The Role of ICG During the SADI-S Procedure.

Indocyanine green (ICG) is a nontoxic, fluorescent iodide dye with rapid hepatic clearance that has been used in medical applications since the mid-1950s. In abdominal surgery, ICG can be used to identify anatomical structures such as the biliary tract, urinary tract, blood vessels, tissue perfusion on different organs, or anastomosis in the digestive system. The application of ICG during bariatric surgery may be useful in primary and revisional procedures at different steps of the surgery. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of indocyanine green during the SADI-S procedure and to highlight the key aspects of this procedure. We present a case series of 22 patients with morbid obesity who underwent a multidisciplinary evaluation and were selected for the SADI-S procedure via a laparoscopic approach. The ICG dose and timing were as recommended in the International Society for Fluorescence Guided Surgery guidelines. For arteriography, 3 ml (7.5 mg) was used, and the detection time was 30-60 s after intravenous administration. For visualization of the common bile duct, we used 1 ml (2.5 mg) applied intravenously at least 45 min before the procedure. For the leak test, a dilution of 1 ml (2.5 mg) of ICG + 5 ml of methylene blue in 100 cc of sterile water, which was prepared just before the test, was used, and the mixture was passed through an orogastric tube. We expose the surgical steps in which ICG can improve outcomes or prevent complications when performing the SADI-S procedure. Key Points • The role of ICG during SADI-S is described. • The step-by-step results of ICG during the SADI-S procedure are highlighted. • ICG was shown to be safe and useful during bariatric surgery in morbidly obese patients.

Evaluating Thermal Infrared Drone Flight Parameters on Spider Monkey Detection in Tropical Forests.

Geoffroy's spider monkeys, an endangered, fast-moving arboreal primate species with a large home range and a high degree of fission-fusion dynamics, are challenging to survey in their natural habitats. Our objective was to evaluate how different flight parameters affect the detectability of spider monkeys in videos recorded by a drone equipped with a thermal infrared camera and examine the level of agreement between coders. We used generalized linear mixed models to evaluate the impact of flight speed (2, 4, 6 m/s), flight height (40, 50 m above ground level), and camera angle (-45°, -90°) on spider monkey counts in a closed-canopy forest in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Our results indicate that none of the three flight parameters affected the number of detected spider monkeys. Agreement between coders was "substantial" (Fleiss' kappa coefficient = 0.61-0.80) in most cases for high thermal-contrast zones. Our study contributes to the development of standardized flight protocols, which are essential to obtain accurate data on the presence and abundance of wild populations. Based on our results, we recommend performing drone surveys for spider monkeys and other medium-sized arboreal mammals with a small commercial drone at a 4 m/s speed, 15 m above canopy height, and with a -90° camera angle. However, these recommendations may vary depending on the size and noise level produced by the drone model.

Impact of adding papain to sous vide cooking on texture and sensorial traits of marinated semitendinosus beefsteaks.

Sous vide meat is an emerging food category, the consumption of which has increased owing to greater convenience, sensory traits, elderly consumers acceptance, and low-cost cuts use. However, required prolonged thermal treatment to achieve desired tenderness, impact energy-consumption besides triggering lipid oxidation, undesired off-flavors, and cooked meat profiles. Using a response surface methodology (RSM), this study evaluated the effects of the vegetal proteolytic papain (0 to 20 mg/kg) and low-temperature sous vide cooking (SVC) time (1 to 8 h at 65°C) in low-value marinated M. semitendinosus beefsteaks on technological characteristics associated with tenderness, and lipid oxidation. Additionally, the sensory profile traits of the pre-selected treatments were described using check-all-that-apply (CATA) and preference mapping. Shear force (WBsSF) was reduced with greater papain addition, whereas higher cooking losses (CL) were observed with longer SVC cooking times. Both the released total collagen and TBARS values increased with increasing papain concentrations and SVC times. Combining high levels of papain (>10 mg/kg) and SVC time (>6 h) resulted in lower WBsSF values (<20 N) but higher CL (>27%) and the CATA descriptors "aftertaste" and "mushy." The optimized conditions (14 mg/kg papain; 2 h SVC) also reduced WBsSF values (<26 N) with lower CL (<20%) and were most preferred and described as "juicy" and "tender" by consumers. Observed results suggest that combined mild SVC and papain may potentiate tenderness, conjointly favor juiciness and oxidation, further representing a promising tool for reducing SVC time without compromising valued sous vide sensory traits.

Technological and sensory characteristics in development of innovative symbiotic boneless dry-cured lamb meat snack.

Novel shelf-stable and high-protein meat products that are affordable, convenient, and healthy are hot topic in current food innovation trends. To offer technological databases for developing new functional lamb meat products, this study aimed to evaluate the technological and sensory aspects of dry-cured lamb meat snacks incorporated with the probiotic culture Lactobacillus paracasei and the prebiotic lactulose. Four formulations were analyzed: control (without prebiotic or probiotic); PREB (with 2% lactulose); PROB (with 107 CFU/g of L. paracasei); and SYMB (with 2% lactulose and 107 CFU/g of L. paracasei). Fitted curves revealed that weight-loss behavior during snack ripening was not affected (P > 0.05) by treatments. Snack moisture, water activity, pH, titratable acidity, lipid oxidation, and residual nitrite were affected (P < 0.05) only by ripening time. The target probiotic strain stood out against competitive flora and was detected at 107 CFU/g in the snack-supplemented formulations (PROB and SYMB). In snacks supplemented with prebiotics (PREB and SYMB), the lactulose content was maintained at 2.17%. Significant differences were not observed in the chemical composition, texture profiles, and CIE color indices between the proposed functional snacks and the control. In addition to texture, flavor, and overall impression evaluation, only color attributes were positively impacted (P < 0.05) in the acceptance and multiple comparison tests against the control. The proposed formulation and bench process parameters produced potential nutritionally and sensory-appreciated, microbiologically stable, and safe (multi-hurdle perspective) functional high-protein restructured lamb snacks.

Polyglutamine disease proteins: Commonalities and differences in interaction profiles and pathological effects.

Currently, nine polyglutamine (polyQ) expansion diseases are known. They include spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 17), spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA), and Huntington's disease (HD). At the root of these neurodegenerative diseases are trinucleotide repeat mutations in coding regions of different genes, which lead to the production of proteins with elongated polyQ tracts. While the causative proteins differ in structure and molecular mass, the expanded polyQ domains drive pathogenesis in all these diseases. PolyQ tracts mediate the association of proteins leading to the formation of protein complexes involved in gene expression regulation, RNA processing, membrane trafficking, and signal transduction. In this review, we discuss commonalities and differences among the nine polyQ proteins focusing on their structure and function as well as the pathological features of the respective diseases. We present insights from AlphaFold-predicted structural models and discuss the biological roles of polyQ-containing proteins. Lastly, we explore reported protein-protein interaction networks to highlight shared protein interactions and their potential relevance in disease development.

Magnetic liver retraction in bariatric surgery: Is it possible?

One of the recent advances in bariatric surgery is the use of magnetic devices. This research paper describes magnetic liver retraction in morbidly obese patients during bariatric surgery. A descriptive, prospective and observational study was carried out, analyzing 100 patients in whom magnetic retraction was used. Mean and SD body mass index was 46.1 ± 5.09 kg/m2. The magnetic system was successfully used for liver retraction in 95% of cases; in only 5% of cases was its use not possible due to hepatomegaly and severe hepatic steatosis. According to the results, magnetic liver retraction can be safe and used in bariatric surgery, regardless of body mass index and with a low percentage of complications.

AI-guided pipeline for protein-protein interaction drug discovery identifies a SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor.

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) offer great opportunities to expand the druggable proteome and therapeutically tackle various diseases, but remain challenging targets for drug discovery. Here, we provide a comprehensive pipeline that combines experimental and computational tools to identify and validate PPI targets and perform early-stage drug discovery. We have developed a machine learning approach that prioritizes interactions by analyzing quantitative data from binary PPI assays or AlphaFold-Multimer predictions. Using the quantitative assay LuTHy together with our machine learning algorithm, we identified high-confidence interactions among SARS-CoV-2 proteins for which we predicted three-dimensional structures using AlphaFold-Multimer. We employed VirtualFlow to target the contact interface of the NSP10-NSP16 SARS-CoV-2 methyltransferase complex by ultra-large virtual drug screening. Thereby, we identified a compound that binds to NSP10 and inhibits its interaction with NSP16, while also disrupting the methyltransferase activity of the complex, and SARS-CoV-2 replication. Overall, this pipeline will help to prioritize PPI targets to accelerate the discovery of early-stage drug candidates targeting protein complexes and pathways.

Freezing/thawing as an accelerating process of wet- and dry-aged Nellore beef.

This study aimed to evaluate the use of freezing/thawing as a way of accelerating the aging processes of beef from Nellore animals. Non-frozen (NF) or freezing/thawing (FT) strip loins were aged (for 14 and 28 days) using two systems: bone-in dry-aging (DA); boneless wet-aging (WA). FT-treated samples had greater weight losses (P < 0.05) during aging than NF-treated samples, especially using the DA process. However, the weight loss of the FT 14-days DA beef samples was comparable to that of NF 28-days DA. FT beef had lower fragmentation index and shear force values (P < 0.05), as well as its maximum sensorial tenderness was achieved earlier (P < 0.05) than the NF counterpart. With 28 days of aging, DA beef showed higher (P < 0.05) tenderness and juiciness scores and lower lightness values than WA beef. The FT process decreased the reducing capacity of meat samples, generating more metmyoglobin and lower amounts of chroma than NF. The expected volatile profile of DA beef was achieved faster in FT-treated samples, but the freezing treatments did not compromise the microbial count for either aging system. Our findings indicate that accelerated DA by the FT process could improve the palatability of Nellore beef, allowing the desired tenderness and flavor profile to be achieved in a shorter time, without increasing costs with weight losses or adversely affecting physicochemical, chemical, and microbial characteristics.

Characterization of a spring pendulum phase-space trajectories.

We study the geometrical properties of phase-space trajectories (or orbits) of a spring pendulum as functions of the energy. Poincaré maps are used to describe the properties of the system. The points in the Poincaré maps of regular orbits (non-chaotic) cluster around separated segments or in chains of islands. Looking at how segments are formed, we conclude that the orbits are closely related to torus knots. Examining the toroidal and poloidal turns of the orbits, we introduce the definition of a rational parameter Ω, which is closely related to the concept of frequency used in the analysis of dynamical systems. Algorithms were developed to calculate Ω, and we found that this parameter naturally describes the orbits in terms of Farey sequences; also, calculations show that orbits with the same Ω have similar dynamics. Orbits corresponding to chains of islands are identified with cable knots that can be characterized using two parameters analogous to Ω. In some cases, non-trivial cable knots were found. With the analysis presented in this study, it is shown that Ω follows predictable distributions in the (z,Ω) space.

S-nitrosothiols as nitrite alternatives: Effects on residual nitrite, lipid oxidation, volatile profile, and cured color of restructured cooked ham.

This study evaluated the use of the S-nitrosothiols, S-nitroso-N-acetylcysteine (NAC-SNO) and S-nitroso-N-acetylcysteine ethyl ester (NACET-SNO), at different concentrations (25-300 mg nitrite equivalent - NEq/kg) as sodium nitrite substitutes in restructured cooked hams. The pH value and instrumental cured color were not affected by the type or amount of curing agent used. Products with 25 and 50 mg/kg ingoing nitrite had lower thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance values than those with equimolar amounts of S-nitrosothiols. Products with >150 mg NEq/kg of S-nitrosothiols had residual nitrite similar to 50 mg/kg nitrite, and this resulted in the same volatile compound profile as nitrite added in equimolar amounts. A 300 mg NEq/kg of S-nitrosothiols was required to obtain a similar and minimally stable cured pink color perception as sliced samples with 50-150 mg/kg added nitrite. The results obtained reinforce the great potential of both alternative curing agents in the complete replacement of nitrite by equimolar amounts in restructured cooked products; however, differences in cured color stability should be considered.

New Formulation of a Subunit Vaccine Candidate against Lawsonia intracellularis Increases Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses.

Previously, we designed a subunit vaccine candidate based on three L. intracellularis antigens with promising results in pigs. In this study, antigens were produced individually to achieve an even antigen ratio in the formulation. The emulsion characterization included the drop size and the mechanical and thermal stability. Immune response was evaluated by indirect and sandwich ELISAs, qPCR, and flow cytometry. The vaccine candidate's safety was assessed by histopathology and monitoring the clinical behavior of animals. The average production yielded for the chimeric antigen as inclusion bodies was around 75 mg/L. The formulation showed mechanical and thermal stability, with a ratio Hu/Ho > 0.85 and a drop size under 0.15 nm. Antigens formulated at a ratio of 1:1:1 induced a significant immune response in inoculated pigs that persisted until the end of the experiment (week 14). The dose of 200 µg significantly activated cellular response measured by transcriptional and translational levels of cytokines. The cell proliferation assay revealed an increment of lymphocytes T CD4+ at the same dose. Animals gained weight constantly and showed proper clinical behavior during immunization assays. This research demonstrated the immunological robustness of the new subunit vaccine candidate against Porcine Proliferative Enteropathy evenly formulated with three chimeric antigens of L. intracellularis.

Technological and sensory characteristics of hamburgers made with polyunsaturated gelled emulsions.

The quest for healthiness has driven the meat industry to seek solutions to reduce or replace saturated animal fat. The replacement (partial or total) of animal fat by polyunsaturated vegetable oils rich in omega fatty acids has gained prominence in terms of making a product healthier. However, an obstacle to this strategy is the effects on the sensory characteristics of the products, which may be unfavorable to consumers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the lipid reformulation of hamburgers through the total replacement of pork fat with canola, sunflower, and corn oil emulsions. The physical-chemical, technological, and sensory properties analyses were performed. There were no significant changes (P > 0.05) in moisture content, protein content, ash content, pH, weight loss (%), moisture retention (%), or shrinkage (%). However, the lipid content was reduced (P < 0.05) and there was a significant improvement in the fatty acid profile with the application of gelled emulsions. The lipid peroxidation and oxidation also increased (P < 0.05) for the samples with the addition of gelled emulsions, and we observed the same behavior for lipid retention (%). In the sensory evaluation, the samples showed good overall acceptance, with hedonic scores ranging from "like slightly" to "like very much." In addition, through check-all-that-apply questions, we observed that the most positive scores given applied to the treatments were applied to the emulsions. The total replacement of animal fat by gelled emulsions is a promising strategy for producing healthier hamburgers.

LIVER TRANSPLANTATION IN PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY SCLEROSING CHOLANGITIS: A MULTICENTRIC STUDY.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) in the general population has not yet been clearly established. The management of PSC should focus on delaying the progression of the disease and restraining its complications. The only curative therapy for the disease remains liver transplantation (LT). PSC is currently the fifth most common indication for LT and corresponds to 5% of all LT indications in adults. AIMS: Our objective is to evaluate the indications and outcomes of PSC patients undergoing LT in three liver transplantation centers in southern Brazil - Hospital Santa Isabel in Blumenau, Santa Catarina state, and Hospital das Clínicas and Hospital Nossa Senhora das Graças, in Curitiba, Parana state). METHODS: This is a longitudinal observational study of patients with PSC who underwent LT in three major Brazilian medical centers. Electronic medical records and study protocols of all patients subjected to LT from January 2011 to December 2021 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Of the 1,362 transplants performed in the three medical centers, 37 were due to PSC. Recurrence of PSC occurred in three patients (8.1%) in 3.0±2.4 years (range, 1-4 years). The 1-year and 5-year survival rates after the first LT were 83.8 and 80.6%, respectively. The 1-year and 5-year graft survival rates were, respectively, 83.8 and 74.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Our experience with LT in patients with PSC demonstrated good patient and graft survival results. Most deaths were due to common factors in patients undergoing LT.

Severe ischemic gastritis caused by chronic mesenteric ischemia.

Ischemic gastritis is a rare illness caused by localized or systemic vascular insufficiency. This condition is rarely seen in medical practice due to the vast arterial collateral blood supply to the stomach through the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric artery and also because other etiologies are much more frequent. The classic presentation of chronic ischemia is comprises the triad of postprandial pain, weight loss, and abdominal bruit. Intervention is indicated in symptomatic patients and endovascular treatment is an alternative to surgery in patients with high comorbidity that offers good results. We report a case of a 71-year-old female patient with severe ischemic gastritis with ulcers and bleeding caused by chronic mesenteric ischemia with occlusion of the celiac trunk and inferior mesenteric artery and critical stenosis of the superior mesenteric artery. The diagnosis was confirmed by imaging, and the patient underwent endovascular treatment. This is a rare condition that is difficult to diagnose and treat and a multidisciplinary team is needed for proper management.

Essential Oil and Plant Extracts as Preservatives and Natural Antioxidants Applied to Meat and Meat Products: A Review.

The meat and meat product industry has evolved according to the needs of the market. Consumers are increasingly seeking quality in food. Thus, the concern regarding the excessive use of additives such as preservatives and antioxidants has driven research towards natural, healthy and safe substitutes. Essential oils and plant extracts have been shown to be a good option for resolving this problem. They are completely natural with biological activity, which mainly includes prevention of oxidation and the proliferation of microorganisms, thus arousing the interest of the industry and consumers. This review will present studies published in the last five years regarding the potential of essential oils and plant extracts to act as preservatives and antioxidants in meat and meat products. The forms of application, innovations in the area, alternatives to the incorporation of essential oils and extracts in meat products, effects caused in food, and limitations of applications will be detailed and discussed.

AI-guided pipeline for protein-protein interaction drug discovery identifies a SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor.

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) offer great opportunities to expand the druggable proteome and therapeutically tackle various diseases, but remain challenging targets for drug discovery. Here, we provide a comprehensive pipeline that combines experimental and computational tools to identify and validate PPI targets and perform early-stage drug discovery. We have developed a machine learning approach that prioritizes interactions by analyzing quantitative data from binary PPI assays and AlphaFold-Multimer predictions. Using the quantitative assay LuTHy together with our machine learning algorithm, we identified high-confidence interactions among SARS-CoV-2 proteins for which we predicted three-dimensional structures using AlphaFold Multimer. We employed VirtualFlow to target the contact interface of the NSP10-NSP16 SARS-CoV-2 methyltransferase complex by ultra-large virtual drug screening. Thereby, we identified a compound that binds to NSP10 and inhibits its interaction with NSP16, while also disrupting the methyltransferase activity of the complex, and SARS-CoV-2 replication. Overall, this pipeline will help to prioritize PPI targets to accelerate the discovery of early-stage drug candidates targeting protein complexes and pathways.

Delineation of functional subdomains of Huntingtin protein and their interaction with HAP40.

The huntingtin (HTT) protein plays critical roles in numerous cellular pathways by functioning as a scaffold for its many interaction partners and HTT knock out is embryonic lethal. Interrogation of HTT function is complicated by the large size of this protein so we studied a suite of structure-rationalized subdomains to investigate the structure-function relationships within the HTT-HAP40 complex. Protein samples derived from the subdomain constructs were validated using biophysical methods and cryo-electron microscopy, revealing they are natively folded and can complex with validated binding partner, HAP40. Derivatized versions of these constructs enable protein-protein interaction assays in vitro, with biotin tags, and in cells, with luciferase two-hybrid assay-based tags, which we use in proof-of-principle analyses to further interrogate the HTT-HAP40 interaction. These open-source biochemical tools enable studies of fundamental HTT biochemistry and biology, will aid the discovery of macromolecular or small-molecule binding partners and help map interaction sites across this large protein.

Magnetic-Assisted Reduced-Port Sleeve Gastrectomy Versus Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy: a Comparative Study.

BACKGROUND: Sleeve gastrectomy is one of the most popular bariatric surgeries. With the advent of new technologies, a reduced-port approach assisted by magnets for sleeve gastrectomy (RPSG-MA) has been developed. The aim of our study is to compare the short-term results of RPSG-MA vs conventional laparoscopic SG (CLSG). METHODS: A comparative study was performed. We compared two groups who underwent RPSG-MA (n=150) and CLSG (n=135) between January 2020 and January 2022. RESULTS: Both groups were similar in body mass index, age, sex, and type of comorbidities. The operative time was similar in both groups (RPSG-MA, 52.5 min vs CLSG, 52.9 min; p = 0.829). Length of hospital (1.07 days) stay was significantly shorter in the RPSG-MA group (p = 0.00) than in the CLSG group (1.51 days). There were no conversions to open surgery in any patient or any fatal event. Complications encountered were similar in both groups postoperative. There were minor adverse events directly related to the magnetic device in 3 cases, these being mild hepatic lacerations, resolved with hemostatic measures. CONCLUSION: The magnet-assisted reduced-port gastric sleeve compared to the conventional technique has proven to be safe, technically feasible and with multiple benefits.

Data infrastructures for AI in medical imaging: a report on the experiences of five EU projects.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the field of medical imaging and has the potential to bring medicine from the era of 'sick-care' to the era of healthcare and prevention. The development of AI requires access to large, complete, and harmonized real-world datasets, representative of the population, and disease diversity. However, to date, efforts are fragmented, based on single-institution, size-limited, and annotation-limited datasets. Available public datasets (e.g., The Cancer Imaging Archive, TCIA, USA) are limited in scope, making model generalizability really difficult. In this direction, five European Union projects are currently working on the development of big data infrastructures that will enable European, ethically and General Data Protection Regulation-compliant, quality-controlled, cancer-related, medical imaging platforms, in which both large-scale data and AI algorithms will coexist. The vision is to create sustainable AI cloud-based platforms for the development, implementation, verification, and validation of trustable, usable, and reliable AI models for addressing specific unmet needs regarding cancer care provision. In this paper, we present an overview of the development efforts highlighting challenges and approaches selected providing valuable feedback to future attempts in the area.Key points• Artificial intelligence models for health imaging require access to large amounts of harmonized imaging data and metadata.• Main infrastructures adopted either collect centrally anonymized data or enable access to pseudonymized distributed data.• Developing a common data model for storing all relevant information is a challenge.• Trust of data providers in data sharing initiatives is essential.• An online European Union meta-tool-repository is a necessity minimizing effort duplication for the various projects in the area.