Artificial Intelligence-Powered Optimization and Milk Permeate Upcycling for Innovative Sesame Milk with Enhanced Probiotic Viability and Sensory Appeal.

Consumer demand for plant-based alternatives drives innovation in nondairy beverages. This study explores the development of a novel sesame milk with enhanced functionality using an artificial neural network (ANN) and milk permeate integration. An ANN model effectively optimized water-based sesame milk (WSM) extraction, maximizing total solids (T.S.) recovery. The ANN model's predicted T.S. yield (99.65%) closely matched the actual value (95.18%), demonstrating its potential for optimizing high-yield production. Furthermore, milk permeate was incorporated (5:1 ratio) to create permeate-based sesame milk (PSM), which supported the growth of lactic acid bacteria, suggesting its potential as a growth medium for future probiotic applications. PSM also displayed superior nutritional value and sensory characteristics compared to WSM. These findings highlight the promise of ANN-powered optimization and milk permeate integration for creating innovative sesame milk alternatives with enhanced probiotic viability and sensory appeal. Future research should focus on ANN optimization of alternative-based-plant milk, including permeate-based sesame milk production, the health benefits of LAB fermentation, and consumer preferences for flavors and textures. Optimizing fermentation and LAB selection remain key for commercial success.

Efficacy and safety of drug-coated balloons according to coronary vessel size. A report from the BASKET-SMALL 2 trial.

Introduction: In BASKET-SMALL 2, drug-coated balloons (DCB) were non-inferior to drug-eluting stents (DES) in de-novo stenosis of small coronary vessels (≤ 2.75 mm) regarding clinical endpoints up to 36 months. Aim: In the present subgroup analysis, we aimed to analyze the effect of the two treatment strategies in different vessel sizes. Material and methods: Patients were analyzed according to the size of the device used (small > 2.5 mm vs. very small ≤ 2.5 mm). The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac events (MACE), while secondary endpoints were target vessel revascularization (TVR), non-fatal myocardial infarction, cardiac death, and all-cause mortality, all at 36 months. Interactions for the different groups were assessed with Cox regression analysis. Results: Overall, 758 patients were enrolled in this analysis, of which 437 (58%) had very small vessel disease. There were similar results in both treatment groups for the primary endpoint in both small and very small vessels (DCB vs DES, MACE at 3 years in small vessels HR = 1.31, 95% CI: 0.74-2.32, p = 0.355, and very small vessels HR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.49-1.39, p = 0.468). Second generation paclitaxel-eluting stents showed significantly higher rates for MACE (p = 0.041), TVR (p = 0.004) and non-fatal myocardial infarction (p = 0.036) compared to DCB in very small coronary arteries at 3 years, while results were similar in small coronary arteries. Conclusions: Efficacy and safety of DCB are similar irrespective of vessel size. However, there is a beneficial effect of DCB over paclitaxel-eluting stents regarding TVR, non-fatal myocardial infarction and MACE that is most pronounced in very small coronary arteries.