NIRS and Aquaphotomics Trace Robusta-to-Arabica Ratio in Liquid Coffee Blends.

Coffee is both a vastly consumed beverage and a chemically complex matrix. For a long time, an arduous chemical analysis was necessary to resolve coffee authentication issues. Despite their demonstrated efficacy, such techniques tend to rely on reference methods or resort to elaborate extraction steps. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and the aquaphotomics approach, on the other hand, reportedly offer a rapid, reliable, and holistic compositional overview of varying analytes but with little focus on low concentration mixtures of Robusta-to-Arabica coffee. Our study aimed for a comparative assessment of ground coffee adulteration using NIRS and liquid coffee adulteration using the aquaphotomics approach. The aim was to demonstrate the potential of monitoring ground and liquid coffee quality as they are commercially the most available coffee forms. Chemometrics spectra analysis proved capable of distinguishing between the studied samples and efficiently estimating the added Robusta concentrations. An accuracy of 100% was obtained for the varietal discrimination of pure Arabica and Robusta, both in ground and liquid form. Robusta-to-Arabica ratio was predicted with R2CV values of 0.99 and 0.9 in ground and liquid form respectively. Aquagrams results accentuated the peculiarities of the two coffee varieties and their respective blends by designating different water conformations depending on the coffee variety and assigning a particular water absorption spectral pattern (WASP) depending on the blending ratio. Marked spectral features attributed to high hydrogen bonded water characterized Arabica-rich coffee, while those with the higher Robusta content showed an abundance of free water structures. Collectively, the obtained results ascertain the adequacy of NIRS and aquaphotomics as promising alternative tools for the authentication of liquid coffee that can correlate the water-related fingerprint to the Robusta-to-Arabica ratio.

Origin Identification of Hungarian Honey Using Melissopalynology, Physicochemical Analysis, and Near Infrared Spectroscopy.

The objective of the study was to check the authenticity of Hungarian honey using physicochemical analysis, near infrared spectroscopy, and melissopalynology. In the study, 87 samples from different botanical origins such as acacia, bastard indigo, rape, sunflower, linden, honeydew, milkweed, and sweet chestnut were collected. The samples were analyzed by physicochemical methods (pH, electrical conductivity, and moisture), melissopalynology (300 pollen grains counted), and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS:740-1700 nm). During the evaluation of the data PCA-LDA models were built for the classification of different botanical and geographical origins, using the methods separately, and in combination (low-level data fusion). PC number optimization and external validation were applied for all the models. Botanical origin classification models were >90% and >55% accurate in the case of the pollen and NIR methods. Improved results were obtained with the combination of the physicochemical, melissopalynology, and NIRS techniques, which provided >99% and >81% accuracy for botanical and geographical origin classification models, respectively. The combination of these methods could be a promising tool for origin identification of honey.

Classification of Bee Pollen and Prediction of Sensory and Colorimetric Attributes-A Sensometric Fusion Approach by e-Nose, e-Tongue and NIR.

The chemical composition of bee pollens differs greatly and depends primarily on the botanical origin of the product. Therefore, it is a crucially important task to discriminate pollens of different plant species. In our work, we aim to determine the applicability of microscopic pollen analysis, spectral colour measurement, sensory, NIR spectroscopy, e-nose and e-tongue methods for the classification of bee pollen of five different botanical origins. Chemometric methods (PCA, LDA) were used to classify bee pollen loads by analysing the statistical pattern of the samples and to determine the independent and combined effects of the above-mentioned methods. The results of the microscopic analysis identified 100% of sunflower, red clover, rapeseed and two polyfloral pollens mainly containing lakeshore bulrush and spiny plumeless thistle. The colour profiles of the samples were different for the five different samples. E-nose and NIR provided 100% classification accuracy, while e-tongue > 94% classification accuracy for the botanical origin identification using LDA. Partial least square regression (PLS) results built to regress on the sensory and spectral colour attributes using the fused data of NIR spectroscopy, e-nose and e-tongue showed higher than 0.8 R2 during the validation except for one attribute, which was much higher compared to the independent models built for instruments.

Detecting Low Concentrations of Nitrogen-Based Adulterants in Whey Protein Powder Using Benchtop and Handheld NIR Spectrometers and the Feasibility of Scanning through Plastic Bag.

Nitrogen-rich adulterants in protein powders present sensitivity challenges to conventional combustion methods of protein determination which can be overcome by near Infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). NIRS is a rapid analytical method with high sensitivity and non-invasive advantages. This study developed robust models using benchtop and handheld spectrometers to predict low concentrations of urea, glycine, taurine, and melamine in whey protein powder (WPP). Effectiveness of scanning samples through optical glass and polyethylene bags was also tested for the handheld NIRS. WPP was adulterated up to six concentration levels from 0.5% to 3% w/w. The two spectrometers were used to obtain three datasets of 819 diffuse reflectance spectra each that were pretreated before linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and regression (PLSR). Pretreatment was effective and revealed important absorption bands that could be correlated with the chemical properties of the mixtures. Benchtop NIR spectrometer showed the best results in LDA and PLSR but handheld NIR spectrometers showed comparatively good results. There were high prediction accuracies and low errors attesting to the robustness of the developed PLSR models using independent test set validation. Both the plastic bag and optical glass gave good results with accuracies depending on the adulterant of interest and can be used for field applications.

Standard Analytical Methods, Sensory Evaluation, NIRS and Electronic Tongue for Sensing Taste Attributes of Different Melon Varieties.

Grafting by vegetables is a practice with many benefits, but also with some unknown influences on the chemical composition of the fruits. Our goal was to assess the effects of grafting and storage on the extracted juice of four orange-fleshed Cantaloupe type (Celestial, Donatello, Centro, Jannet) melons and two green-fleshed Galia types (Aikido, London), using sensory profile analysis and analytical instruments: An electronic tongue (E-tongue) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Both instruments are known for rapid qualitative and quantitative food analysis. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was used to classify melons according to their varieties and storage conditions. Partial least square regression (PLSR) was used to predict sensory and standard analytical parameters. Celestial variety had the highest intensity for sensory attributes in Cantaloupe variety. Both green and orange-fleshed melons were discriminated and predicted in LDA with high accuracies (100%) using the E-tongue and NIRS. Galia and Cantaloupe inter-varietal classification with the E-tongue was 89.9% and 82.33%, respectively. NIRS inter-varietal classification was 100% with Celestial variety being the most discriminated as with the sensory results. Both instruments, classified different storage conditions of melons (grafted and self-rooted) with high accuracies. PLSR showed high accuracy for some standard analytical parameters, where significant differences were found comparing different varieties in ANOVA.

[The effect of palliative neural therapy on the improvement of chronic pain]. / A palliatív jellegu neurálterápia hatása idült fájdalmak csökkentésében.

Background and purpose: To assess the extent to which pain therapy can improve chronic pain in a heterogeneous group of patients, its impact on their quality of life and the correlation of the changes with their age and the underlying disease. The investigation has its actuality by its impact on public health. Methods: a prospective, non-randomized, interventional, clinical cohort study was conducted under real-life conditions in a general pain clinic, which lasted for 6 months. Changes in pain intensity (VAS) and related quality of life changes (SF-36 HRQoL) were measured using validated internationally accepted questionnaires. The questionnaires were filled out by all patients on their own, so they provided information of self-esteem on their own. All patient post-treatment results were compared to pre-treatment results. The general quality of life changes found in our patients were compared to the representative norms of healthy population in Hungary. Subjects - patients participated voluntarily at their own decision in the survey. The underlying disease of chronic pain, age and gender of the patients did not limit the inclusion into the study. Results: Data of 231 patients were evaluated. After pain therapy, the decrease in intensity of pain was confirmed by VAS at p=0.002. This was linked to a quality of life change that has been shown to be p=0.003 for men, with p=0.002 in women with SF-36 HRQoL. Based on the correlation coefficients, the changes in quality of life improved regardless of the age of the patients and the nature of the underlying conditions causing the pain. Conclusion: Although analgesia is basicly a symptomatic therapy, our findings suggest that the reduction of pain improves the quality of life of patients independently from their, and the curability of the underlying and accompanying diseases.

[Effects of neural therapy on quality of live in patients with inoperable lower extremity artery disease]. / A palliatív neurálterápia életminoségre gyakorolt hatása inoperábilis alsó végtagi obliteratív veroérbetegeknél.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Our aim was to evaluate the effects of percutaneous neurolysis of lumbal sympathetic ganglions on pain and the resulting changes in quality of life with validated objective and subjective methods. To follow the adverse effects and complications of the procedure. METHODS: A prospective, non-randomized, interventional, clinical cohort study under real life conditons was conducted. The time of the observation was 6 months. Palliative neural therapy was performed to reduce the ischemic pain of the affected leg of the patients involved in the study. Prior to treatment and after 35 days, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to measure the intensity of lower limb pain. The related changes in the quality of life were followed by a general 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire. We measured the changes of the patients' skin temperature and ankle/arm index. The post-treatment results were compared to the pre-treatment results. We compared the results of objective and subjective measures. We followed the side effects and complications of the pain therapy. Each of the examined subjects had obliterative (Fontaine II/b stage) arterial disease of the lower limbs, in which no revascularization intervention was feasible and their ischemic pain was of VAS≥7. RESULTS: Data of 124 patients (69 male, 55 female) could be evaluated. The decrease in intensity of limb pain in the post-treatment period was significant (p=0.001). Quality of life also indicated a significant improvement (p=0.004). Changes in skin temperature and ankle/arm index demonstrated significant improvement (p≤0.005): skin temperature increased from 27.6°C to 31.2°C, the ankle/arm index inceased from 0.67 to 0.83 on average. Changes in objective and subjective measures correlated with each other. No worthening of symptoms, serious adverse events or complications were observed. CONCLUSION: The chemical denervation of the lumbar sympathetic ganglions with percutaneous application is a minimally invasive intervention, useful in outpatient care, which can be well tolerated by the patient without any significant side effect or complication. Its hyperaemic effect and the pain reduction of the leg can improve the quality of life of the patients.

Hypnosis Attenuates Executive Cost of Prospective Memory.

Prospective memory is the ability to formulate and carry out actions at the appropriate time or in the appropriate context. This study aimed to identify the effect of hypnosis on prospective memory performance and to analyze the involvement of executive control processes in intention realization in a hypnotically altered state of consciousness. In 1 experiment, manipulating hypnotic instruction in a within-subject fashion, the authors explored the event-based prospective memory performance of 23 volunteers in 3 conditions: baseline, expectation, and execution. The primary result was that executing prospective memory responses, at the same accuracy rate, produced a significantly lower cost of ongoing responses in terms of response latency in the hypnotic state than in wake condition.

Boosting human learning by hypnosis.

Human learning and memory depend on multiple cognitive systems related to dissociable brain structures. These systems interact not only in cooperative but also sometimes competitive ways in optimizing performance. Previous studies showed that manipulations reducing the engagement of frontal lobe-mediated explicit attentional processes could lead to improved performance in striatum-related procedural learning. In our study, hypnosis was used as a tool to reduce the competition between these 2 systems. We compared learning in hypnosis and in the alert state and found that hypnosis boosted striatum-dependent sequence learning. Since frontal lobe-dependent processes are primarily affected by hypnosis, this finding could be attributed to the disruption of the explicit attentional processes. Our result sheds light not only on the competitive nature of brain systems in cognitive processes but also could have important implications for training and rehabilitation programs, especially for developing new methods to improve human learning and memory performance.

Two subgroups of schizophrenia identified by systematic cognitive neuropsychiatric mapping.

The description of the heterogeneous phenomenological, pathophysiological, and etiological nature of schizophrenia is under way; however, the relationships between heterogeneity levels are still unclear. We performed a robust cross-sectional study, including a systematic neuropsychological battery, assessment of clinical symptoms, neurological soft signs, morphogenetic anomalies and smell identification, and measurement of event-related potentials on 50 outpatients with schizophrenia in their compensated states. An explorative fuzzy cluster analysis revealed two subgroups in this sample that could be distinguished from each other on symptomatological, cognitive and neurological levels. The patterns of cognitive dysfunctions and neurological developmental anomalies equally indicate that there may be hemispherical differences between the patients belonging to the different clusters.

Effects of a hypnotically altered state of consciousness on intensification of semantic processing.

In a study of the linguistic processes involved in hypnosis, 22 volunteer medical students performed semantic and phonologic fluency tasks and then associative priming tests with 2 delay-lengths in waking alert and hypnotic conditions as well. The participants performed better during semantic than phonological fluency tests in alert and also in hypnotic states, and this difference was significantly greater in hypnosis. The increased semantic performance in hypnosis was accompanied by a decrease of the rule-offending errors. Significant semantic priming effects were detected in both states of consciousness in direct and indirect relations as well as in the automatic, intralexical level, and also when the extralexical control processes were activated. Overall, the results appear to show that the hypnotically altered state of consciousness produces significantly better performance in semantic information processing than can be elicited in alert waking conditions.

Animal-assisted therapy for middle-aged schizophrenic patients living in a social institution. A pilot study.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether animal-assisted therapy is effective in the rehabilitation of middle-aged schizophrenic patients living in a social institution. DESIGN: A before and after study with nine-month treatment period. SETTING: Social institute for psychiatric patients. SUBJECTS: Seven schizophrenic patients living in the social institute. INTERVENTIONS: Weekly sessions of animal-assisted therapy for a nine-month period, each therapeutic session lasting for 50 minutes. MEASURES USED: The Independent Living Skills Survey assessed by an independent rater. RESULTS: After the completion of the therapy significant improvement in the domestic and health activities occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Animal-assisted therapy seems to be helpful in the rehabilitation of schizophrenic patients living in a social institution.