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Background: The potential use of hard-to-cook (hardened) chickpeas to obtain value-added functional food ingredients was evaluated. For that purpose, some nutraceutical and functional attributes of several chickpea protein hydrolysates (CPHs) prepared from both fresh and hard-to-cook grains were evaluated., Results: All the CPHs prepared from both fresh and hard-to-cook grains, with the enzymes alcalase, pancreatin and papain, showed high angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory (ACE-I) activity with IC₅₀ values ranging from 0.101 to 37.33 µg mL⁻¹; similarly, high levels of antioxidant activity (around 18.17-95.61 µmol Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity µg⁻¹ CPH) were obtained through both the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) methods. Regarding functional characterization of the CPHs, oil absorption values ranged from 1.91 to 2.20 mL oil g⁻¹ CPH, with water solubility almost 100% from pH 7 to 10., Conclusion: The high antioxidant and ACE-I activities as well as the good functional properties of the CPH prepared from both fresh and hard-to-cook grains, suggest its use in food formulations with value added in human health., (Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Purpose: Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of vision loss in developed countries. Regular diabetic retinal eye screenings are needed to detect early signs of retinopathy, so that appropriate treatments can be rendered to prevent blindness. Digital imaging is becoming available as a means of screening for diabetic retinopathy. However, with the large number of patients undergoing screenings, medical professionals require a tremendous amount of time and effort in order to analyse and diagnose the fundus photographs. Our aim is to develop an automatic algorithm using digital image analysis for detecting these early lesions from retinal images., Methods: An automatic method to detect hard exudates, a lesion associated with diabetic retinopathy, is proposed. The algorithm is based on their colour, using a statistical classification, and their sharp edges, applying an edge detector, to localise them., Results: A sensitivity of 79.62% with a mean number of 3 false positives per image is obtained in a database of 20 retinal images with variable colour, brightness and quality. It can also be seen that the number of the false negative cases increases when the hard exudates were very close to the vessel tree., Conclusion: The long term goal of the project is to automate the screening for diabetic retinopathy with retinal images. We have described the preliminary development of a tool to provide automatic analysis of digital fundus photographs to localise hard exudates. Future work will address the issue of improving the obtained results and also will focus on detecting other lesions.

Tryptophan is required in the pineal gland for the formation of serotonin, precursor of melatonin biosynthesis. The level of this amino acid in the serum and in the pineal gland of the rat undergoes a circadian rhythm, and reduced plasma tryptophan concentration decreases secretion of melatonin in humans. Tryptophan is transported into the cells by the long chain neutral amine acid system T and by the aromatic amino acid system T. The high affinity component of [(3)H]tryptophan uptake was studied in pinealocytes of the rat. Inhibition was observed in the presence of phenylalanine or tyrosine, but not in the presence of neutral amino acids, alanine, glycine, serine, lysine or by 2-aminobicyclo[2,2,1]-heptane-2-carboxylic acid, a substrate specific for system L. The transport of tryptophan was temperature-dependent and trans-stimulated by phenylalanine and tyrosine, but was energy-, sodium-, chloride-, and pH-independent. In addition, the sulphydryl agent N-ethylmaleimide did not modify the high affinity transport of tryptophan in pinealocytes. The kinetic parameters were not significantly different at 12:00 as compared to 24:00 h. The treatment with the inhibitor of tryptophan hydroxylase, p-chlorophenylalanine, produced an increase in the maximal velocity of the uptake and a reduction in the affinity at 12:00, but not at 24:00 h, probably indicating that during the day, the formation of serotonin in the pineal gland is favoured by elevating the uptake of tryptophan, whereas at 24:00 h other mechanisms, such as induction of enzymes are taking place. High affinity tryptophan uptake in the rat pineal gland occurs through system T and is upregulated during the day when the availability of serotonin is reduced.

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of migraine and its implications in the occupational and outside employment/daily activities of the workers at a regional hospital in the Cundiboyacense Plateau in Colombia., Patients and Methods: The available members of the house staff at this institution were interviewed by applying the neuroepidemiological protocol drawn up by the World Health Organization (WHO); general doctors performed the initial screening and the determination of neurological disease was carried out by a clinical neurologist, both in patients who were positive and negative for neurological disease. Quality of life was evaluated by means of the MIDAS (Migraine Disability Assessment) survey, MIDASELA (in Spanish for Latin America); the analysis was performed using the EPI 6.04 software application., Results: A total of 238 people were studied: 188 females and 50 males; the prevalence of migraine was 22.5% (15.5% by the WHO protocol and 7% false negatives), with predominance in females (OR: 5.49; p< 0.005). In the MIDASELA questionnaire, 47.2% of the patients had a 50% alteration in their productivity, with regard to their occupational and outside employment/daily activities. A minimum number of patients (3.8%) were unable to work because of migraine, as compared to the figures for outside employment/daily activities (29.7%) or those involving leisure/family (66.4%). The average work, outside employment/daily and family time lost per patient because of migraine was 0.3, 2 and 5.2 days, respectively., Conclusion: A sub register in the prevalence of migraine could be reported in places where the WHO protocol is used. This pathology will have to be taken well into account in Colombian hospital workers due to its individual, occupational, family, social and economic impact. It is necessary to introduce health policies and programmes aimed at evaluating, controlling and treating this type of pathology in an appropriate manner, in order to improve the quality of life of those whose job it is to look after and improve that of the other Colombians.