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Abstract Radiomics features (RFs) serve as quantitative metrics to characterize shape, density/intensity, and texture patterns in radiological images. Despite their promise, RFs exhibit reproducibility challenges across acquisition settings, thus limiting implementation into clinical practice. In this investigation, we evaluate the effects of different CT scanners and CT acquisition protocols (KV, mA, field-of-view, and reconstruction kernel settings) on RFs extracted from lumbar vertebrae of a cadaveric trunk. Employing univariate and multivariate Generalized Linear Models (GLM), we evaluated the impact of each acquisition parameter on RFs. Our findings indicate that variations in mA had negligible effects on RFs, while alterations in kV resulted in exponential changes in several RFs, notably First Order (94.4%), GLCM (87.5%), and NGTDM (100%). Moreover, we demonstrated that a tailored GLM model was superior to the ComBat algorithm in harmonizing CT images. GLM achieved R2 > 0.90 in 21 RFs (19.6%), contrasting ComBat's mean R2 above 0.90 in only 1 RF (0.9%). This pioneering study unveils the effects of CT acquisition parameters on bone RFs in cadaveric specimens, highlighting significant variations across parameters and scanner datasets. The proposed GLM model presents a robust solution for mitigating these differences, potentially advancing harmonization efforts in Radiomics-based studies across diverse CT protocols and vendors.

Abstract Radiomics features (RFs) studies have showed limitations in the reproducibility of RFs in different acquisition settings. To date, reproducibility studies using CT images mainly rely on phantoms, due to the harness of patient exposure to X-rays. The provided CadAIver dataset has the aims of evaluating how CT scanner parameters effect radiomics features on cadaveric donor. The dataset comprises 112 unique CT acquisitions of a cadaveric truck acquired on 3 different CT scanners varying KV, mA, field-of-view, and reconstruction kernel settings. Technical validation of the CadAIver dataset comprises a comprehensive univariate and multivariate GLM approach to assess stability of each RFs extracted from lumbar vertebrae. The complete dataset is publicly available to be applied for future research in the RFs field, and could foster the creation of a collaborative open CT image database to increase the sample size, the range of available scanners, and the available body districts.

Aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) are promising for proteins purification; however, when dealing with samples comprising several proteins, the selectivity towards a target protein is difficult to achieve. In this work, the addition of ionic liquids (ILs) as adjuvants (5 wt% and 10 wt%) in ABS composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dextran was investigated to tailor proteins partitioning between the coexisting phases. The liquid-liquid phase diagrams were determined at 298 K, followed by partition studies of three proteins (bovine serum albumin (BSA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), and cytochrome C (Cyt C)). Partition coefficients of IgG and BSA indicate the preference of both proteins to the dextran-rich phase, whereas Cyt C has no preferential partitioning between the phases. The addition of chloride-based ILs as adjuvants allows to increase or decrease the partition coefficients, thus tailoring the proteins partitioning between the phases. BSA partitioning essentially depends on the IL content in each phase, whereas Cyt C and IgG partitioning is ruled by the ILs chemical structure and established interactions. Molecular docking was carried out to address the ILs effect on the proteins partitioning, supporting experimental observations, while identifying the specific interactions occurring. The partition of each protein in polymer-salt ABS with ILs as adjuvants was determined, demonstrating the higher tailoring ability of polymer-polymer ABS when adding ILs. Finally, the partition of each protein in presence of the remaining ones was determined, as well as the selectivity of the studied systems to separate each pair of proteins, paving the way for their use in liquid-liquid chromatography.

Pequi is a natural source of bioactive compounds with wide versatility for fresh or processed fruit consumption, but it is still little explored economically. Functional foods are the subject of diverse scientific research since, in addition to being nourishing, they contain bioactive compounds capable of promoting several benefits to the human body. Pequi is a fruit species native to the Brazilian Cerrado, which is rich in oil and has components with a high nutritional value, such as unsaturated fatty acids (omega-3, omega-6, EPA, and DHA), antioxidants (carotenoids and phenolic compounds), and vitamins. Therefore, the present narrative review aims to compile and critically evaluate the methods used to extract oil from the pulp and almonds of pequi and describes the carotenoid separation from the oil because carotenoids are natural pigments of great interest in the pharmaceutical and food industries. It is emphasized that the main challenges linked to bioactive compound extraction are their susceptibility to degradation in the processing and storage stages of pequi and its derived products.

The extraction of protein from flour of jackfruit seeds by reverse micelles was evaluated. Reverse micelle system was composed of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as surfactant, butanol as solvent, and water. The effects of stirring time, temperature, molar ratio H2O SDS-1, concentration of butanol (mass percentage) and flour mass were tested in batch systems. Based on the adjusted linear regression model, only butanol concentration provided optimum extraction conditions (41.16%). Based on the analysis of surface response, the best extraction yield could be obtained at 25°C, stirring time of 120 min, mass of flour of 100 mg, and a ratio H2O SDS-1 of 50. Experimental results showed that a 79.00% extraction yield could be obtained.

Water used in industrial processes requires a special treatment to achieve a high level of quality. In this context, the aim of this study was to investigate the use of cellulosic materials for water softening, such as microcrystalline cellulose (101 µm and 500 µm) and bleached Eucalyptus Kraft pulp. Firstly, the kinetic study was made in order to optimize operation parameters and then the adsorption processes were conducted, at three different levels of pH and different concentrations of calcium. The results showed that the pseudo-second order kinetic model had the best correlation coefficient and the Freundlich isotherm model was more appropriate to fit the experimental data, with the highest adsorption capacity observed at pH 7,0 for all the tested materials. At this pH, the microcrystalline cellulose adsorbed more than the bleached Eucalyptus Kraft pulp. Thus, it could be concluded that the proposed objectives were achieved.

In this work, we used an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) consisting of the ionic liquid [C4mim][Cl] and the salt K2HPO4 to partition α-lactalbumin, β-lactoglobulin, and lactoferrin whey proteins. Extraction efficiency values above 87% indicate that the proteins primarily migrated to the ionic liquid-rich phase (top phase). Partition coefficient values ranged from 6.17 to 8.93 for a-lactalbumin, from 22.80 to 34.55 for β-lactoglobulin, and from 26.46 to 40.06 for lactoferrin. Therefore, the saline ATPS with the ionic liquid examined in this study can be considered to be a promising alternative for extracting whey proteins.

The nutritional and functional benefits offered by whey protein α-lactalbumin justify the great interest in its manufacture in large quantities at a high purity level. Hydroxyapatite is a calcium phosphate material able to adsorb proteins and can be synthesized at low production cost. Therefore, this work evaluated the adsorption of α-lactalbumin on hydroxyapatite using solid-liquid phase equilibrium data reported as adsorption isotherms. Van't Hoff's thermodynamics analysis showed that the adsorption process is entropically driven.

OBJECTIVE: To verify if the reference values of Sleep Apnea cephalometric analysis of North American individuals are similar to the ones of Brazilian individuals presenting no craniofacial anomalies. The study also aimed to identify craniofacial alterations in Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome (OSAHS) patients in relation to individuals without clinical characteristics of the disease through this cephalometric analysis. METHOD: It were used 55 lateral cephalograms consisting of 29 for the control group of adult individuals without clinical characteristics of OSAHS and 26 apneic adults. All radiographs were submitted to Sleep Apnea cephalometric analysis through Radiocef Studio 2.0. The standard values of this analysis were compared, by means of z test, to the ones obtained from the control group and these were compared to values from apneic group through Student's t test. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between values obtained from control group and standard values. On the group of OSAHS patients it was observed a decrease on the dimensions of upper airways and an increase on the soft palate length. CONCLUSIONS: The standard values of Sleep Apnea analysis can be used as reference in Brazilian individuals. Besides, through lateral cephalograms it was possible to identify craniofacial alterations in OSAHS patients.

Bovine serum albumin is one of the major serum proteins; it plays an important role as a result of its functional and nutritional properties which have bioactive peptides. Adsorption method was used to separate protein, which involves hydroxyapatite, synthetic hydroxyapatite, and active babassu coal. Initially, characterization was carried out using the zeta potential of the adsorbents. Kinetic pseudo-first- and pseudo-second-order models were applied. For isotherms, equilibrium data studies were carried out using the Langmuir and Freundlich models, in addition to determining the efficiency of adsorptive process. The results of the zeta potential showed loads ranging from +6.9 to −42.8 mV. The kinetic data were better represented in the pseudo-second-order model with chemisorption characteristics. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbents decreased as pH increased, indicating that the electrostatic bonds and some functional groups of active babassu coal contributed to the reduction of adsorption, especially oxygen linked to carbon atoms. The value of pH 4.0 showed the best results of adsorption, being obtained as the maximum adsorption capacity (qm) and yield (%) (where qm=87.95 mg g−1 and 74.2%; 68.26 mg g−1 and 68.6%; and 36.18 mg g−1, 37.4%) of hydroxyapatite, synthetic hydroxyapatite, and active babassu coal, respectively.

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Objective: To verify if the reference values of Sleep Apnea cephalometric analysis of North American individuals are similar to the ones of Brazilian individuals presenting no craniofacial anomalies. The study also aimed to identify craniofacial alterations in Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome (OSAHS) patients in relation to individuals without clinical characteristics of the disease through this cephalometric analysis. Method: It were used 55 lateral cephalograms consisted of 29 for the control group of adult individuals without clinical characteristics of OSAHS and 26 apneic adults. All radiographs were submitted to Sleep Apnea cephalometric analysis through Radiocef Studio 2.0. The standard values of this analysis were compared, by means of z test, to the ones obtained from the control group and these were compared to values from apneic group through Student's t test. Results: There were no significant differences between values obtained from control group and standard values. On the group of OSAHS patients it was observed a decrease on the dimensions of upper airways and an increase on the soft palate length. Conclusions: The standard values of Sleep Apnea analysis can be used as reference in Brazilian individuals. Besides, through lateral cephalograms it was possible to identify craniofacial alterations in OSAHS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A global and local discussion on Public Health relevance is taking place, including the future role and organization of its services. Noteworthy becomes the role played by Public Health Specialists. This work presents the results of a workshop, carried out following the Guilbert methodology, whose aim was to define Public Health Doctors functions and their related activities. The programme involved 30 professionals from Triveneto area (North Eastern Italy), working in Prevention Departments at National Health Service and Universities. The key-functions identified were: 1) Health status assessment and identification of community risk factors, 2) Health Promotion, 3) Prevention, 4) Protection, 5) Planning, 6) Communication, 7) Professional Training, 8) Alliances and resources for complex Public Health programs, 9) Crisis management in Public Health, 10) Research. For each function activities were identified, meaning concerning areas and contents that must be warranted by professionals. This experience allowed to share existing attitudes and experiences present in Triveneto area, and it can stand as a feasible instrument for different settings. Nevertheless, it appears mandatory explaining at each level in the society role and functions of Prevention Departments.