Preclinical medical students' usage of electronic devices in lectures: A cross-sectional study

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Exploration of avocado by-products as natural sources of bioactive compounds

This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic properties and phenolic composition of peel and seed of avocado varieties Hass and Fuerte using green solvents. Ethanol soluble compounds were identified in peel and seed of both varieties using HPLC-MS/MS and quantified using HPLC-DAD. Agro-industrial by-products of both varieties exhibited high radical scavenging activity against synthetic free radicals (DPPH and ABTS) and reactive oxygen species (peroxyl, superoxide, and hypochlorous acid) and high ability to reduce Fe3+ to Fe2+. The main compounds with significant contribution to the antioxidant activity determined by online HPLC-ABTS●+ analyses were procyanidin B2 and epicatechin in the peel and trans-5-O-caffeoyl-D-quinic acid, procyanidin B1, catechin, and epicatechin in the seed. Peel of Fuerte significantly suppressed TNF-α and nitric oxide (NO) release (459.3 pg/mL and 8.5 μM, respectively), possibly because of the high phenolic content and antioxidant activity detected. Avocado agro-industrial by-products can be used for food and pharmaceutical purposes due to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties

Anti-septic effects of pelargonidin on HMGB1-induced responses in vitro and in vivo

A certain nucleosomal protein-high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1)-has recently been established as a late mediator of sepsis, with a relatively wide therapeutic window for pharmacological intervention. Pelargonidin (PEL) is a well-known red pigment found in plants; it has important biological activities that are potentially beneficial for human health. In the present study, we investigated whether PEL can modulate HMGB1-mediated inflammatory responses in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and in mice. The anti-inflammatory activities of PEL were determined by measuring permeability, leukocyte adhesion and migration, and activation of pro-inflammatory proteins in HMGB1-activated HUVECs and mice, as well as the beneficial effects of PEL on survival rate in the mouse sepsis model. The data showed that PEL had effectively inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced release of HMGB1 and suppressed HMGB1-mediated septic responses, such as hyperpermeability, adhesion and migration of leukocytes, and expression of cell adhesion molecules. Furthermore, PEL inhibited the HMGB1-mediated production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), as well as the activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) and extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2). Collectively, these results indicate that PEL could be used to treat various severe vascular inflammatory diseases via the inhibition of the HMGB1 signaling pathway.close

Critical Assessment of Metagenome Interpretation: the second round of challenges.

Evaluating metagenomic software is key for optimizing metagenome interpretation and focus of the Initiative for the Critical Assessment of Metagenome Interpretation (CAMI). The CAMI II challenge engaged the community to assess methods on realistic and complex datasets with long- and short-read sequences, created computationally from around 1,700 new and known genomes, as well as 600 new plasmids and viruses. Here we analyze 5,002 results by 76 program versions. Substantial improvements were seen in assembly, some due to long-read data. Related strains still were challenging for assembly and genome recovery through binning, as was assembly quality for the latter. Profilers markedly matured, with taxon profilers and binners excelling at higher bacterial ranks, but underperforming for viruses and Archaea. Clinical pathogen detection results revealed a need to improve reproducibility. Runtime and memory usage analyses identified efficient programs, including top performers with other metrics. The results identify challenges and guide researchers in selecting methods for analyses