Potential Benefits of Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) Fruits and Their Constituents in Improving Human Health

Aronia berry (black chokeberry) is a shrub native to North America, of which the fresh fruits are used in the food industry to produce different types of dietary products. The fruits of Aronia melanocarpa (Aronia berries) have been found to show multiple bioactivities potentially beneficial to human health, including antidiabetic, anti-infective, antineoplastic, antiobesity, and antioxidant activities, as well as heart-, liver-, and neuroprotective effects. Thus far, phenolic compounds, such as anthocyanins, cyanidins, phenolic acids, proanthocyanidins, triterpenoids, and their analogues have been identified as the major active components of Aronia berries. These natural products possess potent antioxidant activity, which contributes to the majority of the other bioactivities observed for Aronia berries. The chemical components and the potential pharmaceutical or health-promoting effects of Aronia berries have been summarized previously. The present review article focuses on the molecular targets of extracts of Aronia berries and the examples of promising lead compounds isolated from these berries, including cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, chlorogenic acid, quercetin, and ursolic acid. In addition, presented herein are clinical trial investigations for Aronia berries and their major components, including cancer clinical trials for chlorogenic acid and COVID-19 trial studies for quercetin. Additionally, the possible development of Aronia berries and their secondary metabolites as potential therapeutic agents is discussed. It is hoped that this contribution will help stimulate future investigations on Aronia berries for the continual improvement of human health.     

Trends and Technological Advancements in the Possible Food Applications of Spirulina and Their Health Benefits: A Review

Spirulina is a kind of blue-green algae (BGA) that is multicellular, filamentous, and prokaryotic. It is also known as a cyanobacterium. It is classified within the phylum known as blue-green algae. Despite the fact that it includes a high concentration of nutrients, such as proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids—in particular, the necessary omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids—the percentage of total fat and cholesterol that can be found in these algae is substantially lower when compared to other food sources. This is the case even if the percentage of total fat that can be found in these algae is also significantly lower. In addition to this, spirulina has a high concentration of bioactive compounds, such as phenols, phycocyanin pigment, and polysaccharides, which all take part in a number of biological activities, such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. As a result of this, spirulina has found its way into the formulation of a great number of medicinal foods, functional foods, and nutritional supplements. Therefore, this article makes an effort to shed light on spirulina, its nutritional value as a result of its chemical composition, and its applications to some food product formulations, such as dairy products, snacks, cookies, and pasta, that are necessary at an industrial level in the food industry all over the world. In addition, this article supports the idea of incorporating it into the food sector, both from a nutritional and health perspective, as it offers numerous advantages.     

Biomedical and Antioxidant Potentialities in Chilli: Perspectives and Way Forward

Worldwide, since ages and nowadays, traditional medicine is well known, owing to its biodiversity, which immensely contributed to the advancement and development of complementary and alternative medicines. There is a wide range of spices, herbs, and trees known for their medicinal uses. Chilli peppers, a vegetable cum spice crop, are bestowed with natural bioactive compounds, flavonoids, capsaicinoids, phytochemicals, phytonutrients, and pharmacologically active compounds with potential health benefits. Such compounds manifest their functionality over solo-treatment by operating in synergy and consortium. Co-action of these compounds and nutrients make them potentially effective against coagulation, obesity, diabetes, inflammation, dreadful diseases, such as cancer, and microbial diseases, alongside having good anti-oxidants with scavenging ability to free radicals and oxygen. In recent times, capsaicinoids especially capsaicin can ameliorate important viral diseases, such as SARS-CoV-2. In addition, capsaicin provides an ability to chilli peppers to ramify as topical agents in pain-relief and also benefitting man as a potential effective anesthetic agent. Such phytochemicals involved not only make them useful and a much economical substitute to wonder/artificial drugs but can be exploited as obscene drugs for the production of novel stuffs. The responsibility of the TRPV1 receptor in association with capsaicin in mitigating chronic diseases has also been justified in this study. Nonetheless, medicinal studies pertaining to consumption of chilli peppers are limited and demand confirmation of the findings from animal studies. In this artifact, an effort has been made to address in an accessible format the nutritional and biomedical perspectives of chilli pepper, which could precisely upgrade and enrich our pharmaceutical industries towards human well-being.     

An axial flow cyclone to remove nanoparticles at low pressure conditions

In this study, the axial flow cyclone used in Tsai et al. (2004) was further tested for the collection efficiency of both solid (NaCl) and liquid (OA, oleic acid) nanoparticles. The results showed that the smallest cutoff aerodynamic diameters achieved for OA and NaCl nanoparticles were 21.7 nm (cyclone inlet pressure: 4.3 Torr, flow rate: 0.351 slpm) and 21.2 nm (5.4 Torr, 0.454 slpm), respectively. The collection efficiencies for NaCl and OA particles were close to each other for the aerodynamic diameter ranging from 25 to 180 nm indicating there was almost no solid particle bounce in the cyclone. The 3-D numerical simulation was conducted to calculate the flow field in the cyclone and the flow was found to be nearly paraboloid. Numerical simulation of the particle collection efficiency based on the paraboloid flow assumption showed that the collection efficiency was in good agreement with the experimental data with less than 15% of error. A semi-empirical equation for predicting the cutoff aerodynamic diameter at different inlet pressures and flow rates was also obtained. The semi-empirical equation is able to predict the cutoff aerodynamic diameter accurately within 9% of error. From the empirical cutoff aerodynamic diameter, a semi-empirical square root of the cutoff Stokes number, , was calculated and found to be a constant value of 0.241. This value is useful to the design of the cyclone operating in vacuum to remove nanoparticles.     

带利息力和干扰的批量索赔一般到达风险模型

本文在经典风险模型的基础上,将索赔到达过程推广为更新过程,索赔可以批量到达,且带有常数利息力和Brown运动干扰项,得到一个新的风险模型,运用Markov骨架过程的方法,得出盈余过程的瞬时分布和生存概率.     

Approximation of aggregate claims distributions by compound poisson distributions

New error bounds are derived for the approximation of aggregate claims distributions by compound Poisson distributions. These approximations can be recommended in most cases in which the normal approximation fails.     

Voice problems in a small swedish town: A retrospective study of the prevalence and a follow-up

The prevalence of voice problems among patients consulting the primary health care unit of a small Swedish town during 1984 was investigated. A study of the records of 11,606 patients indicated that 102 of them consulted their doctor mainly because of voice problems. The period prevalence of voice problems in the population of 20,049 people was 0.5%. A follow-up examination 1 year later indicated that 44% of these patients still had voice problems. Among the patients with a voice disorder diagnosis made by means of indirect laryngoscopy in 1984, 72% still had a voice disorder diagnosis at the follow-up. It is pointed out that the doctor who is seeing a patient with voice problems should make a thorough examination including indirect laryngoscopy. It is also important to discuss the patient's smoking habits and professional vocal strain to prevent recurrence.     

Evaluation of soot particles of biomass fuels with endocrine-modulating activity in yeast-based bioassay

Exposure to indoor air pollution (IAP) from the combustion of biomass fuels is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. In the work discussed in this paper we evaluated the endocrine activity of soot particles from biomass fuels by using yeast bioassay. These pollutants could have -galactosidase activity with a relative potency (RP) about 10^–7–10^–9 that of estradiol. Soot particles from wood and straw combustion only partially induced -galactosidase activity whereas others produced fully inductive activity in the yeast assay system. These pollutants did not have estrogen antagonist and progesterone agonist activity within the defined concentration range. However, these pollutants require 2–4 orders of magnitude higher IC50 to inhibit the activity of progesterone in a similar dose-response manner to mifepristone. We therefore propose that the endocrine activity of some environmental pollutants may be because of inhibition of the progesterone receptor (hPR). GC–MS results showed that substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds, substituted phenolic compounds and derivatives, aromatic carbonyl compounds, and phytosteroids in these soot particles may be mimicking endogenous hormones.     

Assessment of health risk associated with natural gamma dose rate levels and isodose mapping of Jordan

ABSTRACT

As a pioneering study in Jordan, an extensive measurement for external gamma dose rate (GDR) was conducted. A portable gamma radiation detector was used to perform these measurements at 1?m above the soil surface. A geographical positioning system Garmin was used to record a total of 823 measured points. The GDRs’ measurement ranged from 35 to 470?nGy?h^?1 giving a mean value of 90?nGy?h^?1, which was found to be one and half times higher than the world average of 59?nGy?h^?1. The lowest mean GDR 72?nGy?h^?1 was found in the Albalqa governate, while the highest mean GDR 131?nGy?h^?1 was found to be for the Alkarak governate. The mean annual effective dose was found to be 0.551?mSv, which is higher than the world average value of 0.48?mSv. This is a pivotal study evaluating the risks associated with GDR levels in Jordan that were the relative excess lifetime cancer risk, the mean collective effective dose, the mean weighted GDR and the mean lifetime dose that are 2.24?×?10^?3, 5538manSv?y^?1, 0.531?mSv and 39?mSv, respectively. The cosmic rays mean GDR was determined to be 20?nGy?h^?1. This study focuses on constructing GDRs’ baseline data in Jordan, which will be used to determine the possible change in the natural radiation due to other human activities in the future. ArcGIS software was employed to generate an isodose map to characterise exposure rates caused by GDR in Jordan.     

基于不完备频响函数的结构损伤统计识别研究

基于不完备频响函数数据,结合概率统计方法,提出了一种能同时考虑模型参数不确定性和测试噪声影响的结构损伤统计识别方法.首先,基于频响函数某一行向量在不同频率下的幅值数据,利用矩阵拉直运算建立了关于损伤系数的确定性识别方程.其次,假设模型参数误差和测试噪声为零均值的高斯随机变量,根据摄动理论,推导了损伤后结构刚度参数的前二...