The effect of observing religious or faith-based fasting on cardiovascular disease risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIMS: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Fasting is common in many religions and is associated with health benefits. This systematic review to compares the impact of different religious fasting practices, on risk of cardiometabolic diseases. DATA SYNTHESIS: The search covered five databases following PRISMA guidelines to identify papers published in English from inception to March 2023 (updated January 2024). Inclusion criteria were healthy adults in observational studies, who engaged in religious fasting practices, studies were included where data on matched non-fasting individuals was available. Outcomes were systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), triglycerides, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), and fasting plasma glucose levels. A meta-analysis was conducted, and the review was registered (CRD42022352197). Fourteen studies were met the inclusion criteria with ten studies data being suitable for meta-analysis, reporting on 755 adults participating in fasting practices and 661 non-fasting controls. Religious fasting was associated with a reduction in BMI (-0.40 kg/m2, 95% CI [-0.70, -0.10], p < 0.01). Observance of Ramadan fasting was associated with decreased systolic blood pressure (-3.83  mmHg, 95% CI [-7.44, -0.23], p = 0.04). The observance of Orthodox Christian fasting was associated with a reduction in TC (-0.52 mmoL/l, 95%CI [-0.64, -0.39], p < 0.01). No difference was found for the other outcomes. CONCLUSION: This review found religious fasting practices which were associated with a reduction in some biomarkers of cardiometabolic diseases risk. Further research on other fasting practices is needed due to limited data.

Modified transmission line model for grating solar cells.

Due to the wide range of applications of plasmonic diffraction gratings, it has become essential to provide an analytical method for modeling performance of the devices designed based on these structures. An analytical technique, in addition to greatly reducing the simulation time, can become a useful tool for designing these devices and predicting their performance. However, one of the major challenges of the analytical techniques is to improve the accuracy of their results compared to those of the numerical methods. So, here, a modified transmission line model (TLM) has been presented for the one-dimensional grating solar cell considering diffracted reflections in order to improve the accuracy of TLM results. Formulation of this model has been developed for the normal incidence of both TE and TM polarizations taking into account diffraction efficiencies. The modified TLM results for a silicon solar cell consisting of silver gratings considering different grating widths and heights have shown that lower order diffractions have dominant effects on the accuracy improvement in the modified TLM, while the results have been converged considering higher order diffractions. In addition, our proposed model has been verified by comparing its results to those of the finite element method-based full-wave numerical simulations.

Understanding school food systems to support the development and implementation of food based policies and interventions.

BACKGROUND: Schools provide opportunities to improve the quality of children's diet, whilst reducing inequalities in childhood diet and health. Evidence supports whole school approaches, including consistency in food quality, eating culture and food education. However, such approaches are often poorly implemented due to the highly complex environments in which schools operate. We aimed to develop a school food systems map using a systems thinking approach to help identify the key factors influencing primary school children's dietary choice. METHODS: Eight workshops were conducted with 80 children (from schools from varying locations (region of England/UK; urban/rural), deprivation levels and prioritisation of school food policies)) and 11 workshops were held with 82 adult stakeholders across the UK (principals, teachers, caterers, school governors, parents, and local and voluntary sector organisations) to identify factors that influence food choice in children across a school day and their inter-relationships. Initial exploratory workshops started with a 'blank canvas' using a group model building approach. Later workshops consolidated findings and supported a wider discussion of factors, relationships and influences within the systems map. Strengths of the relationship between factors/nodes were agreed by stakeholders and individually depicted on the map. We facilitated an additional eight interactive, in-person workshops with children to map their activities across a whole school day to enable the production of a journey map which was shared with stakeholders in workshops to facilitate discussion. RESULTS: The final 'CONNECTS-Food' systems map included 202 factors that were grouped into 27 nodes. Thematic analysis identified four key themes: leadership and curriculum; child food preference; home environment; and school food environment. Network analysis highlighted key factors that influence child diet across a school day, which were largely in keeping with the thematic analysis; including: 'available funds/resources', 'awareness of initiatives and resources', 'child food preference and intake', 'eligibility of free school meals', 'family circumstances and eating behaviours', 'peer/social norms', 'priorities of head teachers and senior leaders'. CONCLUSIONS: Our systems map demonstrates the need to consider factors external to schools and their food environments. The map supports the identification of potential actions, interventions and policies to facilitate a systems-wide positive impact on children's diets.

Hydrogen Sulphide-Based Therapeutics for Neurological Conditions: Perspectives and Challenges.

Central nervous system (CNS)-related conditions are currently the leading cause of disability worldwide, posing a significant burden to health systems, individuals and their families. Although the molecular mechanisms implicated in these disorders may be varied, neurological conditions have been increasingly associated with inflammation and/or impaired oxidative response leading to further neural cell damages. Therefore, therapeutic approaches targeting these defective molecular mechanisms have been vastly explored. Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) has emerged as a modulator of both inflammation and oxidative stress with a neuroprotective role, therefore, has gained interest in the treatment of neurological disorders. H2S, produced by endogenous sources, is maintained at low levels in the CNS. However, defects in the biosynthetic and catabolic routes for H2S metabolism have been identified in CNS-related disorders. Approaches to restore H2S availability using H2S-donating compounds have been recently explored in many models of neurological conditions. Nonetheless, we still need to elucidate the potential for these compounds not only to ameliorate defective biological routes, but also to better comprehend the implications on H2S delivery, dosage regimes and feasibility to successfully target CNS tissues. Here, we highlight the molecular mechanisms of H2S-dependent restoration of neurological functions in different models of CNS disease whilst summarising current administration approaches for these H2S-based compounds. We also address existing barriers in H2S donor delivery by showcasing current advances in mediating these constrains through novel biomaterial-based carriers for H2S donors.

Dual-band wide-angle perfect absorber based on the relative displacement of graphene nanoribbons in the mid-infrared range.

In this paper, a novel graphene-based dual-band perfect electromagnetic absorber operating in the mid-infrared regime has been proposed. The absorber has a periodic structure which its unit cell consists of a sliver substrate and two graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) of equal width separated with a dielectric spacer. Two distinct absorption peaks at 10 and 11.33 µm with absorption of 99.68% and 99.31%, respectively have been achieved due to a lateral displacement of the GNRs. Since graphene surface conductivity is tunable, the absorption performance can be tuned independently for each resonance by adjusting the chemical potential of GNRs. Also, it has been proved that performance of the proposed absorber is independent of the incident angle and its operation is satisfactory when the incident angle varies from normal to ±75°. To simulate and analyze the spectral behavior of the designed absorber, the semi-analytical method of lines (MoL) has been extended. Also, the finite element method (FEM) has been applied in order to validate and confirm the results.

Design and comprehensive analysis of an ultra-fast fractional-order temporal differentiator based on a plasmonic Bragg grating microring resonator.

This paper presents the design and comprehensive analysis of an ultra-fast fractional-order temporal differentiator (DIFF) based on a plasmonic inner-wall Bragg grating microring resonator (BG-MRR). Due to the ring radius of 1.1 µm and the strong confinement of the surface plasmon polaritons in the plasmonic waveguide with very small cross-section, the overall footprint of the DIFF circuit is significantly small (approximately 4 × 2.5 µm2). By changing the coupling regimes of the microring resonator, a broad range for the differentiation order α, i.e., 0.7-1.7 and a wide 3 dB bandwidth of 3.1 THz [24.8 nm] for α = 0.7 and 3.9 THz [31.2 nm] for α = 1.7 have been realized. Comparing the outputs of the BG-MRR-based DIFF with the corresponding mathematical DIFF indicates that deviations for α > 1 are significantly larger than those of α < 1. Therefore, a fractional-order temporal DIFF circuit based on plasmonic cascaded BG-MRR has been proposed for α > 1.

Application of chitosan-alginate bio composite for adsorption of malathion from wastewater: Characterization and response surface methodology.

Agricultural effluents in aqueous media have caused serious threats due to adversely affect human health and the ecosystem. In this study, the low-cost easily accessible chitosan-alginate adsorbent was prepared for the removal of malathion from agricultural effluents using microemulsion method. The adsorbent was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The optimum experimental conditions, including adsorbent dosage (0.05-0.25 g), contact time (5-25 min), and concentration of malathion (5-25 mg L-1) at five levels were studied using the composite central design (CCD) based on the response surface methodology (RSM). The highest removal percentage was obtained 82.35 with an adsorbent dosage of 0.18 g, contact time of 20 min, and initial concentration of 10 mg L-1. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to assess the significance and adequacy of the model. The results revealed that quadratic model was proper for the prediction removal of malathion. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms were examined under optimal conditions. The Langmuir with a coefficient of determination (R2) = 0.99 and pseudo-second-order with R2 = 0.99 were achieved as the best isotherm and kinetic models, respectively. The results showed that the chitosan-alginate biopolymer can be effective and affordable adsorbent for the removal of malathion from aqueous solution.

Rainbow trapping and releasing in graded grating graphene plasmonic waveguides.

In this paper, a graphene plasmonic waveguide consisting of Si graded gratings and a SiO2 separator has been designed in order to rainbow trap and release in the mid-infrared frequencies. Tunability of the light trapping and releasing in this proposed structure has been realized thanks to the adjustable chemical potential of the graphene. Using this structure, the light velocity has been decreased by a slowdown factor above 1270 with a trapping bandwidth of 3.5 µm. Due to the high tunability of this miniaturized structure, it can be used in a variety of applications including optical switches, buffers, and storages.

Preparation and Characterization of Albumin Nanoparticles of Paclitaxel-Triphenylphosphonium Conjugates: New Approach to Subcellular Targeting.

Mitochondria have been recognized as important targets in cancer therapy due to their role in the respiratory process of cells. One approach employed for mitochondrion targeting is conjugation of a delocalized cation such as triphenylphosphonium (TPP), with antineoplastic agents, for instance paclitaxel (PTX). In cell cytoplasm, TPP-PTX can come close to mitochondria due to its high positive charge, which has a strong tendency toward the enhanced negative charge of mitochondria. The esteric bond of TPP-PTX can break down in the acidic environment of tumor cells and release the PTX, which can act directly on mitochondria to kill tumor cells. TPP-PTX was synthesized in three steps: Succinic anhydride (SUC) reacted with PTX to achieve succinyl paclitaxel (SUC-PTX), which has an acid-labile esteric bond. Then 2-triphenylphosphonium ethylammonium (ATPP) was prepared by attaching 2-bromoethylammunium bromide to TPP. Finally, a TPP-PTX prodrug was synthesized by attaching these materials. The products of all steps were characterized by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR, 13C NMR). The purity of the products was determined by HPLC methods. TPP-PTX, as a prodrug, was loaded in to human serum albumin (HSA) nanoparticles by a method inspired by nab-technology with 130-160 nm particle size distribution, PdI=0.166 and Zeta potential -12.6 mV.

Contactless optical trapping and manipulation of nanoparticles utilizing SIBA mechanism and EDL force.

On-chip optical tweezers based on evanescent fields overcome the diffraction limit of the free-space optical tweezers and can be a promising technique for developing lab-on-a-chip devices. While such trapping allows for low-cost and precise manipulation, it suffers from unavoidable contact with the device surface, which eliminates one of the major advantages of the optical trapping. Here, we use a 1D photonic crystal cavity to trap nanoparticles and propose a novel method to control and manipulate the particle distance from the cavity utilizing a self-induced back-action (SIBA) mechanism and electrical-double-layer (EDL) force. It is numerically shown that a 200 nm radius silica particle can be trapped near the cavity with a potential well deeper than 178kBT by 1 mW of input power without any contact with the surface and easily moved vertically with nanometer precision by wavelength detuning.

Electroless deposition of silver nanofractals on copper wire by galvanic displacement as a simple technique for preparation of porous solid-phase microextraction fibers.

A novel and porous solid-phase microextraction fiber was prepared by quick and simple galvanic displacement reaction and applied to the determination of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sunflower oil. The parameters affecting the porosity and thickness of the fiber, and parameters affecting the extraction efficiency, including the extraction time, temperature, and ionic strength, were investigated and optimized. The morphology of prepared fiber was characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy and thermal and chemical stabilities of the fiber were studied. Under the optimum conditions, the limits of detection ranged between 0.1 ng/mL for pyrene to 1.2 ng/mL for anthracene, and LOQ ranged between 0.3 ng/mL for pyrene to 3.6 ng/mL for anthracene. The relative standard deviations, including repeatability (within fibers) and reproducibility (between fibers), varied between 3.2-8.9 and 5.6-9.8%, respectively.

Selective Solid-Phase Extraction of Zinc(II) from Environmental Water Samples Using Ion Imprinted Activated Carbon.

A simple ion imprinted amino-functionalized sorbent was synthesized by coupling activated carbon with iminodiacetic acid, a functional compound for metal chelating, through cyanoric chloride spacer. The resulting sorbent has been characterized using FTIR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis and evaluated for the preconcentration and determination of trace Zn(II) in environmental water samples. The optimum pH value for sorption of the metal ion was 6-7.5. The sorption capacity of the functionalized sorbent was 66.6 mg/g. The chelating sorbent can be reused for 10 cycles of sorption-desorption without any significant change in sorption capacity. A recovery of 100% was obtained for the metal ion with 0.5 M nitric acid as the eluent. Compared with nonimprinted polymer particles, the prepared Zn-imprinted sorbent showed high adsorption capacity, significant selectivity, and good site accessibility for Zn(II). Scatchard analysis revealed that the homogeneous binding sites were formed in the polymer. The equilibrium sorption data of Zn(II) by modified resin were analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Redlich-Peterson models. Based on equilibrium adsorption data, the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin constants were determined as 0.139, 12.82, and 2.34, respectively, at 25°C.