Elucidating the structure of melanoidins derived from biscuits: A preliminary study.

Melanoidins present important physiological activities, but their structure is largely unknown. The objective of the present work was to reveal the physicochemical characteristics of biscuit melanoidins(BM) prepared under high temperature(HT) and low temperature(LT) conditions (150 °C/25 min-100 °C/80 min respectively). BM were characterised and analysed by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray and FT-IR. Moreover, the antioxidant capacity and the zeta potential were determined. The phenolic content of HT-BM was higher than that of LT-BM (19.5 ± 2.6% vs 7.8 ± 0.3% respectively, p ≤ 0.05) and the antioxidant capacity determined by ABTS/DPPH/FRAP (p ≤ 0.05) was greater. Also, HT-BM presented a 30% increase in crystal structure compared to LT-BM according to X-ray analysis. The magnitude of the negative net charge was significantly higher in HT-BM (-36.8 ± 0.6) than in LT-BM (-16.8 ± 0.1)(p ≤ 0.05). FT-IR analysis confirmed the presence of phenolic and intermediate Maillard reaction compounds bound to the HT-BM structure. In conclusion, the different heating treatments applied to biscuits led to differences in the melanoidin structure.

Gluten-free wafer formulation: Development, characterisation and addition of flavourings with antioxidant capacity.

The incidence of celiac disease is increasing, therefore the demand for gluten-free products that also satisfy the nutritional requirements of celiac individuals is rising. Thus, the objective of the present work was to develop a gluten-free nutritionally balanced wafer formulation with a high content of antioxidants. First, the animal fat used in the traditional formulation was successfully replaced by high oleic sunflower. Second, the antioxidant content of several flavourings (cinnamon/honey/anise/vanilla) was measured and their addition to a gluten-free wafer formulation was evaluated. Third, multivariate statistical tools were used to select the formulation that properly mimicked the characteristics of a gluten-containing wafer. According to the results, anise and cinnamon were the most suitable flavourings to prepare gluten-free wafers, and the sensory analysis concluded that these formulations were highly acceptable (means>6.7 on the hedonic scale). Finally, the storage time analysis indicated that the texture of the gluten-free wafers was more susceptible to water absorption than gluten-containing wafers. Besides, cinnamon wafers presented a higher bioaccessible antioxidant capacity than anise wafers (43.5 ± 0.1 mg Trolox/g and 18.8 ± 0.9 mg Trolox/g respectively) (p < 0.05), which remained stable for four months. This indicates that during its shelf life, the product could be consumed with its beneficial effects intact.

Youth voices and experiences regarding a school-based cognitive behavioral therapy skills intervention: lessons for future engagement and adaptation.

BACKGROUND: The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Skills Intervention (or CBTSI) aims to build mental health literacy and knowledge, allowing youth to build resilience and improve mental health broadly. In Ontario, Canada, youth voice is scant and European studies have largely reported on youth factors supporting stigma reduction, help-seeking intentions and overall satisfaction with a given intervention. Process evaluations and implementation that underpin what youth require to embrace mental health literacy interventions, particularly those that embed key learning principles in the everyday curriculum, have not been broached. The goal of this study is to understand both barriers and facilitators to engagement with the CBTSI (an intervention novel in itself because of the combined mental health plus cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) skills principles embedded in literacy) and the resources and structures that students report requiring, to fully engage with such an intervention. METHODS: Student focus groups were conducted utilizing qualitative interviews that were analyzed thematically. Analysis was informed using principles of pragmatism and analyzed inductively using thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, Qual Res Psychol 3:77-101, 2006), first looking at the whole and then coding for themes, within an interpretivist framework. Youth were in middle school (grade 7 and 8) in Toronto, Canada who had received the CBTSI. Face to face interview guides with iterative questioning were conducted in February of 2020, and these interviews were audio-recorded and professionally transcribed. Teachers randomly chose a subset of youth whose parents consented to the research to ensure ethno-racial similarity to classroom demographics. RESULTS: There were eight groups with sixty students who participated. Students were 12 to 14 years of age. Major themes were identified: maximizing the opportunities for involvement and self-determination created an atmosphere where confidence and self-compassion could flourish, signalling to the students that they understood and were able to deploy the strategies they were taught; students expressed that the intervention needs to be adapted to enhance personal dignity, respecting both individual wishes and goals in light of the variability in student reported mental health. A model explains the structures and adaptations required to maximize learning based on youth feedback. INTERPRETATION: Mental health literacy incorporating CBT is a promising population-based health promotion intervention. Future adaptations and implementation decisions regarding the CBTSI need to address the wishes and experiences of these youth. Youth voice in this study explored factors that prevent and promote the uptake of the key lessons within the context of existing variability in student mental health that is often found within the context of a regular classroom. The results should be used to adapt the CBTSI as it is disseminated more broadly.

The Impact of a Harry Potter-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Skills Curriculum on Suicidality and Well-being in Middle Schoolers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a Harry Potter-based mental health literacy curriculum, imparting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) skills, on suicidality and well-being in middle-schoolers. METHODS: Students (aged 11-14; grades 7-8) who received a 3-month teacher-delivered intervention embedded in the language arts curriculum (N=200) were compared to a wait-list control group (N=230) in the largest urban school board in Canada. Suicidality defined as a composite measure of self-reported suicidal ideation and attempts [primary outcome], self-reported emotion dysregulation, interpersonal chaos, confusion about self, and impulsivity [Life Problems Inventory (LPI)] and self-reported depression and anxiety symptoms [Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS)] were the outcomes of interest. Measurements occurred prior to and after curriculum delivery with independent t-tests used to compare mean change scores between groups clustered by class. RESULTS: Thirty-seven English teachers in 46 classes across 15 schools comprised the planned study cohort. Composite suicidality scores were significantly worse in the control than intervention group at endpoint (0.05±0.54 vs. 0.17±0.47, t= -2.60, df=428, p=0.01). There were also significant improvements in LPI and RCADS scores in the intervention group compared to controls (LPI:-3.74±7.98 vs. 1.16±10.77 t=5.28, df=428, p<.001; RCADS: (-3.08±5.49 vs. -1.51±6.53 t=2.96, df=429, p=0.01). Sub-analyses revealed that these improvements were largely driven by a significant difference in scores in girls. LIMITATIONS: Sample size constraints as study terminated prematurely during COVID pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates significant improvement in suicidality, emotional regulation, self-concept, interpersonal difficulties, depression and anxiety in youth, particularly girls following this intervention. Replication studies in larger samples are needed to confirm these results.

Application of a novel microwave energy treatment on brewers' spent grain (BSG): Effect on its functionality and chemical characteristics.

The effect of a new microwave energy treatment on brewers' spent grain (BSG) functionality and its application in a bakery product was evaluated. The physicochemical modifications of BSG were studied with special emphasis on the analysis of non-enzymatic browning reactions. Microwave treatment induced the formation of Maillard reaction products with a high antioxidant activity. The structure of these compounds was fully analyzed and it was concluded that melanoidins were formed by polymerization of furanose rings. Results indicated that chlorogenic acids were also reactants involved in the development of this reaction, leading to the formation of new bioaccesible compounds with important antioxidant activity. Although the addition of BSG in cookie formulations negatively affect their texture, this effect was successfully reduced when the microwave treatment was applied on BSG. This was associated to the disrupting effect that the microwaves had on BSG fiber, which significantly reduced its water absorption index (p ≤ 0.05).

The use of saliva as a biological fluid in relative bioavailability studies: comparison and correlation with plasma results.

The aim of the present study was to present new evidence supporting the use of saliva as a biological fluid in relative bioavailability studies. Carbamazepine was chosen as a model drug because of its suitability for salivary therapeutic drug monitoring and its well-documented plasma bioavailability. A relative bioavailability study of four different immediate release carbamazepine products was performed. Stimulated saliva samples were collected by chewing on parafilm wax and by the spitting method. In vitro dissolution testing of formulations, using 900 ml of 1% sodium lauryl sulphate in water, was also carried out. The in vitro-in vivo correlations obtained in this salivary study were consistent with previous correlations assessed using plasma. These results support the suitability of saliva as the biological fluid in relative bioavailability studies.

The spasmolytic effect of Aloysia citriodora, Palau (South American cedrón) is partially due to its vitexin but not isovitexin on rat duodenums.

The spasmolytic effects of an acqueous extract of cedrón (AEC) were studied on rat isolated duodenums. This plant (Aloysia citriodora Palau, Verbenaceae) is widely used for gastrointestinal disorders and as eupeptic in South America. AEC non-competitively inhibited the dose-response curve (DRC) of Ach (IC50 of 1.34 +/- 0.49 mg lyophilized/mL) and the DRC of Ca(2+) in high-[K(2-)](o) (IC50 of 2.64 +/- 0.23 mg/mL). AEC potentiated the non-competitive inhibition of either 30 micromol/L W-7 (a calmodulin blocker) and 5-15 micromol/L papaverine on the Ca(2+)-DRC. Also, AEC relaxed the contracture produced by high-[K(+)](o) (IC50 of 2.6 +/- 0.2 mg/mL) until 81.0 +/- 3.2% of the maximal effect of papaverine and 78.1+/- 5.0% of the quercetin, the most selective inhibitor of PDE. The AEC relaxation was non-competitively inhibited by 10-30 micromol/L methylene blue and competitively antagonized by 40 mmol/L TEA. The relaxation of 1mg/mL AEC was inhibited by hypoxia, but not that of 2mg/mL. Two flavonoids were identified by HPLC in the AEC: vitexin and isovitexin. Vitexin non-competitively inhibited the Ach-DRC (pD(2') of 5.7 +/- 0.4) but significantly run leftward the DRC of Ca(2+). Isovitexin did not significantly inhibit the DRC of Ach nor Ca(2+). The results suggest that the spasmolytic effect of AEC could be mostly associated to the increase in cGMP (target shared with the PDE inhibitors) and the activation of K(+)-channels. At low concentrations, AEC also inhibits the aerobic metabolism. The flavonoid vitexin is partially responsible for the effect, since it non-competitively inhibits Ach but not the Ca(2+) influx. Isovitexin was devoid of activity on duodenums.

Cardiotonic and sedative effects of Cecropia pachystachya Mart. (ambay) on isolated rat hearts and conscious mice.

Cecropia pachystachya Mart. is popularly called "ambay" and extensively used in herbal medicine of South America for cough and asthma. In Argentina it grows in neotropical rainforest (Ntr C.p.) and in a temperate region (Tp C.p.). In a previous work we showed their hypotensive properties with different potency and toxicity, and now we studied the Tp C.p. effects in isolated heart from rats and central effects of both plants on the open-field test for mice. Tp C.p. produced a positive inotropic effect on isolated rat hearts, which was not affected by 1 microM propranolol, suggesting that it is not due to a beta-adrenergic effect. In contrast, it was prevented by pretreatment with high [K](o) media, which stimulates the Na,K-ATPase pump, suggesting an inhibition of the pump by "ambay", as digital do. In the open-field test, both Ntr C.p. and Tp C.p. similarly decreased the spontaneous locomotion and exploratory behavior of mice at doses between 180 and 600 mg/kg. Ntr C.p. potentiated the effect of 3 mg/kg diazepam to one similar to 10 mg/kg diazepam, but was not antagonized by 0.5 mg/kg flumazenil. Amphetamine at 5 mg/kg prevented the sedative effect of Ntr C.p. Chromatographic analysis showed that both plants have a qualitatively similar fingerprint but quantitatively differed in at least three components. Although the purpose was not to identify them, both plants have at least 10 compounds. Two of them were in higher amount in Tp C.p. than in Ntr C.p., and then, they could be responsible for the cardiovascular toxicity of Tp C.p. In conclusion, the results suggest that ambay has cardiotonic and sedative properties. The sedative effect could be useful in cough treatment. The extract resulted additive to benzodiazepines but it did not bind to the same site on GABA-A receptor, and it was interfered by the dopamine release produced with amphetamine.