, and food avoider with emotional over-eating. Food avoiders had significant lower BMI and higher proportion of underweight than other three patterns. Compared to food approacher, food avoiders had higher frequency of skipping breakfast, and food avoiders with emotional over-eating had higher frequency of skipping both breakfast and lunch. No significant differences were observed in food choice and dieting behavior among four appetitive patterns. The findings suggested a correlation between an individual’s appetitive pattern and eating behaviors among female college students, those with food avoidance patterns are more likely to have irregular meals, which may contribute to their low BMI. The findings provide valuable insights for female college students to cultivate a healthy eating behavior and sustain a healthy body weight.

Glycosylation is a complex post-translational modification that conveys functional diversity to glycoconjugates. Cell surface glycosylation mediates several biological activities such as induction of intracellular signaling pathway and pathogen recognition. Red blood cell (RBC) membrane N-glycans determine blood type and influence cell lifespan. Although several proteomic studies were carried out, glycosylation of RBC membrane proteins has not been systematically investigated. This work aims at exploring the human RBC N-glycome by high-sensitivity MALDI-MS techniques to outline a fingerprint of RBC N-glycans. To this purpose, MALDI-TOF spectra of healthy subjects harboring different blood groups were acquired. Results showed the predominant occurrence of neutral and sialylated complex N-glycans with bisected N-acetylglucosamine, core- and/or an-tennary fucosylation. In the higher mass region these species presented with multiple N-acetyllactosamine repeating units. Amongst the detected glycoforms, the presence of glycans bearing ABO(H) antigens allowed us to define a distinctive spectrum for each blood group. For the first time, advanced glycomic techniques have been applied to a comprehensive exploration of human RBC N-glycosylation, providing a new tool for the early detection of distinct glycome changes associated with disease conditions as well as to understand pathogens molecular recognition.

This study explored the effects of a comprehensive health care program (CHCP) on blood pressure, blood glucose, body composition, and depression in older adults living alone. We used a quasi-experimental, two-group, pre-posttest design. The CHCP consisted of open lectures, health counseling, exercise classes, nutrition counseling, and self-help group meetings at a local senior welfare center. Fifty-eight subjects participated in this study, with thirty subjects in the experimental group and twenty-eight subjects in the control group. Data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics, χ²-test, and t-test. Comparisons of the pretest and posttest systolic blood pressure (t = - 2.530, p < .016) and blood glucose (t = 3.089, p < .004) between the experimental and control groups showed significant differences. In both the experimental (t = 3.949, p < .001) and control groups (t = 3.816, p < .002), depression symptoms showed a significant decrease post-test, compared with pre-test. Our findings infer that older adults require physical and psychosocial healthcare and that more efforts must be made to improve the general health and wellbeing of this population group.

This experiment aimed to investigate the impact of malic acid (MA) and citric acid (CA) on the nutritional composition, fermentation quality, rumen degradation rate, and microbial diversity of a mixture of apple pomace and corn protein powder during ensiling. The experiment used apple pomace and corn protein powder as raw materials, with four groups: control group (CON), malic acid treatment group (MA, 10g/kg), citric acid treatment group (CA, 10g/kg), and citric acid + malic acid treatment group (MA, 10g/kg + CA, 10g/kg), subjected to mixed ensiling for 60 days. The results indicated: (1) Compared to the CON group, the crude protein content significantly increased in the MA, CA, and MA+CA groups (p < 0.05), with the highest content observed in the MA+CA group. The addition of MA and CA effectively reduced the water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content (p < 0.05). Simultaneously, the CA group showed a decreasing trend in NDFom and hemicellulose content (p = 0.08; p = 0.09). (2) Compared to the CON group, the pH significantly decreased in the MA, CA, and MA+CA groups (p < 0.01), and the three treatment groups exhibited a significant increase in lactic acid and acetic acid content (p < 0.01). The quantity of lactic acid bacteria increased significantly (p < 0.01), with the MA+CA group showing a more significant increase than the MA and CA groups (p < 0.05). (3) Compared to the CON group, the in situ dry matter disappearance (ISDMD) significantly increased in the MA, CA, and MA+CA groups (p < 0.05). All three treatment groups showed highly significant differences in in situ crude protein disappearance (ISCPD) compared to the CON group (p < 0.01). (4) Good's Coverage for all experimental groups was greater than 0.99, meeting the conditions for subsequent sequencing. Compared to the CON group, the Shannon index significantly increased in the CA group (P < 0.01), and the Simpson index increased significantly in the MA group (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the Chao index among the three treatment groups and the CON group (p > 0.05). At the genus level, the abundance of Lentilactobacillus in the MA, CA, and MA+CA groups was significantly higher than in the control group (p < 0.05). PICRUSt prediction results indicated that the metabolic functional microbial groups in the CA and MA treatment groups were significantly higher than in the CON group (p < 0.05), suggesting that the addition of MA or CA could reduce the loss of nutritional components such as protein and carbohydrates in mixed ensilage. In conclusion, the addition of malic acid and citric acid to a mixture of apple pomace and corn protein powder during ensiling reduces nutritional losses, improves fermentation quality and rumen degradation rate, enhances the diversity of the microbial community in ensiled feed, and improves microbial structure. The combined addition of malic acid and citric acid demonstrates a superior effect.

This study investigated the intersecting influence of socioeconomic status and cooking behavior on dietary habits using nationwide Japanese data. The study measured the frequency of balanced meals and breakfast intake as indicators of healthy eating habits and used subjective economic status, subjective spare time, and cooking behavior as the independent variables. It employed multivariate logistic regression analyses to elucidate the relationships among these variables. The results demonstrated that even among economically poor or time-constrained individuals, those preparing meals from ingredients were more likely to eat balanced meals and breakfast than those relying on commercial food or rarely cooking. This finding suggested that cooking behavior can mitigate disparity in healthful eating due to socioeconomic conditions. The study added new insights into the impact of combining socioeconomic status and cooking behavior on dietary habits, which highlights the potential of promoting cooking behaviors, such as teaching cooking skills, as a strategy for reducing socioeconomic dietary disparities.

product transfusions, but clinical practices vary widely. Many very low birth weight (VLBW) infants receive packed red blood cell (RBC) or platelet transfusions during their initial NICU stay, with incidence inversely proportional to gestational age at birth ^1,2. Many critically ill infants are also transfused with plasma or cryoprecipitate to promote coagulation ^3,4. These blood product transfusions are most often prophylactic, with clinical decisions made in response to numerical blood count values, as opposed to therapeutic transfusions in the context of active bleeding.Emerging evidence has shown that some transfusion practices are harmful for certain NICU patients, such as platelet transfusions in preterm infants ^5,6. More broadly, transfusion reactions can occur with virtually all blood products ⁷ and these reactions are likely under-diagnosed, under-estimated, and under-reported in pediatric patients ³. Our intention was to establish optimal transfusion guidelines for our division and neonatal network, including 19 hospitals, based on a review of currently available literature.

Blood has certain significant physical properties, which the authors investigated. This paper provides values of surface tension and viscosity of blood at 37 °C, as well as relationship between them plotted on a cross-plot. By applying Hagen- Poiseuille equation and Jurin's law to the experimentally obtained data, the authors calculated with great accuracy viscosity and surface tension of blood. Evaluating both of the properties using described methods required from the authors to know the density of investigated liquid, which was found to be on average $\rho=1063,56 \frac{kg}{m^3}$. The authors took blood samples from 30 healthy subjects and determined aforementioned physical properties. There has been made a distinction in regard of a sex of the blood donor. Results indicate that both surface tension and viscosity are independent from sex of a subject, as well as indicate that there is no correlation between viscosity and surface tension of blood at 37\degree C. Average values of surface tension and viscosity were found to be $\sigma=5,241\pm 0,262 \cdot 10^{-2}\frac{J}{m^2}$ and $\eta=3,352\pm0,360 \cdot 10^{-3} Pa \cdot s$, respectively.

Blood glucose (BG) monitoring is an important issue for critically ill patients. Previous studies reported that poor sugar control was associated with increased mortality in admitted patients. However, repeated blood glucose monitoring can be resource-consuming and cause a healthcare burden in clinical practice. In this study, we aimed to develop a personalized machine-learning model to predict dysglycemia based on electrocardiogram (ECG) findings. The study included patients with more than 20 ECG records during single hospital admission in the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III database, focusing on the lead II recordings, along with the corresponding blood sugar data. We processed the data and used ECG features from each heartbeat as inputs to develop a one-class support vector machine (SVM) algorithm to predict dysglycemia. The model prediction for dysglycemia using a single heartbeat had an AUC level of 0.92 ± 0.09, with a sensitivity of 0.92 ± 0.10 and specificity of 0.84 ± 0.04. Based on 10 s majority voting, the model prediction for dysglycemia improved to an AUC of 0.97 ± 0.06. In this study, we found that a personalized machine-learning algorithm could accurately detect dysglycemia using a single-lead ECG.

Exposure to traffic-related air pollution is linked with acute alterations in blood pressure (BP). We examined the cumulative short-term effect of black carbon (BC) exposure on systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP and assessed effect modification by participant characteristics. SBP and DBP were repeatedly measured on 152 traffic enforcers. Using a linear mixed-effects model with random intercepts, quadratic (QCDL) and cubic (CCDL) constrained distributed lag models were fitted to estimate the cumulative effect of BC concentration on SBP and DBP during the 10-hours (daily exposure) and 7-days (weekly exposure) before the BP measurement. Ambient BC was related to increased BP with QCDL models. An interquartile range change in BC cumulative during the 7-days before the BP measurement was associated with increased BP [1.2% change in mean SBP, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.1 to 2.3; and 0.5% change in mean DBP, 95% CI, –0.8 to 1.7]. Moreover, the association between the 10-hours cumulative BC exposure and SBP was stronger for females (4.0% change, 95% CI: 2.1–5.9) versus males, and for obese (2.9% change, 95% CI: 1.0–4.8) vs. non-obese traffic enforcers. Short-term cumulative exposure to ambient traffic-related BC could bring about cardiovascular diseases through mechanisms involving increased BP.

Cardiotonic steroids (CTS) are a group of steroid compounds derived from certain plants and animals. CTS are selective inhibitors of Na,K-ATPase, so for a long time they were widely used for medical purposes to treat heart failure and some other diseases. However, over time, doctors gradually began to refuse this group of drugs due to their narrow therapeutic range and a number of serious side effects. However, in parallel with the rise and fall of interest in CTS as a drug, interest in them as a single class of high-affinity Na,K-ATPase inhibitors has only increased. Numerous data on the effect of CTS on signaling cascades and cell viability made impelling a search for a rationale for the existence of such a subtle biological regulator. A large number of studies devoted to the potential use of CTS in the treatment of neurodegenerative, oncological, immune and other diseases "revitalized" the already "written off" group of the drugs. If initially the role of exogenous (mainly plant origin) CTS was studied, then by the 90s of the XX century the study of the role of endogenous CTS and their regulatory effects became a popular trend in biology and physiology. The role of endogenous CTS was studied in details in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases [1]. A large number of researchers have unanimously stated that endogenous CTS are very complex regulators of the development of pathological processes; however, the exact cause-and-effect relationship that would unambiguously explain the processes of synthesis, utilization, and the role of endogenous CTS has not yet been established. The effects of CTS in the frame of various regulatory schemes have been described, but the predominant number of studies was devoted to arterial hypertension, heart and renal failure, cancer [2–4], aging [5,6], and neuroinflammation. The effects of both endo- and exogenous CTS on blood cells and have been studied to a much lesser extent.

There is no well-defined threshold for intra-operative blood transfusion (BT) in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) surgery. We developed a Machine Learning (ML)-driven prediction algorithm to trigger and explain a communication alert for BT based on anticipated peri-operative events irrespective of BT policies. We analysed prospectively collected data from 403 EOC patients who underwent cytoreductive surgery between 2014 and 2019. We calculated the estimated blood volume (EBV) using the formula EBV = weight x 80 and set off 10%EBV as threshold for individual intervention. Based on the known estimated blood loss (EBL) we identified two groups. We employed Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for performance metrics. The model performance for the above threshold prediction was satisfactory (AUC 0.823, 95% CI 0.76-0.88). The top feature commonly shared between interrogators was operative time (OT). Intra-operative blood loss of at least 10%EBV was associated with OT&gt;250 minutes, primary surgery, serous histology, performance status 0, R2 resection and surgical complexity score &gt;4. Large bowel resection, stoma formation, ileocecal resection/right hemicolectomy, mesenteric resection, bladder and upper abdominal peritonectomy were amongst sub-procedures clearly associated with increased intervention risk. Precise prediction of blood requirements is not possible unless a rough estimate of OT is known in advance.

Circulating miRNA-451a has recently emerged as an important biomolecule with potential clinical values as a diagnostic marker for several diseases. However, to be used as such, it is critical to accurately assay miRNA-451a in the clinic. Yet, pre-analytical factors that can affect such an error-free clinical assay of miRNA-451a have not been explored. This study aimed at investigating several of these pre-analytical factors that may affect the accurate quantification of miRNA-451a in human blood samples. We initially evaluated miRNA-451a levels in red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), platelets, and plasma by droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). Next, we quantified miRNA-451a levels in whole blood or plasma stored at different temperatures for different time periods by ddPCR and used hemolyzed plasma samples to study the effects of hemolysis on plasma miRNA-451a concentration. We found that WBCs and platelets contain trace amounts of miRNA-451a and that about 99.9% of miRNA-451a in the blood are localized in RBCs. Hemolyzed plasma showed 58.5-fold increase in miRNA-451 concentration as compared to non-hemolyzed plasma. Importantly, plasma stored at room temperature (RT) or 4ºC showed a steady statistically significant decrease in miRNA-451a levels over a 7-day period whereas plasma samples stored at -20 or -80ºC for up to 7 days showed stable miRNA-451a levels. Together, our data indicate that hemolysis and blood storage at RT or 4ºC may have significant negative effects on the levels of circulating miRNA-451a.

Access to good nutritional health is one of the principal objectives of current society. Several e-services offer dietary advice. However, multifactorial and more individualized nutritional recommendations should be developed to recommend healthy menus according to the specific user's needs. In this article we present and validate a personalized nutrition system based on an application (APP) for smart devices with the capacity to offer an adaptable menu to the user. The APP was developed following a structured recommendation generation scheme, where the characteristics of the menus of 20 users were evaluated. Specific menus were generated for each user based on their preferences and nutritional requirements. These menus were evaluated by comparing their nutritional content versus the nutrient composition retrieved from dietary records. The generated menus showed great similarity to those obtained from the user dietary records. Furthermore, the generated menus showed less variability in micronutrient amounts and higher concentrations than the menus from the user records. The macronutrient deviations were also corrected in the generated menus, offering a better adaptation to the users. The presented system is a good tool for the generation of menus that are adapted to the user characteristics and a starting point to nutritional interventions.

Objective: To explore three novel fasting blood glucose (FBG)-based novel indicators, including FBG-to-albumin ratio (FAR), FBG-to-lymphocytes ratio (FLR), and FBG-to-hemoglobin ratio (FHR), in predicting prognosis and detecting metastasis for patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms after resection. Materials and methods: A total of 178 pNEN patients underwent surgical resection were included in this study. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the diagnosis values of FAR, FLR, and FHR, and the cut-off values were obtained for further analyses. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine the independent predictors. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to evaluate the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of the pNEN patients. Results: The optimal cut-off values of FAR, FLR, and FHR were 0.17, 2.85, and 0.028, respectively. As for PFS, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.693 for FAR, 0.690 for FLR, and 0.661 for FHR, respectively. The AUC was 0.770, 0.692, and 0.715 accordingly for OS. The groups with lower FAR, FLR, and FHR were significantly associated with prolonged PFS and OS (p < 0.05). In patients with metastasis, the lower FAR group was correlated with significantly longer PFS and OS (p = 0.022 and 0.002, respectively). The FLR was an independent predictor of PFS in pNEN patients, and the FAR was a predictor of OS. FAR was an independent indicator of PFS in patients with metastasis. Conclusion: Preoperative FAR, FLR, and FHR are effective in predicting the prognosis of pNEN patients and detecting the synchronous metastases.

Background: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is associated with higher risk of mortality in general population however not studied in cancer population. The study aimed to assess the prevalence of OH in cancer patients compared to the non-cancer population. Methods: A total of 411 patients (mean age 63.5 ± 10.6 years) were recruited: patients with active cancer (n = 223) and patients hospitalized for other reasons but without cancer diagnosis (n = 188). Medical history was collected and an orthostatic challenge test was performed. OH was defined as blood pressure (BP) decrease on standing ≥ 20 mmHg for systolic or ≥ 10 mmHg for diastolic BP in 1 or 3 minutes; or systolic BP decrease &lt; 90 mmHg. Results: The prevalence of OH in cancer was significantly higher than in subjects without cancer- 28.7% vs. 16.5%, respectively, P = 0.003). OH was the most common in lung cancer, 57.5%. In single variable analysis, the predictors of OH were: cancer presence, age ≥ 65 years, and body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2. In the multivariable model, the strongest independent predictor of OH was cancer status doubling the risk of OH; BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 and diabetes. Conclusions: Cancer patients are characterized by a high prevalence of OH. In this population, the recommendation of routine orthostatic challenge tests should be considered.

This study was conducted to determine the role of pre-operative 2 weeks use of Finasteride in reducing intra-operative blood loss in patients undergoing monopolar TURP. Number of enrolled patients were 120, on the basis of inclusion criteria. Patients who were candidates of monopolar TURP were given 5mg Finasteride for 2 weeks before the surgery. On the 13th day of medicine, they got admitted in ward and prepared for surgery. During surgery intra-operative irrigation fluid was measured and gathered, then tested for Hemoglobin and the blood loss was calculated with equation formula. Blood loss evaluation was done on the basis of irrigation fluid, hemoglobin in irrigation fluid, preoperative hemoglobin and resected tissue weight. Significant reduction in blood loss was observed in interventional group as compared to the control group. Mean blood loss was 296ml in Group-A and 370ml in Group-B while blood loss per gram was 11.7ml/g in Group-A and 14.7 ml/g in Group-B. Mean operative time was measured 42 minutes in Group-A and 49 minutes in Group-B. This research proclaims a clear-cut supremacy of pre-operative use of Finasteride for two weeks. It significantly reduces intraoperative blood loss and blood loss per gram in patients undergoing monopolar TURP.

The fishmeal production industry is essential for providing protein for animal feed in the aquaculture sector. However, the industry faces challenges related to energy consumption and environmental sustainability. This study evaluates the energy efficiency and environmental benefits of waste heat recovery (WHR) technologies in a fishmeal production plant in Vietnam. Data were collected from the plant between 2016 and 2022, and a specific energy consumption (SEC) indicator and a comprehensive methodology were utilized. Implementing an economizer as a WHR technology resulted in a 55.5% decrease in SEC compared to the state before installation. The enhanced energy efficiency also translated to reduced energy consumption per output unit. Moreover, the economizer contributed to annual energy savings of 4,537.57 GJ/year and cost savings of $26,474.49. Additionally, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with producing one ton of fishmeal decreased by 58.37%. These findings highlight the potential for WHR technologies to improve energy efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of fishmeal production. The study's results provide valuable insights for practitioners and policymakers in promoting energy efficiency practices and reducing environmental impact in the industry.

Obesity in the United States continues to worsen. Anthocyanin-rich fruits and vegetables provide a pragmatic dietary approach to slow its metabolic complications. Given American diet patterns, foods with high anthocyanin content could address dose-response challenges. In a placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover pilot study, determine the effect of 100% elderberry juice on measures of indirect calorimetry (IC), and insulin sensitivity/glucose tolerance. Overweight and obese adults were randomized to a 5-week study which included two 1-week periods of twice-daily elderberry juice (EBJ), or sugar-matched placebo consumption separated by a 3-week washout period. Following each 1-week test period, IC and insulin sensitivity/glucose tolerance was measured with a 3-hour meal tolerance test (MTT). Treatment differences were tested with linear mixed modeling. 22 prospective study volunteers (18F/4M) attended recruitment meetings, 10 volunteers completed the protocol, and 9 were analyzed for treatment differences. EBJ was well tolerated and compliance was 99.6%. Six IC measures (intervals) were created which coincided with 10-20 minute gaseous samplings in-between MTT blood samplings. Average CHO oxidation was significantly higher during the MTT after 1-week EBJ consumption (3.38 vs. 2.88 grams per interval, EBJ vs. placebo, p = 0.0113). Conversely, average fat oxidation was significantly higher during the MTT after 1-week placebo consumption (1.17 vs 1.47 grams per interval, EBJ vs. placebo, p = 0.0189). This was in-line with a significantly lower average respiratory quotient after placebo treatment (0.87 vs. 0.84, EBJ vs. placebo, p = 0.0114). Energy expenditure was not different. There was no difference in serum glucose or insulin response between treatments. This pilot study of free-living volunteers describes significant change in IC but not insulin sensitivity with an EBJ intervention. Controlled feeding and increased sample size will help determine the utility of EBJ on these outcomes.

The likelihood of pre-hypertensive young adults developing hypertension has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Despite the fact that aerobic exercise training (AET) has demonstrated positive results in lowering high blood pressure, the efficacy of different types of AET among pre-hypertensive young adults has not been well-established. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and continuous moderate-intensity training (CMT) on blood pressure (BP) of physically inactive pre-hypertensive young adults. 32 adults (age 20.0±1.1 years and BMI 21.5±1.8) were randomly assigned into 3 groups: HIIT, CMT and control (CON). HIIT and CMT groups participated in 5 weeks of AET; while the CON group followed a DASH diet plan only. The HIIT protocol consisted of 1:4 minute work to rest ratio of participants 80%-85% heart rate reserve (HR-reserve) and 40%-60% HR-reserve respectively for 20-minutes, CMT group exercised at 40%-60% of HR-reserve continuously for 20-minutes. In both HIIT and CMT groups, systolic blood pressure (SBP) (3.8±2.8 mmHg, P=0.002 VS 1.6±1.5 mmHg, P=0.011) was significantly reduced. While, significant reductions in the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (2.9±2.2 mmHg, P=0.002) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) (3.1±1.6mmHg, P<0.0005) were noted only in the HIIT group. No significant differences in SBP (-0.4±3.7 mmHg, P=0.718), DBP (0.4±3.4 mmHg, P=0.714), or MAP (0.1±2.5mmHg, P= 0.892) were observed in the CON group. Both HIIT and CMT decreased the BP in physically inactive pre-hypertensive young adults; however, HIIT yielded more beneficial results in terms of reducing the SPB, DBP and MAP.

The tambaqui Colossoma macropomum is the main species of edible fish originating from fish farming in the Amazon region. This study aimed to determine and compare the hematological and biochemical parameters of tambaqui from fish farms in municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Two fish farms were sampled in a semi-excavated pond-type breeding system in each of the five towns investigated (Presidente Figueiredo, Manaus, Iranduba, Manacapuru and Novo Airão), totaling ten breeders. On each farm, ten specimens were captured, totaling 100 animals. Blood was collected by caudal puncture, and hematological and biochemical parameters were determined using the methodology described for teleosts fish. For the erythrogram in the variables of hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration and erythrocytes, significant differences were observed in Iranduba and Novo Airão, demonstrating indications of anemic processes and dehydration. For plasma biochemistry, low levels were observed in fish from Iranduba and Novo Airão. High values in lipid compounds were found in tambaqui from Manacapuru. High intraspecific variation was found in the leukogram and thrombogram, which determined similarities between tambaqui from different farms and municipalities. On the other hand, fish from Manacapuru have an inappropriate diet, indicated by the high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides found in the blood.

Adenosine is a multifunctional nucleoside with several roles across various levels in organisms. Beyond its intracellular involvement in cellular metabolism, extracellular adenosine potently influences both physiological and pathological processes. In relation to its blood level, adenosine impacts the cardiovascular system, such as heart beating rate and vasodilation. To exploit the adenosine levels in the blood, we employed the liquid chromatography method coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Immediately after the collection, a blood sample mixed with acetonitrile solution that is either enriched with 13C-labeled adenosine or a newly generated mixture is transferred into the tubes containing the defined amount of 13C-labeled adenosine. The 13C-enriched isotopic adenosine is used as an internal standard, allowing for more accurate quantification of adenosine. This novel protocol for LC-MS-based estimation of adenosine delivers a rapid, highly sensitive, and reproducible means for quantitative estimation of total adenosine in blood. The method also allows quantification of a few catabolites of adenosine, i.e., inosine, hypoxanthine, and xanthine. This advancement provides the analytical tool that has the potential to enhance our understanding of adenosine's systemic impact and pave the way for further investigations into its intricate regulatory mechanisms.

. Cucurbiturils are a family of macrocyclic oligomers capable of forming host-guest complexes with various molecules. Due to noncovalent binding to drug molecules and low toxicity, cucurbiturils has been extensively investigated as a potential carrier for drug delivery. However, the immune system interactions with different drug carriers, including cucurbiturils, are still under investigation. In this study, we focused on cucurbiturils immunosafety and immunomodulation properties in vivo. We measured blood counts, lymphocyte subpopulations in blood, spleen, and bone marrow, and assessed in vivo toxicity to spleen and bone marrow cells after intraperitoneal administration to mice. We also evaluated the effect of cucurbiturils on cellular and humoral immune responses. Cucurbiturils in high concentrations effect on the immune system in vivo. The action of various cucurbiturils differs in different homologues, which, apparently, is associated with different interactions in the internal environment of the body.

Haemosporidian parasites, including Haemoproteus, Plasmodium, and Leucocytozoon, are intracellular parasites found in the blood and tissues of birds worldwide. The prevalence of these parasites varies depending on bird species and habitats. Humidity, influenced by water availability, is one of the factors affecting their prevalence. In this study, we collected 145 blood samples from wild songbirds in the western region of Iran from April to November 2021-2022. Blood smears were prepared using the push-slide method and stained with Giemsa. The stained smears were examined under a light microscope. Among the seven songbird families sampled, blood parasites were detected in 31 individuals from five families. Of these, 23 individuals (15.86%) were from humid areas, while 8 individuals (5.51%) were from dry areas. The highest infection rates were observed in the Paridae (9.65%) and Motacilliidae (4.82%) families, while the lowest infection rates were found in the Corvidae (1.37%) and Acrocephalidae (1.37%) families. We recorded two new hosts for Leucocytozoon spp. (Motacilla flava and Acrocephalus melanopogon) for the first time in the world and four new host records (Motacilla flava, Pica pica, Acrocephalus melanopogon, and Acrocephalus agricola) for blood parasites in the west of Iran. Our findings highlight the high prevalence of avian blood parasites in songbirds inhabiting humid areas, suggesting that these environments provide suitable conditions for the growth and reproduction of invertebrate hosts.

5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) or serotonin plays a crucial role as a neuromodulator and/or neurotransmitter of several nervous system functions. Its actions are complex and depend on multiple factors, including the type of effector or receptor activated. Briefly, 5-HT can activate: (i) metabotropic (G-protein-coupled) receptors to promote inhibition (5-HT1, 5-HT5) or activation (5-HT4, 5-HT6, 5 HT7) of adenylate cyclase, as well as activation (5-HT2) of phospholipase C; and (ii) ionotropic receptors (5-HT3), which form a ligand-gated Na+/K+ channel. Regarding blood pressure regulation (and beyond the intricacy of central 5-HT effects), this monoamine also exerts direct postjunctional (on vascular smooth muscle and endothelium) or indirect prejunctional (on autonomic and sensory perivascular nerves) effects. At the prejunctional level, 5-HT can facilitate or preclude the release of autonomic (e.g., noradrenaline and acetylcholine) or sensory (e.g., calcitonin gene-related peptide) neurotransmitters facilitating hypertensive or hypotensive effects. Hence, we cannot formulate a specific impact of 5-HT on blood pressure level, since an increase or decrease in neurotransmitter release would be favoured depending on the type of prejunctional receptor involved. This review summarizes and discusses the current knowledge on the prejunctional mechanisms involved in blood pressure regulation by 5-HT and its impact on some vascular-related diseases.

Background of the Study: We investigated the link between hypertension and cancer since it has been suggested that hypertension may raise the long-term risk of cancer. Previous large observational cohort studies found that greater blood pressure (BP) was related to a higher risk of cancer. Mendelian randomization (MR) was utilized to produce less confounded blood pressure estimates (BP) on overall and site-specific malignancies. The study aims to draw conclusions on the relationship between high blood pressure and cancer. Methods: Studies on high blood pressure and various malignancies are inconclusive, except for renal cell carcinoma. However, given that most meta-analyses only contained a limited number of trials, some relative risks had small to moderate magnitudes, and several may have been impacted by residual confounding, careful interpretation is necessary. The study was conducted using the meta-analysis technique. Cochran's Q test and I2 test were used to assess statistical heterogeneity between studies in the current investigation for research involving two or more cause and outcome combinations. Results: Positive correlations were also reported between high blood pressure and esophageal adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, liver, and squamous cell carcinoma. However, most studies lacked multivariable adjustments. Physical and numerical risk of cardiovascular disease is linked to bowel cancer but no other cancers. According to a meta-analysis, hypertensive persons could also be at increased danger of gastrointestinal and breast cancer. Most meta-analyses comprised several trials with moderate or mild hazard ratios.ConclusionDifferent types of cancers have been noted to be directly caused by hypertension. In addition, some treatments have also been associated with the side effects of cancer treatments to cause hypertension. Women facing hypertension have an increased risk of getting breast cancer. Although some cancers showed a real relationship with hypertension, others had no connection at all.

The two main chronic obstructive diseases are asthma – affecting 1-18% of adult population – and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevalent in up to 6% of adults. In both cases the treatment depends on diseases’ severity. In management of these conditions, spirometry and complete blood count are two major monitoring tests. Our aim was to compare blood morphology results and spirometry values between patients in groups of different treatment intensity in asthma and COPD. By measuring that, we expected to study whether asthma/COPD patients have a need of stepping-up their treatment steps. Methods A retrospective analysis of patients admitted in 2013-2019 to an outpatient pulmonology clinic in Łódź (Poland). Spirometry values, complete blood count and information on pharmacological treatment were obtained from archival data. Patients were assigned with disease severity according to present GINA/GOLD recommendations. The study included 125 patients – 47 with COPD (22 females) and 78 with asthma (57 females). Results Among patients with asthma, a positive correlation in white blood cell count (WBC) (r=0,236, p=0.038) and ascending GINA treatment steps was found. Significant negative correlations were shown between ascending GINA treatment steps and FEV1, FEV1%, FVC%, MEF50, MEF50, PEF%. In COPD patients, positive correlations between ascending GOLD treatment groups and white blood cell count, neutrophil count, basophil percentage, platelet count (r=0.346; 0.309; 0.321; 0.401 respectively) were found. Negative correlations were shown between ascending GOLD treatment groups and FEV1, FEV1%, FVC, FVC%, MEF50, MEF50%, PEF, PEF% (r=-0.732; -0.575; -0.705; -0.498; -0.632; -0.558; -0.688; -0.597 respectively). Conclusions Negative correlations between ascending GINA and GOLD treatment steps and spirometry values may suggest that asthma and COPD patients may benefit from stepping-up the treatment steps earlier. Potential advantages of that more intensive treatment needs to be examined in the future

Background: Thousands of genetic variants have been associated with hematological traits, though target genes remain unknown at most loci. Also, limited analyses have been conducted in African ancestry and Hispanic/Latino populations; hematological trait associated variants more common in these populations have likely been missed. Methods: To derive gene expression prediction models, we used ancestry-stratified datasets from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA, including N=229 African American and N=381 Hispanic/Latino participants, monocytes) and the Depression Genes and Networks study (DGN, N = 922 European ancestry participants, whole blood). We then performed a transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) for platelet count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and white blood cell count in African (N = 27,955) and Hispanic/Latino (N = 28,324) ancestry participants. Results: Our results revealed 24 suggestive signals (p < 1×10^(-4)) that were conditionally distinct from known GWAS identified variants and successfully replicated these signals in European ancestry subjects from UK Biobank. We found modestly improved correlation of predicted and measured gene expression in an independent African American cohort (the Genetic Epidemiology Network of Arteriopathy (GENOA) study (N=802), lymphoblastoid cell lines) using the larger DGN reference panel; however, some genes were well predicted using MESA but not DGN. Conclusions: These analyses demonstrate the importance of performing TWAS and other genetic analyses across diverse populations and of balancing sample size and ancestry background matching when selecting a TWAS reference panel.

The main neurovascular unit of the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) consists of a cellular component, which includes endothelial cells, astrocytes, pericytes, microglia, neurons and oligodendrocytes, as well as a non-cellular component resulting from the extracellular matrix. The endothelial cells are the major vital component of the BBB able to preserve the brain homeostasis; these cells are situated along the demarcation line between the bloodstream and the brain. Therefore, an alteration or the progressive disruption of the endothelial layer may clearly impair the brain homeostasis. The proper functioning of the brain endothelial cells is generally ensured by two elements: 1) the presence of junction proteins; 2) the preservation of a specific polarity involving an apical-luminal and a basolateral-abluminal membrane. In view of the above, this review intends to identify the molecular mechanisms underlying BBB function and their changes occurring in early stages of neurodegenerative processes in order to develop novel therapeutic strategies aimed to counteract neurodegenerative disorders.

Three isoenergetic diets differing on their fishmeal/ soy protein concentrate (SPC) ratio were assessed on tissue growth and energy budget of juvenile crabs Scylla serrata in postmolt stages (PMolt) and in intermolt stages (IMolt). The average growth rate on dry matter basis, were 2.064 ± 0.324% and 0.492 ± 0.08% initial BW.day-1 during PMolt and IMolt stages respectively. The efficiency in feed conversion (FCE, %), protein retention (PRE, %) and energy retention (ERE, %) were similar for the 3 experimental diets. However, FCE, PRE and ERE in PMolt stages were 4 to 5 times higher than in IMolt stages. Feed intake, energy and protein required for growth in PMolt stages were obviously higher than in IMolt stages. The energy budgets (%total energy intake) were marginally affected by diet but were significantly affected by the molt stage. Maintenance energy was lower in PMolt stages (49.84 ± 4.9%) than in IMolt stages (83.33 ± 2.45%). The excess of maintenance energy in IMolt stages represents the portion set aside for next molt: shell energy content (4.97 ± 0.31%) and energy for ecdysis (± 28%). Conversely, recovery energy was significantly higher in PMolt stages (34.39 ± 0.99%) than in IMolt stages (8.33 ± 1.7%). In conclusion SPC sustained good tissue growth and good feed utilization and can be used as a main source of dietary protein for crab juveniles in captivity.

Precise association of serum leptin with body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP; both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) is not well known for understanding their involvement in health and disease. Hence, the present study was planned to be conducted for investigating the association of BP, BMI and serum leptin levels in young normal weight (NW) and overweight (OW) male Saudi students. The NW (n: 198) and OW male subjects (n: 192) in the age range of 18-20 years were consulted. Blood pressure (BP) was measured with a mercury sphygmomanometer. Leptin Human ELISA Kits were employed for the determination of the serum leptin levels. The mean ± SD values of BMI (kg/m2), serum leptin (ng/ml), SBP (mmHg), and DBP (mmHg) all showed significant difference for young OW vs. NW male university students as: 27.52± 1.42 vs. 21.49± 2.03; 10.70± 4.67 vs. 4.68± 1.91; 121.37±2.59 vs.118.51±1.54 and 81.44±1.97 vs. 78.79±1.44 respectively. All associations (among BMI, leptin, SBP and DBP) showed positive linear and significant correlation except nonsignificant correlation of BMI and SBP for NW group. The present study in the young Saudi male students, presents significant variations for BP and serum leptin levels and significant positive linear association among serum leptin, BMI and BP.

Blood gas analysis plays a central role in modern medicine. Advances in technology have expanded the range of available parameters and increased the complexity of their interpretation. By applying user-centered design principles, it is possible to reduce the cognitive load associated with interpreting blood gas analysis. In this international, multicenter study, we explored anesthesiologists' perspectives on Visual Blood, a novel visualization technique for presenting blood gas analysis results. We conducted interviews with participants following two computer-based simulation studies: the first utilizing Virtual Reality (VR) (50 participants) and the second without VR (70 participants). Employing the template approach, we identified key themes in the interview responses and formulated six statements, which were rated using Likert scales: from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) in an online questionnaire. The most frequently mentioned theme was the positive usability features of Visual Blood. The online survey revealed that participants found Visual Blood to be an intuitive method for interpreting blood gas analysis (median 4, IQR 4-4, p<0.001). Participants noted that minimal training was required to effectively learn how to interpret Visual Blood (median 4, IQR 4-4, p<0.001). However, adjustments are necessary to reduce visual overload (median 4, IQR 2-4, p<0.001). Overall, Visual Blood received a favorable response. The strengths and weaknesses derived from these data will help optimize future versions of Visual Blood to improve the presentation of blood gas analysis results.

Blood image intensity has been used to detect erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). However, it does not give an information on biophysical properties of blood sample under continuous ESR. In this study, three physical properties, including, τ₀, ESR_τ, and AI_I, are suggested to quantify mechanical variations of blood under continuous ESR. To demonstrate the proposed method, blood sample is loaded into a driving syringe. The blood flow rate is set in a periodic on–off pattern. Blood sample is then supplied into a capillary chip, and microscopic blood images are captured at specific intervals. Blood shear stress is quantified from the interface of blood stream in the coflowing channel. Both τ₀ and ESR_τ are then obtained by analyzing the blood shear stress. Simultaneously, the AI_I is evaluated by analyzing the image intensity of blood flow. According to the experimental results, the τ₀ exhibits consistent trends with respect to hematocrit as well as diluent. The ESR_τ and AI_I showed a reciprocal relationship each other. Three suggested properties represented substantial differences for suspended blood samples (i.e., hardened red blood cells, different concentration of dextran solution and fibrinogen). In conclusion, the present method can detect variations of blood sample under continuous ESR effectively.

This prospective single-center study was designed to assess the clinical utility of the FilmArray® blood culture identification (BCID) panel for improving the diagnostic accuracy in neonatal sepsis. Results obtained using the FilmArray® BCID panel were correlated with results of blood culture in all consecutive neonates with suspicion of early-onset (EOS) and late-onset sepsis (LOS) attended in our service over a 2-year period. A total of 102 blood cultures from 92 neonates were included, 69 (67.5%) in cases of EOS and 33 (32.3%) in LOS. The FilmArray® BCID panel was performed in negative culture bottles at a median of 10 hours of blood culture incubation (range 7.5-20 hours), without differences by the type of sepsis. The FilmArray® BCID panel showed a 66.7% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 100% positive predictive value, and 95.7% negative predictive value. There were four false-negative cases, three of which of Streptococcus epidermidis in neonates with LOS and one case of Granulicatella adiacens in one neonate with EOS. We conclude that the use of the FilmArray® BCID panel in negative blood cultures from neonates with clinical suspicion of sepsis is useful in decision-making of starting or early withdrawal of empirical antimicrobials because of the high specificity and negative predictive values of this assay.

BACKGROUND&AIMS: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major public health problem. The interaction between HBV and the host inflammatory response is an important factor contributing to liver damage and disease development. We compared the correlation between the subclinical index and PBMCs concentration in two groups of pregnant women (HBsAg positive), which are different in HBV DNA concentration in Vietnam. METHODS: The Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) was run with 20 different clustering methods on data collected from 80 Vietnamese pregnant women and their babies (60/80 cord blood). RESULTS: In the high viral load group (HBV DNA ≥ 5x10^7 copies/ml), a strong correlation between CBMCs with serum maternal Haemoglobin concentration and maternal platelet and maternal ALT. Their R values are: -0.88, 0.82, and 0.84 with p=8.97E-03, 2.41E-02 and 1.75E-01, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We found a significant correlation shift of subclinical index between the two groups, which may be important in diagnosing pregnant women with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Background: In past years recreational diving has attracted more and more interest and among such divers an increasing number of diabetic divers. However, there is limited research on the accuracy of CGM systems under hyperbaric conditions and consistently diving guidelines make little reference to the use of CGM. Subject and Method: This exploratory study collected blood glucose samples of one diabetic diver over four dives and assessed the deviation of intersitial glucose values from two CGM systems based on 33 samples. A notable step of this method is to collect the data from actual dives under water. Results: The results indicate that a) under hyperbaric conditions of up to 2bar additional pressure and b) after decompression both CGM systems work comparably accurate as indictated by the manufacturer under normal conditions. This has been checked in terms of MARD and Clarke Error Grid Distirbution. Conculsion: For diabetic divers the results suggest they may take CGM monitors with them on dives to react to potential hypoglycemic events before they occur, i.e. when it is still safe to supplement glucose. For dive guidelines the results imply that these could reference CGM for dive planning and monitoring during the dive to increase divers‘ safety. For research this exploratory confirms the current hypothesis that neither increased pressure nor saltwater have an effect on blood glucose and the functioning of CGM systems. Further research may include additional sampling (number and depth) and more elaborate blood glucose measurement. The experimental setup applied is an efficient way to test further CGM systems.

The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a species often affected by natural and man-made disasters such as hurricanes and oil spills as well as general human activities; that subsequently receives medical care and rehabilitation. During rehabilitation, blood may be collected for various testing to help with diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. Reference intervals for this species are limited, dated, and typically from small sample sizes. Seventy one presumed healthy brown pelicans were sampled as a part of their pre-release examination from rehabilitation at the Wildlife Center of Texas after a large volume stranding in December 2014 to January 2015, and various venous analytes were measured to establish updated reference intervals for Brown Pelicans. Fibrinogen was measured via heat precipitation and the Abaxis VSPro equine Fibrinogen cartridge to determine reference intervals, and in an attempt to validate the VSPro for use in avian species. Abaxis VS2 Avian/Reptile Chemistry panel, iSTAT CG4+, and iSTAT Chem8+ results in addition to body condition score, spun PCV, cloacal temperature and fibrinogen were measured. Proposed reference intervals for brown pelicans are presented. Fibrinogen results were not comparable between the gold standard method and the VSPro, indicating that the VSPro is not appropriate for use in brown pelicans.

Several epidemiological studies and intervention trials have demonstrated that flavanols present in grapes and blueberries can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the mechanisms of action of these compounds remain unclear due to their low bioavailability. A polyphenol-rich grape and blueberry extract (PEGB) contained about 16% flavanol, of which 11% was monomer and 4% was dimer. A sensory test investigated the oral perception of a PEGB. At concentrations where quercetin had almost no detectable taste, PEGB exhibited significant astringency. Furthermore, in comparing the redox properties against O2･- using a luminescence method, PEGB acted as a prooxidant at low concentrations, promoting O2･-production and scavenging O2･-at high concentrations under pH conditions similar to oral cavity and intestine. In contrast, quercetin showed antioxidant activity at any concentration. A single oral administration of PEGB to rats showed a significant increase in skeletal muscle arteriolar blood flow. According to these results, PEGB containing flavanols displays a potent astringent flavor, increases O2･-production at low concentrations in a neutral pH environment as well as oral and intestine, and considerably enhances blood flow to skeletal muscles after a single dose in rats. The results of this study indicate a need to investigate the causal relationship between oral perception, redox properties, and bioactivity of polyphenols.

The blood count is crucial for assessing bone marrow's cell production and differentiation during infections, gauging disease severity, and monitoring therapeutic responses. The profile of blood count in chronic form of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) has been insufficiently explored. To better understand the changes in hematological cells in different stages of the PCM chronic form, we evaluated the blood count, including immature blood cells in automated equipment, before and during the treatment follow-up of 62 chronic PCM patients. Predominantly male (96.8%) with an average age of 54.3 (SD 6.9) years, participants exhibited pre-treatment conditions such as anemia (45.2%), monocytosis (38.7%), and leukocytosis (17.7%) which became less frequent after clinical cure. Anemia was more prevalent in severe cases. Notably, hemoglobin and reticulocyte hemoglobin content increased, while leukocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, immature granulocytes, and platelets decreased. Chronic PCM induced manageable hematological abnormalities, mainly in the red blood series. Monocytosis, indicating monocytes' role in PCM's immune response, was frequent. Post-treatment, especially after achieving clinical cure, significant improvements were observed in various hematological indices, including immature granulocytes and reticulocyte hemoglobin content, underscoring the impact of infection on these parameters.

Keywords: COVID-19, severity, influenza, serum antibodies, blood tests

Blood-derived products (BP) like citrate-platelet-rich plasma (CPRP) or hyperacute serum (HAS) are known to contain many growth factors. Combined mitogenic and DNA damaging stimuli might lead to increased senescent cell burden and altered senescence-associated secretory pheno-type (SASP). Therefore, the senescent state was extensively tested by γH2AX staining, p21 Q-PCR and western blot, growth curves and senescence associated ß-galactosidase staining. Two main treatments with BP were performed early (immediately after etoposide) and late (after addition-al 11days). Effects of the BP treatment was evaluated by IL-6 and IL-8 measurement as well as collagen (COL1) and p21 mRNA expression. Additionally, XTT assays, cell size measurements, viability assays, and cell number calculations were performed. HAS treated cells in early treat-ment had the lowest observed IL-6 and IL-8. In contrast, there was a clear inflammatory response for IL-8 on HAS and CPRP treated cells in late treatment. For COL1 expression an upregulation in early treatment could be shown, meanwhile cells in the late treatment group remained unaf-fected. In CPRP treated cells, the COL1 expression decreased. All in all, BP treatment seems to have slightly positive effects regarding skin rejuvenation.

Ischemia, the inadequate blood flow, can arise from pre-existing or traumatic events, remain an undetectable issue, and impact the body's ability to provide oxygen to necessary limbs, organs, muscles, or tissue. New technology involving wearable ultrasonic devices allows medical professionals to gain real-time insight into the cardiovascular system of their patients. A non-invasive, postage-stamp-sized ultrasonic sensor can be attached to a patient, allowing for continuous monitoring of the patient’s blood pressure outside of the hospital. After reviewing 16 papers on ultrasonic sensors, this paper intends to review the current use of wearable ultrasonic sensors and the advantages and limitations of the technology used to obtain accurate blood pressure readings. This review will bring attention to the evolving and expanding world of wearable ultrasonic sensors for medical applications.

Previous studies detail that the different blood groups are associate to incidence of oxidative stress-related diseases such as certain carcinomas. Bioactive compounds represent an alternative to prevent this oxidative-stress. The aim of this study was to elucidate the impact of blood groups on the erythroprotective potential of Fucoxanthin, β-Carotene, gallic acid, quercetin, and ascorbic acid as therapeutic agents against oxidative-stress. The impact of ABO blood groups on the erythroprotective potential was evaluate by the elucidated antioxidant capacity, blood biocompatibility, blood susceptibility and erythroprotective potential (membrane stabilization, in vitro photostability and antihemolytic activity). All antioxidant tested exhibited a highest potent antioxidant capacity and presented the ability to inhibit ROO•-induced oxidative-stress without compromising the cell membrane, providing an erythroprotective effect dependent on the blood group. Effect that increased in the presence of antigen A. This result could be key to the prevention of carcinomas associated with antigen A, such as breast and skin cancer. These results revealed a probable relationship between the different erythrocyte antigens with the erythroprotective potential, highlighting the importance of bio-targeted drugs for groups mostly susceptible to certain chronic-degenerative pathologies. These compounds could be applied as additive, nutraceutical or encapsulated to improve its bioaccessibility.

Background and Objectives: Similar to diabetes, the presence of left ventricular (LV) diastolic function (DD) has been reported in various studies which were conducted with people with a diagnosis of impaired fasting blood glucose (FBG). The study aimed to examine the effects of fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels on left atrial strain (LAS) estimated by two-dimensional echocardiography speckle tracking analyses in patients without known diabetes. Material and Methods: The study included 148 participants (74 female and 74 male) without a history of diabetes mellitus or chronic disease. The patients were divided into two groups as follows: individuals with FBG <100 mg/dl and those with FBG between 100-125 mg/dl after at least 8 hours of overnight fasting and according to these FBG levels STE measures were compared. Results: There was a significant decrease in the LA reservoir (52.3±15 vs. 44.5±10.7; p=0.001) and conduit strain (36.9±11.7 vs. 28.4±9.7; p=0.001) in the impaired FBG group. When the STE findings of both ventricles were compared, no significant difference was observed between the groups in right and LV strain imaging. Conclusion: In the earliest stage of LVDD, changes in atrial functional parameters become particularly evident. Echocardiographic analyses of these parameters can help to diagnose and determine the degree of LVDD while the morphological parameters are still normal. The addition of LAS imaging to the routine TTE study in patients with impaired FBG but without a DM diagnosis may be helpful in demonstrating subclinical LVDD or identifying patients at risk for LVDD in this patient group.

Background: The mental state is important in the health/illness process. Including stress, depression and anxiety. Nature immersion therapies have been implemented as a valid method for reducing these disorders. The aim will evaluate the effect of forest intervention therapies on levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. Methods: We searched for randomized clinical trials related to stress, anxiety and depression levels. Risk of bias was assessed according to the guidelines of the Cochrane Handbook for International Systematic Reviews. Results: We identified and synthesized eight publications. Two studies for cortisol showed significant differences between the pre-test and post-test levels in the intervention groups. One study including Natural killer cells, that reported a significant decrease in the intervention group compared to the control group. Two studies used the Stress Response Inventory, indicated a significant reduction in stress levels in the intervention group compared to the control group. Regarding Restorative Out-come Scale, no significant differences were found. Three studies were selected for the evaluation of anxiety and depression levels according to the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Four studies used The Profile of Mood States scale; no significant difference was observed. Conclusions: There is limited evidence to recommend forest bathing for reducing these disorders.

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is one of the most endangered species of land mammals and has significant academic research value worldwide. The evaluation of hematological parameters in giant pandas is important for assessing the physiological status of animals. This study collected blood samples from 12 healthy giant pandas from September 2018 to August 2020 under non-anesthetic conditions. The samples were then analyzed for basic blood indices and blood rheology, and normal values for hematological parameters and blood rheology under non-anesthetic conditions in giant pandas in Beijing area were obtained. The study confirmed the influence of age and season on hematological and biochemical parameters in captive giant pandas: hematological morphology, blood rheology, and serum enzymes showed seasonal variations, while age affected the changes in serum enzymes, serum protein content, and serum metabolite content. There are significant differences in blood indicators among different age groups of giant pandas, indicating variations in the overall metabolic processes and differences among pandas of different age groups. Seasonal variations showed a regulatory effect on blood rheology parameters and a negative effect on blood viscosity. Further research should be conducted to investigate whether factors such as season and climate cause environmental stress in captive giant pandas. The results obtained in this study aim to better protect the stability of the giant panda population and provide references for the appropriate feeding and medical care of captive giant pandas.

An aneurysm is a vascular malformation, it can be classified according to its location (cerebral, aortic); and according its shape (saccular, fusiform, and mycotic). The study of blood flow interaction with the aneurysms has gained attention from physicists an engineers in recent years. Shear stresses, oscillatory shear index (OSI), gradient oscillatory number (GON), and residence time had been used as potential variables to describe the hemodynamics as well as the origin and evolution of aneurysm. However, the causes of aneurysms and the hemodynamics conditions that promote the growth of these structures are still under debate. The present work presents numerical simulation on three aneurysms: 2 aortic and 1 cerebral. The results shows that the blood rheology is not relevant for aortic aneurysms, however, for cerebral aneurysm could play a relevant role in the hemodynamics. The turbulence models evaluated show equivalent results in both cases. Lastly, a simulation considering the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) shows that this phenomenon is the dominant factor for aneurysms simulation.

Background and Objectives: Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) reject the transfusion of blood components based on their religious beliefs even if they are in danger of harm or death. In cardiac surgery, this significantly reduces the margin of safety and leads to ethical conflicts. Informed consent should be carefully documented and the patient's family should be involved. This study aims to compare the postoperative course of JW who underwent major cardiac surgery with a similar population of non-Witnesses (NW). Patients and Methods: Demographic, procedural, and postoperative data of all consecutive JW who underwent cardiac surgery at our institution were obtained from the records. They were compared with a propensity score matched group of NW. Anemic JW were treated with erythropoietin and/or iron as needed. Cardiac surgery was performed by experienced surgeons using median sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass. Common blood-sparing techniques were routinely used. Periprocedural morbidity and mortality were statistically evaluated for both groups. Results: 32 JW and 64 NW were part of the matched dataset showing no demographic or procedural differences. EPO was used preoperatively in 34.4% and postoperatively in 15.6% of JW but not in NW. Preoperative hemoglobin levels were similar (JW, 8.09±0.99 mmol/l; NW, 8.18±1.06; p=0.683). JW did not receive any transfusions except for one who revoked, while NW transfusion rates were 2.5±3.1 units for red cells (p&lt;0.001) and 0.3±0.8 for platelets (p=0.018). Postoperative levels differed significantly for hemoglobin (JW, 6.05±1.00 mmol/l; NW, 6.88±0.87; p&lt;0.001), and hematocrit (JW, 0.29±0.04; NW, 0.33±0.04; p&lt;0.001) but not for creatinine. Early mortality was similar (JW, 6.3%; NW, 4.7%; p=0.745). There were more pacemakers and pneumonias in JW, while all other postoperative conditions were not different. Conclusions: Real-world data indicate that Jehovah's Witnesses can safely undergo cardiac surgery provided that patients are preconditioned and treated by experienced surgeons who use blood-saving strategies. Postoperative anemia is observed but does not translate into a worse clinical outcome. This is consistent with other studies.

Live-attenuated, oral rotavirus vaccines have significantly reduced rotavirus-associated diarrhoea morbidity and infant mortality. However, vaccine immunogenicity is diminished in low-income countries. We investigated whether maternal and infant intrinsic susceptibility to rotavirus infection via histo-blood group antigen (HBGA) profiles influenced rotavirus (ROTARIX®) vaccine-induced responses in Zambia. We studied 135 mother-infant pairs under a rotavirus vaccine clinical trial aged 6 to 12 weeks at pre-vaccination up to 12 months old. We determined maternal and infant ABO/H, Lewis, and secretor HBGA phenotypes, and infant FUT2 HBGA genotypes. Vaccine immunogenicity was measured as anti-rotavirus IgA antibody titres. Overall, 34 (31.3%) of children were seroconverted at 14 weeks, and no statistically significant difference in seroconversion was observed across the various HBGA profiles in early infant life. We also observed a statistically significant difference in rotavirus-IgA titres across infant HBGA profiles at 12 months though no statistically significant difference was observed between study arms. There was no association between maternal HBGA profiles and infant vaccine immunogenicity. Overall, infant HBGA was associated with RV-Vaccine immunogenicity at 12 months as opposed to early infant life. Further investigation into the low efficacy of ROTARIX® and appropriate intervention is key to unlocking full vaccine benefits for U5 children.

Emerging infectious disease threats are becoming more frequent due to various social, political and geographical pressures including increased human-animal contact, global trade, transportation and changing climate conditions. As a result, the threat that emerging agents can be spread by blood contact or transfusion of blood products also becomes increasingly problematic. Blood transfusion is essential in treating patients with anemia, blood loss, and other medical conditions. However, these lifesaving components can become a vector for spreading diseases, particularly to vulnerable populations. New methods have been implemented on a global basis for prevention of transfusion transmission via plasma, platelet, and whole blood products. Implementing proactive pathogen reduction methods can significantly reduce the likelihood of disease transmission via blood transfusion, even for newly emerging agents whose transmissibility and susceptibility are still being evaluated as they emerge. In this review, we consider the Mirasol PRT system for blood safety which is based on a photochemical method involving Riboflavin and UV light. We provide examples of how emerging threats such as Ebola, SARS-CoV-2, Hepatitis E, monkeypox and other agents have been evaluated in real time regarding effectiveness of this method for reducing the likelihood of disease transmission via transfusion. Keywords: transfusion; blood; pathogen reduction; emerging infectious diseases.

Chronic inflammation may have a detrimental impact on human health as it tends to result in cancer. In addition, it is often linked to different steps that participate in tumorigenesis, including cellular transformation, survival, promotion, invasion, proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Hence, inflammation predisposes cancer development and plays a vital role in promoting all tumorigenesis stages. Inflammation is caused by many factors, such as bacterial and viral infections, tobacco smoking, autoimmune diseases, obesity, asbestos exposure, and many others, increasing cancer risk. Moreover, cancer can be enhanced by mutations that proceed to cancer progression. Consequently, it leads to immunosuppression and provides a favorable background for tumor development. Although many studies address the question of relationships between inflammation and cancer development, little attention is paid to the link between inflammation and blood cancer. Therefore, the current study reviews the role of inflammation in cancer development, particularly in blood cancer. A meta-analysis research approach meets the research objective and answers the research question. The review results indicate that chronic inflammation directly relates to the development of many cancer types, blood cancer in particular.

Background: Hypertension is a condition of a person's blood pressure being at a level above normal, hypertension treatment can be done herbally using avocado leaves. Avocado leaves can lower blood pressure because they contain active substances, namely flavonoids and quercetin. This research was conducted in the working area of the Tilango Health Center. Objective: This study aims to determine the effect of giving boiled water of avocado leaves on reducing blood pressure in the elderly with hypertension. Methods: Design This study used a two-group quasi-experimental pre-test - post-test design. The sample is the elderly who have hypertension, amounting to 125 people with purposive sampling technique. The research instrument used a questionnaire. Results: Statistical test using T-Test on blood pressure before and after the intervention was given a significance value of 0.000 (p-value < 0.05 ). Conclusion : This study concludes that there is a significant effect between giving avocado leaf boiled water on reducing blood pressure in the elderly with hypertension in the working area of the Tilango Health Center.

Introduction: Leprosy, caused by Mycobacterium leprae is one of the oldest infectious diseases in human history and its eradication is linked to poverty control, lack of basic sanitation, the fragility of health, and education services. Objective: To evaluate the frequency of blood groups (ABO/Rh) and the sociodemographic and clinical profile of Angolan patients with Leprosy treated at the Anti-Tuberculosis and Leprosy Dispensary in Luanda, the capital city of Angola. Methodology: A descriptive, introspective, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach was carried out with 102 patients of Luanda, in the second half of 2021. Results: Of the 102 patients included in the study, the majority belonged to the ORh+ group (51.9%), followed by the BRh+ group (27.4%) and ARh+ (18.6%), most were under 51 years of age ( 87.3%), with low education (54.9%), coming from urban areas (44.1%). As for clinical conditions, most had a multibacillary infection (93.1%), diagnosed mainly by smear microscopy (75.5%) without other infection (79.4%), some of them with complications (28.4%) and individuals with non-O blood group showed changes in the blood count. Conclusion: Leprosy seems to be common in ORh+ individuals, it continues to affect especially those residing in areas of population agglomerations and with low education, presenting itself as a multibacillary infection, where changes in the blood count are greater in non-O individuals.

Introduction: Blood transfusion involves the transfer of blood from donors to patients. A blood transfusion is carried out every 2 seconds in the US. It is made up of about 29000 units of red blood cells and is transfused every day in the US. When blood transfusion is done correctly, it can result in the saving of lives and the improvement of healthcare. However, it may also lead to immediate, late, delayed, and chronic complications. No previous studies have been conducted in Qatar to address this issue. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study intended to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice toward blood transfusion among healthcare providers at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), which is the principal healthcare provider in Qatar. Participants between 18 and 25 years of age were selected for the research study. A 10-item online questionnaire that people can fill out on their own will be used to get the data needed for the analysis and meet the study's goals. Results: the analysis has indicated that facing negative reactions after blood transfusion and being worried about getting affected by any infection have a small positive association, with the specific values coming in at r = 0.317, p = 0.000. Fever after blood transfusion and feeling like refusing blood transfusion have a significant and moderate positive correlation, with the specific values coming in at r = 0.630 and p = 0.000. Conclusion: The findings of this study have helped us figure out how healthcare providers feel, what they know, and what they do during a blood transfusion.

The blood brain barrier (BBB) is an essential component in regulating and maintaining the homeostatic microenvironment of the central nervous system (CNS). During the occurrence and development of glioblastoma (GBM), BBB is pathologically disrupted with markedly increased permeability. Due to the obstruction imposed by the BBB, strategies currently employed for GBM therapeutics still obtain a very low success rate and lead to systemic toxicity. Moreover, chemotherapy could promote pathological BBB functional restoration, accompanied with a prominent decrease of intracerebral therapeutics transportion during GBM multiple administration, resulting in chemotherapy failure for GBM treatment. The effective delivery of therapeutics into the brain still faces with severe challenges. Regulation of pathological BBB for enhanced transporting of therapeutics across the barrier may provide new opportunities for effective and safe treatment of GBM. This article reviews the structure and function of BBB in physiological state, the mechanisms underlying BBB pathological fenestration during the development of GBM, and the therapeutic strategies of GBM based on BBB intervention and therapeutic drugs transporting across the BBB.

Herein, we describe a highly efficient, non-complicated, and non-organic procedure to overcome the negative effect of chemotherapeutic drugs on the quality of the extracted DNA by applying several modulations in cell washing, suspension, and lysis of cells treated with these drugs. In this protocol, 500µl were extracted from patients who received systemic sessions of chemotherapy. The validity of this protocol for digestion with restriction endonucleases and both conventional and real-time polymerase chain reaction were tested. This protocol proved obvious purity (1.8±0.02 and 2.1±1.2, for A_260/280 and A_260/230, respectively) and adequate yields (10±2.24) µg/100 ml. The positive results of validation experiments proved the validity of the extracted DNA for downstream applications of molecular biology. In addition to the proven efficiency of this protocol to extract DNA from normal samples, its validity was also confirmed from patients who were exposed to chemotherapy. This entails a novel approach to extract a molecular biology grade DNA without having inhibitors against enzymes used in digestion, amplification, and subsequent sequencing even after the systemic sessions with several doses of chemotherapy.

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in fluids has gained attention because ctDNA seems to identify tumor-specific abnormalities, which could be used for diagnosis, follow-up of treatment, and prognosis: the so-called liquid biopsy. Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive approach and presents the sum of ctDNA from primary and secondary tumor sites. It has been possible not only to quantify the amount of ctDNA but also to identify (epi)genetic changes. Specific mutations in genes have been identified in the plasma of patients with several types of cancer, which highlights ctDNA as a possible cancer biomarker. However, achieving detectable concentrations of ctDNA in body fluids is not an easy task. ctDNA fragments present a short half-life, and there are no cut-off values to discriminate high and low ctDNA concentrations. Here, we discuss the use of ctDNA as a cancer biomarker, the main methodologies, the inherent difficulties, and the clinical predictive value of ctDNA.

Approximately 300 different types of blood groups are identified so far, the ABO and Rh antigens are still the clinically most significant and genetically most polymorphic of all human blood group systems to date. A total of 200 unrelated individuals from Uttar Pradesh were studied for the phenotype and allele frequency distribution of ABO and Rh (D) blood groups. In total 200 samples analyzed, phenotype B blood type has the highest frequency 36.5% (n=73), followed by O (34.5%; n=69), A (20.5%; n=41) and AB (8.5%; n=17). The O, A and B frequencies were 0.5849, 0.1571 and 0.2580 respectively. The overall phenotypic frequencies of ABO blood groups were B>O>A>AB. The variation in phenotypic frequencies between male and female might be due to small sample size of male sample. The allelic frequency of Rh-negative was 0.2.

Androgens are key for pubertal development of the mammalian testis, a phenomenon tightly linked to Sertoli cell maturation. In this review, we discuss how androgen signalling affects Sertoli cell function and morphology by concomitantly inhibiting some processes and promoting others that contribute jointly to the completion of spermatogenesis. We focus on the molecular mechanisms that underlie AMH inhibition by androgens at puberty, as well as on the role androgens have on Sertoli cell tight junction formation and maintenance and, consequently, on its effect on proper germ cell differentiation and meiotic onset during spermatogenesis.

Several common and functional genes are known to contribute to responsiveness to blood pressure (BP) therapy. BP therapy is typically guided by algorithms that do not include a patient’s genetic information. This study aimed to determine the impact of a multi-organ genetic panel on BP response to pharmacotherapy. Eighty-six patients completed one study visit consisting of a buccal swab collection, measurement of office BP, and a medical chart review for BP history. Genes analyzed included those that encode for one drug metabolizing enzyme, renal Na+ handling, vascular, and cardiac function. Relationships between genotype and control of BP (<140/<90), ∆ systolic BP, ∆ diastolic BP, and ∆ mean arterial BP were assessed. SLC12A3 resulted in a significant association between the target drug and the functional genotype for BP control (<140/<90 cut off) (p<0.05). Conversely, three of five renal genotypes were associated with BP control using 120/80 as a cut-off (p<0.05). Three of four cardiac genotypes were associated with the BP control at <140/<90, with one being statistically significant (position 49 of ADRB1). Only one vascular genotype was predictive of blood pressure control at <140/<90. We found a significant drop in mean BP from baseline in six genes, three important in the diuretic response and three in β-blockade (p<0.05 on target drug vs. not). These results demonstrate that a multi-gene panel for renal Na+ handling, vascular function, and cardiac output may influence the BP response to therapy, but larger studies with more statistical power are needed.

We evaluated the association of blood pressure with blood levels of cadmium, lead, and cadmium and lead together (cadmium+lead) in a representative sample of adolescents from Korea by use of 2010-2016 data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). This cross-sectional study enrolled adolescents aged at 10-18 years-old who completed a health examination survey and had blood measurements of lead and cadmium. The association of adjusted mean differences in diastolic and systolic blood pressure with doubling of blood lead and cadmium were estimated by regression of blood pressure against log₂-transformed blood metals and their quartiles after covariate adjustment. Adjusted odds ratios for prehypertension were calculated for log₂-transformed blood levels of lead and cadmium and their quartiles. Our analysis of adolescents in Korea indicated that blood levels of lead and cadmium were not significantly associated with increased blood pressure or risk of pre-hypertension. However, the cadmium+lead level was associated with pre-hypertension. Previous studies showed that blood levels of lead and cadmium were associated with increased blood pressure and risk of hypertension in adult populations. We found no such effect in Korean adolescents, although the cadmium+lead level was associated with prehypertension. These differences may be because adolescents generally have lower levels of these blood metals or because adolescents only rarely have hypertension.

Background: Cord blood represents a link between intrauterine and early extrauterine development. Cord blood cells map an important time frame in human immune imprinting processes. It is unknown whether sex of the newborn affects the lymphocyte subpopulations in cord blood. Methods: 9 B and 21 T cell subpopulations were characterized by flow cytometry in human cord blood from 16 male and 21 female newborns, respectively. Results: Except for marginal zone B cells and transitional B cells, B cell count in all subsets was higher in cord blood of male newborns than in female newborns. Frequency of naive thymus negative Th cells was significantly higher in male cord blood whereas the remaining T cell subpopulations showed a higher count in cord blood of female newborns. Conclusion: Our study is the first revealing sex differences in B and T cell subpopulations of human cord blood. These results indicate that sex might have a higher impact for the developing immune system urging the need to expand research in this area.

Abstract: The brain endothelial cell (BEC) glycocalyx (ecGCx) is a BEC surface coating consisting of a complex interwoven polysaccharide (sweet husk) mesh-like network of membrane-bound proteoglycans, glycoproteins, and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) covering the apical luminal layer of the brain endothelial cells. The ecGCx may considered as the 1st barrier of a tripartite blood-brain barrier (BBB) consisting of 1) ecGCx; 2) BECs; (3) extravascular compartment of pericytes, extracellular matrix, and perivascular astrocytes, Perturbations of this barrier allow for increased permeability in the postcapillary venule that will be permissive to both fluids, solutes, and proinflammatory peripherally-derived leukocytes into the perivascular spaces (PVS) to result in enlargement as well as increased neuroinflammation. The ecGCx is known to have multiple functions, which include its physical and charge barrier, mechanical transduction, regulation of vascular permeability, modulation of inflammatory response, and anticoagulation functions. This review discusses each of the listed functions in detail and utilizes multiple transmission electron micrographs and illustrations to allow for a better understanding of the ecGCx structural and functional roles as it relates to enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS). This is the 5th review of a series quintet that discuss the importance of EPVS from the perspective of the cells of brain barriers. Attenuation and/or loss of the ecGCx results in brain barrier disruption with increased permeability to proinflammatory leukocytes, fluids and solutes, which accumulate in the postcapillary venule perivascular spaces. This accumulation results in obstruction and results in EPVS with impaired waste removal of the recently recognized glymphatic system. Importantly, EPVS are progressively being regarded as a marker of cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative pathology.

Deep Learning (DL) has made significant advances in computer vision with the advent of Vision Transformers (ViT). Unlike Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), ViTs use self-attention to extract both local and global features from image data, and then use residual connections to feed these features directly into a fully networked multilayer perceptron head. In hospitals, hematologists prepare peripheral blood smears (PBSs) and read them under a medical microscope to detect abnormalities in blood counts such as leukemia. However, this task is time-consuming and prone to human error. This study investigates the transfer learning process of Google ViT and ImageNet CNNs to automate the reading of PBSs. The study used two online PBS datasets, PBC and BCCD, and transferred them into balanced datasets to investigate the influence of data amount and noise immunity on both neural networks. The PBC results show that Google ViT is an excellent DL neural solution for data scarcity. The BCCD results show that Google ViT is superior to ImageNet CNNs in dealing with unclean, noisy image data because it is able to extract both global and local features and use residual connections, despite the additional time and computational overhead.

In this study, we aimed to identify blood lymphocytes as a prognostic factor for survival in patients with locally advanced stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). We conducted a secondary analysis of 196 patients enrolled in the Korean Radiation Oncology Group 0903 phase III clinical trial to evaluate the prognostic significance of circulating blood lymphocyte levels. The median total lymphocyte count (TLC) reduction ratio during CCRT was 0.74 (range: 0.29 – 0.97). In multivariate analysis, patient age (p = 0.014) and gross tumor volume (GTV, p = 0.031) were significant factors associated with overall survival, while TLC reduction (p = 0.018) and pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR; p = 0.010) were associated with progression-free survival (PFS). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, pretreatment NLR, GTV, and heart V20 were significantly associated with TLC reduction. TLC reduction during CCRT is a significant prognostic factor for PFS, and heart V20 is significantly associated with TLC reduction. Thus, constraining the volume of the radiation dose to the whole heart must be prioritized to reduce TLC.

This study compared growth performance, serum biochemical indicators, rumen fermentation parameters, rumen bacterial structure, and fecal bacterial structure of cattle and yaks, fed for two months, given a feed containing concentrate to roughage ratio of 7: 3 on dry matter basis. Compared with cattle, yak showed better growth performance. The serum biochemical results showed that the albumin: globulin ratio in yaks serum was significantly higher than that in cattle. Aspartate aminotransferase, indirect bilirubin, creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase and total cholesterol were significantly lower in yaks than that in cattle. Rumen pH, acetate to propionate ratio, and acetate were lower in yaks than in cattle while the lactate in yaks was higher than in cattle. There were significant differences in the structure of ruminal as well as fecal bacteria between cattle and yaks. The prediction of rumen bacterial function showed that there was metabolic difference between cattle and yaks. In general, the metabolic pathway of cattle was mainly riched in de novo synthesis of nucleotides, while that of yaks was mainly riched in the metabolic utilization of nutrients. This study provides a basis for understanding the rumen ecology under the condition of high concentrate diet.

Consumption of high amounts of ethanol is a risk factor for development of cardiovascular diseases such as arterial hypertension. The hypertensive state induced by ethanol is a complex multi-factorial event, and oxidative stress is a pathophysiological hallmark of vascular dysfunction associated with ethanol consumption. Increasing levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the vasculature triggers important processes underlying vascular injury, including accumulation of intracellular Ca2+ ions, reduced bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO), activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), endothelial dysfunction, and loss of the anticontractile effect of perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT). The enzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase plays a central role in vascular ROS generation in response to ethanol. Activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is an upstream mechanism which contributes to NADPH oxidase stimulation, overproduction of ROS and vascular dysfunction. This review discusses the mechanisms of vascular dysfunction induced by ethanol, detailing the contribution of ROS to these processes. Data examining the association between neuroendocrine changes and vascular oxidative stress induced by ethanol are also reviewed and discussed. These issues are of paramount interest to public health as ethanol contributes to blood pressure elevation in the general population, and it is linked to cardiovascular conditions and diseases.

To learn what mothers know on newborn bloodspot screening (NBS), the procedure, and sources used, a pilot study was performed. An online questionnaire was developed, with a first part fo-cused on characteristics and the NBS procedure, a second on knowledge, information sources, and health care providers (HCP). This questionnaire was accessible until 200 answers were received. Characteristics of respondents were representative for the population. Mothers recalled verbal consent in 69.5%, 12.5% did not, 18% stated that no consent was requested. The ‘knowledge’ part contained 12 closed questions, 5 multiple-choice questions on sources, and assessment (5-point Likert) of the information transfer. The mean knowledge level was 7.2/12. Screening concepts (consequences, likelihood, sensitivity, carrier) and absence of notification of normal findings were well known. The fact that NBS is not compulsory and post-analysis sample handling were poorly known. Key HCPs were midwifes (80.5%) and nurses (38.5%). When the leaflet (44%) was pro-vided, the majority read it. Mean Likert scores were 3.36, 3.38, 3.11 and 3.35 (clarity, timing ap-propriateness, sufficiency, usefulness). The knowledge level and consent practices were reasonable well. Key HCP were midwives and nurses, leaflets were supporting. This should enable a quality improvement program to a sustainable NBS program in Flanders.

Background: Scaffold (SCA) functionalization with aptamers (APT) provides adsorption of specific bioactive molecules on biomaterials surface. The aim of this study was to observe if SCA enriched with anti-fibronectin APT can favor coagulum (PhC) and osteoblasts (OSB) differentiation. Methods: 20 ug of APT was functionalized on SCA by simple adsorption. For PhC formation, SCAs were inserted into rat calvaria defects for 17 hours. Following proper transportation (Buffer solution-PB), OSB (UMR-106 lineage) were seeded over PhC + SCAs with and without APT. Cells and PhC morphology, PhC cell population, protein labelling and gene expression were observed in different time points. Results: The APT induced higher ALP and BSP immunolabeling in OSB. CD90, CD45 and CD44 expression was more detected in APT group than when scaffolds were not functionalized. Additionally, an enriched and dense fibrin network and different cell types were observed, with more OSB and white blood cells in PhC formed on SCA with APT. The gene expression showed higher TGF-β1 detection in SCA with APT. Conclusions: The SCA functionalization with fibronectin aptamers provides a selective expression of proteins related to coagulation pattern and osteo differentiation. Additionally, aptamers increase TGF-β1 gene expression, which is highly associated with improvements in regenerative therapies.

Background and Aim. Recently made analysis for anti-HBcor prevalence within Kazakhstan blood donors population concluded 17.2% rate. Considering these data are among the highest of infectivity results worldwide, an objective of this study was to define an association of positive Hepatitis B serology markers with risk and behavior factors. Methods. The blood donors’ samples were tested for anti-HBcore total (IgG/IgM) and anti-HBs, by CLIA on the Architect i2000SR platform (Abbott). Surrogate alanine transferase (ALT) markers for all blood donors were tested by kinetic method on the Biosystems A25 analyzer. A questionnaire was developed for socio-demographic characteristics, donors’ nutrition habits, cholesterol levels and history of smoking, alcohol consumption. Informed consent was obtained from all study participants. Statistics was calculated using the R software program (version 4.1.1, USA, 2021). Results. A group of 5709 blood donors participated in the study. Participants with positive anti-HBcore scores were on average older (41.8 vs 34.4 years, p<0.001), Kazakh (88.7% vs 83.0%, p<0.001), married (74.0% vs 55.6%, p<0.001), had a secondary education (70.1% vs. 59.4%, p=0.03), smoked (27.9% vs. 24.3%, p=0.05), had a longer smoking history (13.6±9.5 years vs. 9.8±8.5 years, p<0.001), and various hypercholestesterolaemia (6.2% vs 3.9%, p=0.02). Predominantly their main meal was dinner (17.0% vs 14.2%, p=0.03). Analysis for associations of socio-demographics characteristics, risk factors, nutrition with anti-HBs, showed that those who have secondary education level (70.1%) were more likely to be anti-HBs-positive (p=0.03). No other significant correlations for anti-HBs were observed. Conclusions. The risk factors and behavior analysis highlighted the blood donors’ overall health status. Positive Hepatitis B markers associated with statistically significant characteristics from socio-demography, nutrition habits or risk factors could support further pathogenesis studies looking for HBV treatment guides fulfilling the existing gaps.

Cryptococcosis is a leading cause of death among people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Limited diagnostic and therapeutic options significantly impair treatment options in Africa. We investigated the burden of cryptococcosis and related mortality among people with HIV and suspected sepsis in Ethiopia. We conducted a prospective cohort at 1) Adama Hospital Medical College and 2) Asella Referral and Teaching Hospital from September 2019 to November 2020. We enrolled adult HIV-infected patients presenting with suspected sepsis and assessed 28-day survival. We performed blood cultures and cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) testing. In total, 82 participants were enrolled with a median age of 35 years and 61% being female. Overall, 11(13%) had positive CrAg tests, of which 5 had Cryptococcus detected in blood cultures. Despite high-dose fluconazole (1200mg/d) monotherapy in patients with positive CrAg tests, the 28-day mortality was 64%(7/11), being significantly higher than in CrAg-negative patients (9%(6/71); p&lt;0.001). Cryptococcosis is the leading cause of mortality among HIV-infected sepsis patients. CrAg screening in HIV-infected patients attending emergency department can minimize the cryptococcosis missing case irrespective of CD4 count and viral load. These findings warrant the need of a bundle approach for diagnosis of HIV-infected persons presenting with sepsis in low- and middle-income countries.