Search

Copyright of Journal of Food Safety & Quality is the property of Journal of Food Safety & Quality Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of China Fiber Inspection / Zhongguo Xian-Jian is the property of China Fiber Inspection and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, especially the pericarp of Citrus reticulata Blanco cv. Chachiensis (PCRC), is an important edible and medicinal ingredient for health and pharmacological properties. Citrus Huanglongbing, a devastating disease that currently threatens the citrus industry worldwide, is caused by a phloem-limited alpha-proteobacterium, "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" (CLas). The industry of cultivar Chachiensis has been suffering from HLB. Although HLB affected the quality of citrus fruit, whether the quality of PCRC was affected by HLB remains unclear. In this study, we compared the metabolite profiles between HLB-affected and healthy PCRC from three sources: fresh, 6-month-old, and 9-year-old PCRC, through the untargeted LC–MS method. Compared to healthy controls, various types of bioactive compounds, mainly flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, coumarins, polysaccharides, and phenolic acids, accumulated in HLB-affected PCRC, especially in the HLB-affected 9-year PCRC. In particular, isorhamnetin, isoliquiritigenin, luteolin 7-O-beta-D-glucoside, limonin, geniposide, pyrimidodiazepine, scoparone, chitobiose, m-coumaric acid, malonate, and pantothenic acid, which contributed to the pharmacological activity and health care effects of PCRC, were highly accumulated in HLB-affected 9-year-old PCRC compared to the healthy control. Multibioassay analyses revealed that HLB-affected 9-year-old PCRC had a higher content of total flavonoids and total polyphenols and exhibited similar antioxidant capacity as compared to healthy controls. The results of this study provided detailed information on the quality of HLB-affected PCRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Modern Food Science & Technology is the property of Editorial Office of Modern Food Science & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Pinellia ternata, a traditional Chinese medicine, is well-renowned for its effectiveness in treating sickness such as coughs with excessive phlegm, vomiting, and nausea. The nucleoside components of P. ternata have been shown to have antitumor activity. Identifying potential growth areas of high-quality P. ternata based on the content of five nucleoside components and the identification of climatic features suitable for the growth of P. ternata will help to conserve P. ternata resources with targeted bioactive compounds. Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), we determined five nucleoside components, uridine, guanosine, adenosine, inosine, and thymidine, at 27 sampling points of P. ternata collected from 21 municipalities of 11 provinces in China. We used ecological niche modeling to identify the major environmental factors associated with the high metabolite content of P. ternata, including precipitation of the warmest quarter, annual mean temperature, annual precipitation, and isothermality. Areas with high suitability for the five nucleosides were found in Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Hubei Provinces. Under the RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5 scenarios, the areas with a suitable distribution decreased and some areas with high suitability became areas with low suitability. Overall, our findings advance our knowledge of the ecological impacts of climate change and provide a valuable reference for conserving and sustainably developing high-quality P. ternata resources in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorylated fish gelatin (PFG) exhibited preferable physical and chemical properties than fish gelatin (FG) in our previous study. To investigate the application values of PFG, the effects of different ratios (2:1, 1:1 and 1:2) of FG(PFG)/κ carrageenan (κC) on the quality of jelly gels (JGs) were investigated. The sensory quality of PFG:κC (1:2)/FG:κC (1:2) was found to be superior based on sensory evaluations, which was also verified with the results for texture, rheology, etc. Moreover, the structural changes in JGs were related to the introduction of phosphoric acid groups into the molecular chain of gelatin and the protein–polysaccharide interactions. According to the storage results, PFG jelly had better storage quality, higher hardness and chewiness values than those of FG jelly. High-throughput sequencing of JG microbial analysis showed that the addition of PFG changed the amount of microorganisms, microbial species abundance and the microbial composition of JGs, which were also closely related to the storage quality of JGs. In conclusion, the applications of PFG have promising potential to improve the quality of confectionery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, especially the pericarp of Citrus reticulata Blanco cv. Chachiensis (PCRC), is an important edible and medicinal ingredient for health and pharmacological properties. Citrus Huanglongbing, a devastating disease that currently threatens the citrus industry worldwide, is caused by a phloem-limited alpha-proteobacterium, “Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus” (CLas). The industry of cultivar Chachiensis has been suffering from HLB. Although HLB affected the quality of citrus fruit, whether the quality of PCRC was affected by HLB remains unclear. In this study, we compared the metabolite profiles between HLB-affected and healthy PCRC from three sources: fresh, 6-month-old, and 9-year-old PCRC, through the untargeted LC–MS method. Compared to healthy controls, various types of bioactive compounds, mainly flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, coumarins, polysaccharides, and phenolic acids, accumulated in HLB-affected PCRC, especially in the HLB-affected 9-year PCRC. In particular, isorhamnetin, isoliquiritigenin, luteolin 7-O-beta-D-glucoside, limonin, geniposide, pyrimidodiazepine, scoparone, chitobiose, m-coumaric acid, malonate, and pantothenic acid, which contributed to the pharmacological activity and health care effects of PCRC, were highly accumulated in HLB-affected 9-year-old PCRC compared to the healthy control. Multibioassay analyses revealed that HLB-affected 9-year-old PCRC had a higher content of total flavonoids and total polyphenols and exhibited similar antioxidant capacity as compared to healthy controls. The results of this study provided detailed information on the quality of HLB-affected PCRC.

Introduction: Capparis spinosa L. fruits as edible and medicinal plant, has antiinflammatory activities. The different morphological characteristics of C. spinosa fruits from Ili, Turpan, and Karamay may affect their anti-inflammatory components and functions. Methods: The anti-inflammatory activity of C. spinosa fruit was assessed using an LPS-induced inflammatory cell model. Furthermore, the differences in antiinflammatory compounds were analyzed by metabolome and RNA-seq. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory mechanism was elucidated using network pharmacology. Results: In the study, we found that the 95% ethanol extracts (CSE) obtained from the three kinds of fruits showed remarkable anti-inflammatory effects both in vivo and in vitro. However, the CSE derived from Ili fruits significantly reduced CD86 levels on DCs. As a result of metabolomic analysis, the metabolic profiles of Ili fruits differed significantly from those of the other two habitats, which were consistent with transcriptome analysis. A total of 15 compounds exhibiting antiinflammatory activity were subjected to screening, revealing a greater accumulation of flavonoids in the Turpan and Karamay districts. Notably, phenolic compounds were identified as the principal anti-inflammatory components in C. spinosa. Conclusion: There were significant differences in the morphology, metabolites, transcriptional levels, and anti-inflammatory activity of C. spinosa from the three districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionCapparis spinosa L. fruits as edible and medicinal plant, has anti-inflammatory activities. The different morphological characteristics of C. spinosa fruits from Ili, Turpan, and Karamay may affect their anti-inflammatory components and functions.MethodsThe anti-inflammatory activity of C. spinosa fruit was assessed using an LPS-induced inflammatory cell model. Furthermore, the differences in anti-inflammatory compounds were analyzed by metabolome and RNA-seq. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory mechanism was elucidated using network pharmacology.ResultsIn the study, we found that the 95% ethanol extracts (CSE) obtained from the three kinds of fruits showed remarkable anti-inflammatory effects both in vivo and in vitro. However, the CSE derived from Ili fruits significantly reduced CD86 levels on DCs. As a result of metabolomic analysis, the metabolic profiles of Ili fruits differed significantly from those of the other two habitats, which were consistent with transcriptome analysis. A total of 15 compounds exhibiting anti-inflammatory activity were subjected to screening, revealing a greater accumulation of flavonoids in the Turpan and Karamay districts. Notably, phenolic compounds were identified as the principal anti-inflammatory components in C. spinosa.ConclusionThere were significant differences in the morphology, metabolites, transcriptional levels, and anti-inflammatory activity of C. spinosa from the three districts.

Price currents and newspapers are major sources of information on prices during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but drawing conclusions about trends and fluctuations in values from the quotations in these sources poses several recurrent difficulties. After discussing the origins of the prices in these sources, we use a range of examples, mainly involving commodity prices, to illustrate important problems in working with historical price data. These include missing observations and price inertia, varying gaps between low and high price quotations, and the splicing together of price series from different sources or for different commodity qualities. The last two problems often arise from changes over time in the detail with which prices for heterogeneous commodities were reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorylated fish gelatin (PFG) exhibited preferable physical and chemical properties than fish gelatin (FG) in our previous study. To investigate the application values of PFG, the effects of different ratios (2:1, 1:1 and 1:2) of FG(PFG)/κ carrageenan (κC) on the quality of jelly gels (JGs) were investigated. The sensory quality of PFG:κC (1:2)/FG:κC (1:2) was found to be superior based on sensory evaluations, which was also verified with the results for texture, rheology, etc. Moreover, the structural changes in JGs were related to the introduction of phosphoric acid groups into the molecular chain of gelatin and the protein–polysaccharide interactions. According to the storage results, PFG jelly had better storage quality, higher hardness and chewiness values than those of FG jelly. High-throughput sequencing of JG microbial analysis showed that the addition of PFG changed the amount of microorganisms, microbial species abundance and the microbial composition of JGs, which were also closely related to the storage quality of JGs. In conclusion, the applications of PFG have promising potential to improve the quality of confectionery.

A reconfigurable manufacturing system offers several manufacturing routes to produce the same product. Each manufacturing route considers different production, reconfiguration, and module changing time which can potentially impact the delivery time of a product to the customer location. This study considers the impact of different reconfigurable manufacturing routes and quality concerns on the efficiency of a vehicle routing problem. The reconfigurable manufacturing system produces different products while the vehicle routing problem distributes the products to different customer locations. The analysis is conducted by using two important reconfigurable manufacturing system characteristics i.e., modularity and scalability, to assess their impact on manufacturing and supply chain systems. A multi-objective model containing the objectives of the total cost, the total time, the scalability, and the modularity is proposed to analyze the problem. The model is subsequently implemented by using a two-phased meta-heuristic approach using automatic calibration. In the first phase, production analysis is examined by using different reconfigurable machines through the application of a non-sorting genetic algorithm embedded with an absorption policy and multiple crossover operators based on simulated annealing. The second phase considers the delivery of products to different customer locations through the application of a variable neighborhood search approach.

Copyright of Modern Food Science & Technology is the property of Editorial Office of Modern Food Science & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Quality transparency supports the reduction of information asymmetries in the health care system and enables the targeted regulation of health care. This study examines quality variation in inpatient obstetric care using the official Federal Office of Public Health Inpatient Quality Indicators (CH-IQI; vaginal births with 3rd- and 4th-degree perineal tears, vaginal births with episiotomy, and Caesarean section for low-risk births). It includes 101 maternity hospitals and 425,810 births between 2013 and 2017. For births with perineal laceration of 3rd and 4th degree, Switzerland performs 0.9% poorer in comparison to Germany (D-IQI) and Austria (A-IQI). For births with episiotomy, Switzerland is 1.1% above Germany. The Caesarean section rate for low-risk births was 26.8% in Switzerland in 2017 (Germany: 25.9%). When comparing Swiss clinics, private clinic locations in particular stand out. One possible reason for this may be the density of care, patient demands or the system of affiliated physicians at these clinics.

Semen Ziziphi Spinosae (SZS) is the dry mature seed of Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H. F. Chou and a traditional Chinese medicine that can treat insomnia. The quality of SZS can be affected by environmental factors that in turn impact clinical effects. Zhao et al. (2021) recently analysed the distribution pattern of Z. jujuba since the last interglacial period. In our study, the active ingredients spinosa and jujuboside A were examined to further study the influence of predicted future climate on the quality of SZS. Our study showed that the quality of SZS is correlated with ecological conditions. Areas with high-quality SZS are mainly concentrated in Hebei and Shandong. Under RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5 conditions, the area suitable for SZS decreased, and some high-suitability areas became areas of poor suitability.

This study aimed to characterize Echinus esculentus gonads in terms of biometric parameters and nutritional quality at two sites in Mid-Norway at four different seasons. The chemical contamination of the gonads was also investigated for the first time through the evaluation of 28 macro- and trace elements and 32 components from the emerging and persistent group per - and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The spawning period was determined in summer, given that the gonad index was the lowest in this season for both sites. Protein concentrations were constant (8%–10%). However, lipid contents (1%–3%) were noticed to be higher in gonads during autumn and winter. The gonads had high contents of PUFA mainly EPA and DHA, followed by SFA, and MUFA year around for both locations. E. esculentus gonads constitute a good source of fatty acids, macro, and trace elements. This species could also be a bioindicator for the monitoring of marine environments. • Echinus esculentus gonads have low lipids content (1%–3%). • The lipids content was high in PUFAs mainly EPA and DHA. • Detection of PFAS pollutants in the gonads ranging from K > P > Mg > Ca and essential trace elements Zn > Fe > Sr. • Toxic trace elements were as follows Cd > Hg > Pb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context Owing to the complexity of chemical ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it is difficult to maintain quality and efficacy by relying only on chemical markers. Objective Lianhua Qingwen capsule (LHQW) was selected as an example to discuss the feasibility of a bioassay for quality control. Materials and methods Network pharmacology was used to screen potential targets in LHQW with respect to its anti-inflammatory effects. An in vitro cell model was used to validate the prediction. An anti-inflammatory bioassay was established for the quality evaluation of LHQW in 40 batches of marketed products and three batches of destructed samples. Results The tumor necrosis factor/interleukin-6 (TNF/IL-6) pathway via macrophage was selected as the potential target of LHQW. The IC50 value of LHQW on RAW 264.7 was 799.8 μg/mL. LHQW had significant inhibitory effects on the expression of IL-6 in a dose-dependent manner (p

Owing to the complexity of chemical ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it is difficult to maintain quality and efficacy by relying only on chemical markers. Lianhua Qingwen capsule (LHQW) was selected as an example to discuss the feasibility of a bioassay for quality control. Network pharmacology was used to screen potential targets in LHQW with respect to its anti-inflammatory effects. An in vitro cell model was used to validate the prediction. An anti-inflammatory bioassay was established for the quality evaluation of LHQW in 40 batches of marketed products and three batches of destructed samples. The tumor necrosis factor/interleukin-6 (TNF/IL-6) pathway via macrophage was selected as the potential target of LHQW. The IC50 value of LHQW on RAW 264.7 was 799.8 μg/mL. LHQW had significant inhibitory effects on the expression of IL-6 in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.05). The anti-inflammatory biopotency of LHQW was calculated based on the inhibitory bioactivity on IL-6. The biopotency of 40 marketed samples ranged from 404 U/μg to 2171 U/μg, with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 37.91%. By contrast, the contents of forsythin indicated lower CV (28.05%) than the value of biopotency. Moreover, the biopotencies of destructed samples declined approximate 50%, while the contents of forsythin did not change. This newly established bioassay revealed a better ability to discriminate the quality variations of LHQW as compared to the routine chemical determination. A well-established bioassay may have promising ability to reveal the variance in quality of TCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gentiana rigescens is an economically important medicinal plant in the subtropical zone in Asia. However, it is unclear how its distribution responds to climate change in the future. This study aims to simulate the effect of climate change on the distribution of G. rigescens by using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model and to evaluate the potential impact of habitat suitability on the quality of medicinal materials vis multiple chemical information. In the study, we investigated the suitable habitat fluctuation ranges of G. rigescens under different future climate scenarios at first. Subsequently, the chemical geographical variation of medicinal materials collected from different suitable areas was evaluated based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis and Fourier-transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy. The results showed that the areas of highly suitable habitat for G. rigescens was about 23.17 × 104 km2, and more than 98.88% of highly suitable habitat was distributed in the southwest of China. The survival of G. rigescens may be threatened by global climate change in the future. Under the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 (RCP8.5) climate scenario, the change ratio of the highly suitable habitat will be −99.22% in 2070. Meanwhile, the centroids of the highly suitable area showed a westward-shifting trend under future emission trajectories. HPLC analysis showed that medicinal materials from highly suitable areas contained higher concentrations of total iridoid glycoside. Analysis results of FT-MIR data combined with OPLS-DA modeling indicated that the overall chemical composition of samples collected from different suitable habitats were different, and the habitat suitability had a stronger effect on the chemical composition in leaf than that in stem and root. Based on the concentration of iridoids and FT-MIR fingerprint, our research demonstrated there was a certain correlation of habitat suitability with the overall chemical variation of G. rigescens. The highly suitable habitat was better for the cultivation of high-quality medicinal materials. In summary, these findings would improve our understanding of the distribution and quality variation of medicinal Gentiana under future climate change. Meanwhile, the study approach based on multiple information integration could provide a useful case for research of other medicinal plants.

Copyright of China Surfactant Detergent & Cosmetics (1001-1803) is the property of China Surfactant Detergent & Cosmetics Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cistanche deserticola is a plant used both as food and medicine. We are interested in understanding how C. deserticola responds to environmental conditions. Samples were collected from three ecotypes grown in saline–alkali land, grassland and sandy land. Transcriptome and metabolome analysis were performed by using RNA-seq and LC–ESI–MS/MS. Among 578 metabolites identified, 218, 209 and 215 compounds were found differentially produced among the three ecotypes. Particularly, 2′-acetylacteoside, belonging to phenylethanoid glycosides (PhGs) is the most significantly differentially produced with a VIP > 0.5 and fold change > 2, representing a potential chemical marker to distinguish the three ecotypes. RNA-Seq analysis revealed 52,043 unigenes, and 947, 632 and 97 of them were found differentially expressed among the three ecotypes. Analysis of the correlation between the metabolome profiles and transcriptome profiles among three ecotypes identified that the 12 key genes related to PhGs biosynthesis were differentially expressed. Particularly, the expression of PAL, ALDH and GOT genes were significantly up-regulated in saline–alkali land compared to the other two. In summary, we found PhGs content was higher in saline–alkali land compared with other ecotypes. This is likely due to the up-regulation of the PhGs biosynthetic genes in response to the saline–alkali conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that healthcare providers face a tradeoff between increasing the number of patients they treat and improving their quality of care. To measure the magnitude of this quality-quantity tradeoff, we estimate a model of dialysis provision that explicitly incorporates a centre's unobservable and endogenous choice of treatment quality while allowing for unobserved differences in productivity across centres. We find that a centre that reduces its quality standards such that its expected rate of septic infections increases by 1 percentage point can increase its patient load by 1.6%, holding productivity, capital and labour fixed; this corresponds to an elasticity of quantity with respect to quality of -0.2. Notably, our approach provides estimates of productivity that control for differences in quality, whereas traditional methods would misattribute lower-quality care to greater productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wafer quality issues are becoming essential concerns in semiconductor manufacturing industry. It is becoming increasingly important for fab managers to raise the wafer quality level. Quality variation across wafers and wafer lots is also recognized as of vital importance. Wafer waiting times, which occur between consecutive wafer processing steps, are critical for the quality and quality variation of wafers. To resolve these quality issues, we consider waiting time constraints and variation in a flowshop. To follow the actual operating features of the fab, we define a two-machine flowshop with jobs that can skip the first process step and are ready to enter the second step from the beginning of scheduling. This research thus examines a machine scheduling problem that minimizes the variation in job waiting times in a generalized two-machine flowshop with skipping jobs and waiting time constraints. The mathematical properties of the problem such as the dominance properties and feasibility conditions are vigorously analyzed. These analyses provide profound insights into reduction of the search space in the solution procedure. We also observe that the derived properties are intuitively consistent with the well-known principles of queueing theory. From these, we develop efficient approximation algorithms and present their computational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: Capparis spinosa L. fruits as edible and medicinal plant, has anti-inflammatory activities. The different morphological characteristics of C. spinosa fruits from Ili, Turpan, and Karamay may affect their anti-inflammatory components and functions., Methods: The anti-inflammatory activity of C. spinosa fruit was assessed using an LPS-induced inflammatory cell model. Furthermore, the differences in anti-inflammatory compounds were analyzed by metabolome and RNA-seq. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory mechanism was elucidated using network pharmacology., Results: In the study, we found that the 95% ethanol extracts (CSE) obtained from the three kinds of fruits showed remarkable anti-inflammatory effects both in vivo and in vitro . However, the CSE derived from Ili fruits significantly reduced CD86 levels on DCs. As a result of metabolomic analysis, the metabolic profiles of Ili fruits differed significantly from those of the other two habitats, which were consistent with transcriptome analysis. A total of 15 compounds exhibiting anti-inflammatory activity were subjected to screening, revealing a greater accumulation of flavonoids in the Turpan and Karamay districts. Notably, phenolic compounds were identified as the principal anti-inflammatory components in C. spinosa ., Conclusion: There were significant differences in the morphology, metabolites, transcriptional levels, and anti-inflammatory activity of C. spinosa from the three districts., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Liu, Aimaier, Wang, Dong, Han, He, Mu, Wang and Li.)

• A motion measurement and quality variation driven video quality assessment algorithm is developed. • The structure difference is adopted instead of frame difference as motion measurement. • The quality variation effect is considered by analyzing the variations of scene and motion features on the whole video. • By analyzing the smooth variation between neighbouring pixels on the illumination component, the illumination variation features are extracted as a complementary quality information. Many video quality assessment (VQA) methods generally use frame difference to represent motion information which may cause foreground apertures. Besides, quality variations of video contents significantly affect visual quality predictions. To remedy these, we develop a novel video quality assessment model that considers the impact of motion estimation and quality variations on distortion perception. The model firstly decomposes a video into a reflectance component and an illumination component via the intrinsic decomposition, and extracts scene features from these two components. To alleviate the foreground apertures, a simple structure difference is calculated as the motion measurement between adjacent frames. Motion difference features are extracted from the structure difference. We additionally consider analyzing quality variations to boost video quality predictions. Finally, a support vector regressor (SVR) is used to map generated features to predicted quality scores. We evaluated our proposed model on the LIVE, CSIQ, CVD2014 and LIVE-VQC video quality databases. The results show that the proposed model achieved competitive performance in comparison with state-of-the-art methods. Source code is freely available at: https://github.com/Aca4peop/QVDVQA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The potential distribution of Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H.F. Chou (ZJS) was consistent with the actual distribution. • High quality Semen Ziziphi Spinosae (SZS) are mainly distributed in high suitability areas. • Spinosin and jujuboside A were correlated with environmental factors. • Under the future climate scenario, the suitable area of ZJS will be reduced. Semen Ziziphi Spinosae (SZS) is the dry mature seed of Ziziphus jujuba Mill. var. spinosa (Bunge) Hu ex H. F. Chou and a traditional Chinese medicine that can treat insomnia. The quality of SZS can be affected by environmental factors that in turn impact clinical effects. Zhao et al. (2021) recently analysed the distribution pattern of Z. jujuba since the last interglacial period. In our study, the active ingredients spinosa and jujuboside A were examined to further study the influence of predicted future climate on the quality of SZS. Our study showed that the quality of SZS is correlated with ecological conditions. Areas with high-quality SZS are mainly concentrated in Hebei and Shandong. Under RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5 conditions, the area suitable for SZS decreased, and some high-suitability areas became areas of poor suitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality transparency supports the reduction of information asymmetries in the health care system and enables the targeted regulation of health care. This study examines quality variation in inpatient obstetric care using the official Federal Office of Public Health Inpatient Quality Indicators (CH-IQI; vaginal births with 3rd- and 4th-degree perineal tears, vaginal births with episiotomy, and Caesarean section for low-risk births). It includes 101 maternity hospitals and 425,810 births between 2013 and 2017. For births with perineal laceration of 3rd and 4th degree, Switzerland performs 0.9% poorer in comparison to Germany (D-IQI) and Austria (A-IQI). For births with episiotomy, Switzerland is 1.1% above Germany. The Caesarean section rate for low-risk births was 26.8% in Switzerland in 2017 (Germany: 25.9%). When comparing Swiss clinics, private clinic locations in particular stand out. One possible reason for this may be the density of care, patient demands or the system of affiliated physicians at these clinics., Competing Interests: DM was employed part-time in an acute somatic hospital with an obstetrics department in the canton of Zurich (Switzerland) and also be a visiting researcher at the School of Medicine (University St. Gallen, Prof. Alexander Geissler)., (Copyright © 2022 Moser.)

The aim of this study was to clarify the influence of curdlan on the quality of frozen cooked noodles (FCN) by exploring the changes in textural properties, color profile, thermal stability, and micromorphology of FCN during cooking. Herein, an improvement in hardness, springiness, and tensile fracture distance was observed after adding 0.5% of curdlan, from 2876.82 ± 14.59 to 3371.08 ± 64.75 g, 0.85 ± 0.01 to 0.91 ± 0.02, and 90.60 ± 0.79 to 94.29 ± 1.37 mm, respectively. Combined with the decrease in weight loss and total color difference, from 9.01 ± 0.25 to 7.03 ± 0.07 and 76.00 ± 0.16 to 75.71 ± 0.24%, respectively, it can be inferred that the improved quality of FCN was mainly attributed to the stable gluten network mediated by curdlan. Moreover, results of micromorphology demonstrated that FCN with 0.5% curdlan had higher protein percentage area (35.20 ± 0.32%), junction density (5.97 ± 0.09 × 10−4), total protein length (35733.97 ± 456.84 μm), and degree of protein aggregation than those of FCN without curdlan, confirming that curdlan helped in maintaining the stability of gluten network and inhibited the depolymerization of gluten proteins induced by excessive cooking. [Display omitted] • Curdlan improved the quality of frozen cooked noodles (FCN) during cooking. • Curdlan enhanced the uniformity and thermal stability of FCN during cooking. • Curdlan strengthened the structure of the gluten network during cooking. • Curdlan inhibited the disaggregation of gluten network by hydrothermal treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the importance of prenatal care, quality measurement efforts have focused on the number of prenatal visits, or prenatal care adequacy, rather than the services received. It is unknown whether attending more prenatal visits is associated with receiving more guideline-based prenatal care services. The relationship between guideline-based prenatal care and patients' clinical and sociodemographic characteristics has also not been studied.Objective: This study aimed to measure the receipt of guideline-based prenatal care among pregnant patients and to describe the association between guideline-based prenatal care and the number of prenatal visits and other patient characteristics.Study Design: This was a retrospective descriptive cohort study of 176,092 pregnancy episodes between 2016 and 2019. We used de-identified administrative claims data on commercial enrollees across the United States from the OptumLabs Data Warehouse. We identified the following 8 components of prenatal care that are universally recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other guideline-issuing organizations: testing for sexually transmitted infections, obstetric laboratory test panel, urine culture, urinalysis, anatomy scan ultrasound, oral glucose tolerance test, tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccine, and group B Streptococcus test. We measured the proportion of pregnant patients who received each of these guideline-based services at the appropriate gestational age. We measured the association between guideline-based services and the number of prenatal visits and prenatal care adequacy. We described variation of guideline-based care according to patient age, comorbidities, high deductible health plan enrollment, and their county's rurality, health professional shortage area status, racial composition, median income, and educational attainment.Results: The 176,092 pregnancy episodes were mostly among patients aged 25 to 34 years (63%) with few pregnancy comorbidities (81%) and living in urban areas (92%). Guideline-based care varied by service, from 51% receiving a timely urinalysis to 90% receiving an anatomy scan and 91% completing testing for sexually transmitted infections. Patients with at least 4 prenatal visits received, on average, 6 of the 8 guideline-based services. Guideline-based care did not increase with additional prenatal visits and varied by patient characteristics. Rates of tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccination were lower in counties with high proportions of minoritized populations, lower education, and lower income.Conclusion: In this commercially insured population, receipt of guideline-based care was not universal, did not increase with the number of prenatal visits, and varied by patient- and area-level characteristics. Measuring guideline-based care is feasible and may capture quality of prenatal care better than visit count or adequacy alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We examine the effect that variations in the temporal quality of videos have on global video quality. We also propose a general framework for constructing temporal video quality assessment (QA) algorithms that seek to assess transient temporal errors, such as packet losses. The proposed framework modifies simple frame-based quality assessment algorithms by incorporating a temporal quality variance factor. We use packet loss from channel errors as a specific study of practical significance. Using the PSNR and the SSIM index as exemplars, we are able to show that the new video QA algorithms are highly responsive to packet loss errors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African sandalwood (Osyris lanceolata) is widely harvested in East Africa for extraction of oil, which is used in the fragrance and perfumery industry. Over the years, harvesting of the species has been concentrated to female plants because it is claimed that they yield more and better quality oil compared to males. However, data to support these claims is lacking. Osyris lanceolata is also used extensively by pastoralists as feed supplement during the dry season, yet little information on the species' nutritive value exists. Oil yield and quality variations between male and female O. lanceolata and its nutritive values were evaluated to ascertain the purported reasons for sex selectivity in harvesting, and to determine the potential value of the species as a fodder plant. Oil yield was determined by extracting oil from a known amount of wood, while quality assessment was done by determining the amount of santalol, a prime determinant of sandalwood oil quality. The species' potential as a fodder plant was determined by analyzing the nutritive value and digestibility of leaves and fruits. There was no significant variation (p = 0.856) in oil yield between sexes, though populations differed significantly (P < 0.001). The highest oil yield was 9.32 ± 0.611%. Likewise, sexes did not differ significantly (P = 0.655) in oil quality, though populations differed significantly (P < 0.001). The highest santalol content was 11.1%. It is concluded that sex selectivity during harvesting has no relation to oil yield and quality. However, population selectivity is strongly justified due to the huge variation in oil yield and quality, and is likely to be the major reason for over-exploiting some populations. It is recommended that there is a need to refrain from overharvesting of females within populations, since the practice is likely to erode the genetic vigour of the species and affect its sustainability. Nutritive studies revealed the species to have 15.9-19.7% crude protein, 15.9-24.0% crude fibre, 0.77-0.81% fat/oil, 97.5-97.8% dry matter, 8.5-10.3% ash content, 72.2-72.4% digestibility. These figures are within the acceptable range, suggesting that both leaves and fruits of the species are a potential alternative source of animal protein where protein supplements are not available or expensive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An optimisation procedure is presented for direct control of product quality of agro-material and minimisation of its quality variation. The procedure builds on a previously presented model structure, which is briefly reviewed, together forming a methodological framework for direct product quality control in climate controlled operations. The economic-based optimisation procedure is part of a hierarchical control structure and utilizes the model to achieve the required control. The result is a trade-off between operational cost and product quality. The characteristic variation in natural products is treated by a lumped approach, which uses discretised quality classes to describe not only product quality but also a measure of its variation. Although direct measurement of product properties is often difficult, the approach is validated using both simulated and measured data. The procedure has been implemented and tested in a full-scale industrial operation of storing large quantities of potatoes, using recorded real data to illustrate the benefits of the procedure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study is based on the summary of the characteristics of quality variation of national medical device supervision and inspection in 2020. According to the results of the national medical device supervision and inspection through comparative analysis, this study puts forward suggestions on the medical device production and supervision measures for the post-marketing products, so as to further improve the level of the medical device and ensure the safety use of medical device.

• Gentiana rigescens will be negatively affected by climate change. • The areas of current highly suitable habitat are significantly reduced in the future climatic condition. • The highly suitable areas could be used as a cultivation base for providing high-quality medicinal material. • Multiple chemical information was used to assess the impact of habitat suitability on the quality of medicinal materials. Gentiana rigescens is an economically important medicinal plant in the subtropical zone in Asia. However, it is unclear how its distribution responds to climate change in the future. This study aims to simulate the effect of climate change on the distribution of G. rigescens by using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model and to evaluate the potential impact of habitat suitability on the quality of medicinal materials vis multiple chemical information. In the study, we investigated the suitable habitat fluctuation ranges of G. rigescens under different future climate scenarios at first. Subsequently, the chemical geographical variation of medicinal materials collected from different suitable areas was evaluated based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis and Fourier-transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy. The results showed that the areas of highly suitable habitat for G. rigescens was about 23.17 × 104 km2, and more than 98.88% of highly suitable habitat was distributed in the southwest of China. The survival of G. rigescens may be threatened by global climate change in the future. Under the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 (RCP8.5) climate scenario, the change ratio of the highly suitable habitat will be −99.22% in 2070. Meanwhile, the centroids of the highly suitable area showed a westward-shifting trend under future emission trajectories. HPLC analysis showed that medicinal materials from highly suitable areas contained higher concentrations of total iridoid glycoside. Analysis results of FT-MIR data combined with OPLS-DA modeling indicated that the overall chemical composition of samples collected from different suitable habitats were different, and the habitat suitability had a stronger effect on the chemical composition in leaf than that in stem and root. Based on the concentration of iridoids and FT-MIR fingerprint, our research demonstrated there was a certain correlation of habitat suitability with the overall chemical variation of G. rigescens. The highly suitable habitat was better for the cultivation of high-quality medicinal materials. In summary, these findings would improve our understanding of the distribution and quality variation of medicinal Gentiana under future climate change. Meanwhile, the study approach based on multiple information integration could provide a useful case for research of other medicinal plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel ultrasound-assisted freezing system that can generate orthogonal ultrasound was developed, and the effects of single/dual-frequency orthogonal ultrasound-assisted freezing as compared with single direction ultrasound-assisted freezing on the quality of potatoes were investigated. Inner links between ultrasonic intensity, cavitation yield, and potato quality attributes including drip loss, hardness, total calcium content, l -ascorbic acid content, total phenolic content and microstructure were revealed. Besides, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze and visualize the quality variation of potatoes before and after freezing. Results showed that orthogonal ultrasound could predominately decrease drip loss and enhance hardness by increasing the freezing rate and shortening the total freezing time. Microstructure observation indicated that dual-frequency orthogonal ultrasound-assisted freezing endowed potatoes with the finest pores and the plumpest tissue, which was in agreement with the PCA result. This study announces the great potential of the dual-frequency orthogonal ultrasound-assisted freezing technique in promoting the freezing quality. • Orthogonal ultrasound-assisted freezing (OUF) improves the freezing efficiency. • OUF gives small ice crystals and effectively preserves tissue structure. • Principal component analysis (PCA) shows OUF mainly affects drip loss and hardness. • PCA helps to visualize the quality changes of potatoes before and after freezing. • Microstructure analysis proves effective upgrade in frozen product quality by OUF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]