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Aim: The scope of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical profile of Psidium guajava and Carica papaya leaves aqueous extracts, from plants cultivated on Crete island in Greece. Methods: Total phenolic content (TPC) in the aqueous extracts was determined spectrometrically using the Folin-Ciocalteu (F-C) assay. The identification and quantification of different phenolic compounds in the aqueous extracts were conducted using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analysis. Different metals were also determined (K, Fe, Zn, Ca, Mg, Pb, and Cd) to investigate the potential health claims or hazards in the water extractable infusion using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method. Results: TPC in the aqueous extracts was found to be 28.0 g gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/kg dry leaves for Psidium guajava leaves aqueous extract and 15.0 g GAE/kg dry leaves for Carica papaya leaves aqueous extract. The dominant phenolic compounds in Psidium guajava leaves aqueous extract were myricetin (3,852 mg/kg dry sample) and rutin (670 mg/kg dry sample) while the dominant phenolic compounds in Carica papaya leaves aqueous extract were salicylic acid (338 mg/kg dry sample) and rutin (264 mg/kg dry sample). Different metals were also determined (K, Fe, Zn, Ca, Mg, Pb, and Cd) to investigate the potential health claims or hazards in the water extractable infusion, and it was found that no toxic metals were extracted whereas some nutritional benefits were achieved. Conclusions: Results proved that Psidium guajava and Carica papaya can be provided a strong antioxidant activity and can be used as medicinal plants.

Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients have been mostly described in hospitalised patients, yet most are managed in an outpatient setting. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed healthcare delivery models and accelerated the implementation and adoption of telemedicine solutions. We employed a modular remote monitoring system with multi-modal data collection, aggregation, and analytics features to monitor mild COVID-19 patients and report their characteristics and symptoms. At enrolment, the patients were equipped with wearables, which were associated with their accounts, provided the respective in-system consents, and, in parallel, reported the demographics and patient characteristics. The patients monitored their vitals and symptoms daily during a 14-day monitoring period. Vital signs were entered either manually or automatically through wearables. We enrolled 162 patients from February to May 2022. The median age was 51 (42–60) years; 44% were male, 22% had at least one comorbidity, and 73.5% were fully vaccinated. The vitals of the patients were within normal range throughout the monitoring period. Thirteen patients were asymptomatic, while the rest had at least one symptom for a median of 11 (7–16) days. Fatigue was the most common symptom, followed by fever and cough. Loss of taste and smell was the longest-lasting symptom. Age positively correlated with the duration of fatigue, anorexia, and low-grade fever. Comorbidities, the number of administered doses, the days since the last dose, and the days since the positive test did not seem to affect the number of sick days or symptomatology. The i-COVID platform allowed us to provide remote monitoring and reporting of COVID-19 outpatients. We were able to report their clinical characteristics while simultaneously helping reduce the spread of the virus through hospitals by minimising hospital visits. The monitoring platform also offered advanced knowledge extraction and analytic capabilities to detect health condition deterioration and automatically trigger personalised support workflows.

The concentrations of Co were determined in the hydrological cycle (in maquis and fir forests), litterfall and soils in maquis, oak, beech and fir forests. The concentrations in the hydrological cycle were characterized by high variability. The concentrations in soil solution were much higher than those in the bulk deposition and throughfall. The contribution of the earth’s’ crust in the bulk deposition enrichment with Co was not high but some minor quantities of Co can be considered to be transported in long distances. The concentrations of Co in litterfall were high in the fraction composed of lichens, flowers and mosses, especially in the fir forest. The total content of Co was significantly higher in the soils derived from mica schist than those in the flysch. The residence time of Co in the forest floor was rather long. This is an indication that weathering in the mineral layers plays an important role in providing Co for plant uptake.

Dietary diversity (DD) plays a crucial role in fostering high-quality diets, but its association with health outcomes, particularly body adiposity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), is inconsistent. This may be due to a lack of a standardized method for estimating DD. Our study investigates the association between two DD indices, namely the dietary diversity score (DDS) and food variety score (FVS), and anthropometric measures, biochemical parameters, and diet quality in a large population sample from the I.Family study across research centers in eight European countries. In our cross-sectional analysis of 3035 participants, DDSs varied among countries, with a higher prevalence in the third DDS tertile among those with higher education. DDS showed a positive association with diet quality across all age groups. Higher DDS tertile individuals showed increased fiber, fruit, and vegetable intake, greater meal frequency, and lower ultra-processed food consumption. No relevant biochemical differences were observed across DDS tertiles, and a higher DDS was associated with lower overweight/obesity prevalence only in adults. No significant associations were found with FVS. Our findings emphasize the need to consider food groups for a more accurate estimation of diet quality. This aligns with studies suggesting DDS alone is not an independent risk factor for obesity in children and adolescents. Public health programs should prioritize food diversity to promote improved nutrition and overall well-being in communities.

Purpose: This study was aimed to analyze the mediation role of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) on the association between fatness and cardiometabolic risk scores (CMRs) in European adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in adolescents (n = 525; 46% boys; 14.1 ± 1.1 years old, mean ± SD) from 10 European cities involved in the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence study. CRF was measured by means of the shuttle run test, while fatness measures included body mass index (BMI), waist to height ratio, and fat mass index estimated from skinfold thicknesses. A clustered CMRs was computed by summing the standardized values of homeostasis model assessment, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, and leptin. Results: Linear regression models indicated that CRF acted as an important and partial mediator in the association between fatness and CMRs in 12–17-year-old adolescents (for BMI: coefficients of the indirect role β = 0.058 (95% confidence interval (95%CI): 0.023–0.101), Sobel test z = 3.11 (10.0% mediation); for waist to height ratio: β = 4.279 (95%CI: 2.242–7.059), z =3.86 (11.5% mediation); and for fat mass index: β = 0.060 (95%CI: 0.020–0.106), z = 2.85 (9.4% mediation); all p < 0.01). Conclusion: In adolescents, the association between fatness and CMRs could be partially decreased with improvements to fitness levels; therefore, CRF contribution both in the clinical field and public health could be important to consider and promote in adolescents independently of their fatness levels.

The scope of the present study was to develop and validate a rapid and precise method for the evaluation the stability and the chemical life of nitrocellulose-based propellants which contain as stabilizers diphenylamine, N-nitrosodiphenylamine, 2-nitrodiphenylamine, 4-nitrodiphenylamine and ethyl centralite. This was made by using the calculation of the weight percentage concentration (% w/w) of the initial effective stabilizer, the calculation of the weight percentage concentration (% w/w) of the effective stabilizer after artificial ageing, as well as the reduction of the concentration as a % percentage. All crucial parameters were investigated and optimized. The validation and the uncertainty estimation of the method was based on the Eurachem Guidelines. The recovery of the method was found higher than 95% and the RSD values were found less than 10%. The ageing procedure was found to be the most important factor influencing the uncertainty. The present study describes a very important procedure for ammunition management and the way to provide a declaration of conformity for safe use and storage.

This paper presents a methodology for generating cross-harmonizations of jazz standards, i.e., for harmonizing the melody of a jazz standard (Song A) with the harmonic context of another (Song B). Specifically, the melody of Song A, along with the chords that start and end its sections (chord constraints), are used as a basis for generating new harmonizations with chords and chord transitions taken from Song B. This task involves potential incompatibilities between the components drawn from the two songs that take part in the cross-harmonization. In order to tackle such incompatibilities, two methods are introduced that are integrated in the Hidden Markov Model and the Viterbi algorithm. First, a rudimentary approach to chord grouping is presented that allows interchangeable utilization of chords belonging to the same group, depending on melody compatibility. Then, a “supporting” harmonic space of chords and probabilities is employed, which is learned from the entire dataset of the available jazz standards; this space provides local solutions when there are insurmountable conflicts between the melody and constraints of Song A and the harmonic context of Song B. Statistical and expert evaluation allow an analysis of the methodology, providing valuable insight about future steps.

Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients have been mostly described in hospitalised patients, yet most are managed in an outpatient setting. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed healthcare delivery models and accelerated the implementation and adoption of telemedicine solutions. We employed a modular remote monitoring system with multi-modal data collection, aggregation, and analytics features to monitor mild COVID-19 patients and report their characteristics and symptoms. At enrolment, the patients were equipped with wearables, which were associated with their accounts, provided the respective in-system consents, and, in parallel, reported the demographics and patient characteristics. The patients monitored their vitals and symptoms daily during a 14-day monitoring period. Vital signs were entered either manually or automatically through wearables. We enrolled 162 patients from February to May 2022. The median age was 51 (42–60) years; 44% were male, 22% had at least one comorbidity, and 73.5% were fully vaccinated. The vitals of the patients were within normal range throughout the monitoring period. Thirteen patients were asymptomatic, while the rest had at least one symptom for a median of 11 (7–16) days. Fatigue was the most common symptom, followed by fever and cough. Loss of taste and smell was the longest-lasting symptom. Age positively correlated with the duration of fatigue, anorexia, and low-grade fever. Comorbidities, the number of administered doses, the days since the last dose, and the days since the positive test did not seem to affect the number of sick days or symptomatology. The i-COVID platform allowed us to provide remote monitoring and reporting of COVID-19 outpatients. We were able to report their clinical characteristics while simultaneously helping reduce the spread of the virus through hospitals by minimising hospital visits. The monitoring platform also offered advanced knowledge extraction and analytic capabilities to detect health condition deterioration and automatically trigger personalised support workflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the key quality characteristics of olive oil with a main focus on the biophenolic content, its beneficial effects on health and the contribution of various quality characteristics to its health claims, as well as its influence from various parameters. Samples from different traditional oil-producing regions of Greece were initially examined for the most important quality parameters, such as the percentage of free acidity, the number of peroxides and the spectrophotometric investigation in the ultraviolet. The samples were then tested for their biophenolic content, expressed in milligrams of tyrosol, and its derivatives per 20 g of olive oil using the analytical technique high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Then, the biophenol contents of the analyzed samples were compared based on the presented intensities in terms of the variety and the area of cultivation, the altitude, the type of cultivation, the extraction system in the mill and the time interval from olive harvest to oiling. Finally, according to the results, the content of biophenols in olive oil and its health claims were found to be influenced by the various parameters with which they were compared.