Renal safety of zoledronic acid in patients with osteoporosis: a retrospective study.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to investigate the renal safety of Zoledronic Acid (ZOL) in patients with osteoporosis (OP). METHODS: A total of 1379 patients (baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate, eGFR ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) with primary OP who received ZOL from January 2008 to October 2020 at our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Baseline and the changes in renal function within 1 year following infusions were collected, the incidence of renal impairment (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 or a > 25% reduction in the eGFR from baseline) was noted and the risk factors were analyzed. Furthermore, the changes in renal function between a 3-year consecutive infusion and a single infusion of ZOL were compared. RESULTS: Renal impairment occurred in 8.05% of patients, who with a significantly higher age, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), smoking history, combination of hypertension or diabetes mellitus and worse renal function indicators (all P < 0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that higher CCI (≥5) or smoking history or the baseline eGFR <90 mL/min/1.73 m2 were the risk factors for renal impairment (all P < 0.05). Patients of 3-year continuous infusion group had a significantly greater drop in the eGFR levels than the single infusion group after 1 year of infusion(s) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Attention should be given to possible potential renal impairment following ZOL infusion in clinical practice for the management of OP, particularly in patients with higher CCI (≥5) or smoking history or the baseline eGFR <90 mL/min/1.73 m2. Continuous infusion of ZOL exerts a significant impact on renal function when compared to single infusion and intensive monitoring of renal function is necessary.

Rapid detection of frozen pork quality without thawing by Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging technique.

Quality determination of frozen food is a time-consuming and laborious work as it normally takes a long time to thaw the frozen samples before measurements can be carried out. In this research, a rapid and non-destructive determination technique for frozen pork quality was tested with a hyperspectral imaging (HSI) system. In this study, 120 pieces of pork meat were frozen by four kinds of methods with various freezing temperatures from -20 to -120°C. The hyperspectral images of the samples were acquired at the frozen state. Quality indicators including drip loss, pH value, color, cooking loss and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) of the samples were measured after thawing. The spectral characteristics of the frozen meat samples were studied and it was revealed that the reflectance at 1100nm had a close relationship with the freezing temperature (R=-0.832, p<0.01). Partial least squares regression (PLSR) was applied to establish the spectral models, and the models were then optimized. Results showed that the improved region of interest (ROI) method could be used to extract effective spectral information to withstand the interference of freezing, and choosing appropriate spectral bands and spectral pretreatment techniques were crucial to develop robust mathematical model. The performances of the models established were diverse based on different quality indicators. The coefficients of determination for prediction (Rp(2)) for L*, cooking loss, b*, drip loss and a* were 0.907, 0.845, 0.814, 0.762, and 0.716, respectively. However there were low correlations (Rp(2)) for pH and WBSF measurements. The current study indicated that HSI had the potential for non-destructive determination of frozen meat quality without thawing.

Research developments in methods to reduce the carbon footprint of the food system: a review.

Global warming is a worldwide issue with its evident impact across a wide range of systems and sectors. It is caused by a number of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions, in which food system has made up of a large part. Recently, reduction of GHG emissions has become an urgent issue to be resolved in the food system. Many governments and organizations are making great endeavors to alleviate the adverse effect of this phenomenon. In this review, methods to reduce the carbon footprint within the life cycle of a food system are presented from the technical, consumption behavior and environmental policies perspectives. The whole food system including raw material acquisition, processing, packaging, preservation, transportation, consumption, and disposal are covered. Improving management techniques, and adopting advanced technology and equipment are critical for every stage of a food system. Rational site selection is important to alleviate the influence of land use change. In addition, environmental choices of packaging stage, reduction in refrigeration dependence, and correct waste treatment are essential to reduce the total carbon footprint of the production. However, only technical methods cannot radically reverse the trend of climate change, as consumption behaviors present a great deal of influence over climate change. Appropriate purchase patterns and substitution within food product categories by low carbon products can reduce GHG emissions. Development of methods to calculate the carbon footprint of every kind of food and its processing technology enable people to make environmental choice. Policy can shape and cultivate the new code of consumption and influence the direction of emerging technology and science. From political perspectives, government intervention and carbon offset are common tools, especially for carbon tax and a real or implicit price of carbon. Finally, by mitigating the methodologies described above, the rate and magnitude of climate changes can be also reduced to some extent.