Modelling of electrohydrodynamic drying kinetics for carrot at varying electrode distance.

This study was conducted to analyze the drying kinetics of carrot slices in electrohydrodynamic (EHD) dryer at different electrode distances. Higher drying rate was observed up to about 70% (w.b.) moisture content, which has been noted as first falling rate period. The time taken to dry the carrot slices to the safe moisture content of 2.5% (wb) was about 9, 8.5 and 6.8 h at a distance of 7, 5 and 3 cm respectively. Five empirical models, Page Model, Newton model, Henderson and Pabis model, logarithmic model and two term model, were tested for the best fit. The drying rate constant (k) increased in all the empirical models as the distance between the electrode decreased. For 7 cm electrode distance, the Page model fitted best whereas the Logarithmic model was found to be the best fit for 5 and 3 cm electrode distance. There is no significant difference found in shrinkage of dried carrot slices at different electrode distance. Rehydration ratio increased as the distance between electrodes decreased. Moisture diffusivity increased as the distance between the electrode decreased. No significant difference in colour, ß-carotene and sensory attributes were found between fresh and EHD dried carrot slices at 3 cm electrode distance. Specific energy consumption was significantly influenced by the electrode distance.

Gluten-free grains: Importance, processing and its effect on quality of gluten-free products.

Gluten-enteropathy affects a significant number of people, making gluten a major concern in the food industry. With medical advancements, the diagnosis of allergies is becoming easier, and people who are allergic to gluten are recommended a complete gluten-free diet. Since wheat provides a major part of the energy and nutrition in the diet, its elimination affects nutrition intake of allergic population. Food scientists are working to formulate products using protein-rich gluten-free grains with quality attributes at par with gluten-containing products. Focused research has been done to provide nutrition and a variety of food to people suffering from gluten-related disorders. Efforts are being made to remove the gluten from the wheat and other gluten-containing grains, while applying different processing/treatments to enhance the properties of gluten-free grains. Hence, the present review summarizes the importance, processing, and products of different gluten-free grains. It also highlights the digestibility of gluten-free grains with clinical trials and gluten elimination strategies for gluten-containing grains.

Modified surgical technique for lamellar macular holes with lamellar hole-associated epiretinal proliferation (LHEP).

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of lamellar hole-associated epiretinal proliferation embedding technique with modification in the surgical management of degenerative lamellar macular hole (LMH). METHODS: There is retrospective case series of consecutive eyes who underwent pars plana vitrectomy with LHEP embedding with internal limiting membrane (ILM) inversion technique for degenerative LMH. Primary outcome measure was improvement in foveal contour and central foveal thickness (CFT). Secondary outcome measures were changes in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), status of outer retinal layers (external limiting membrane-ELM & ellipsoid zone-EZ) and complications. RESULTS: Ten eyes were operated by modified LHEP embedding technique. Mean age was 65.8 ± 5.3 years with 1:1 male to female ratio. Simultaneous cataract surgery was done in 70% cases. Mean follow-up duration was 7.9 ± 0.87 months. 80% (8/10) eyes had improvement in foveal contour to normal appearance with increase in residual foveal thickness from 90.2 ± 26.83 microns to CFT of 226 ± 35.44 microns at 6 months (p = 0.0054). Mean BCVA improved from 0.69 ± 0.19 logMAR to 0.32 ± 0.29 logMAR (p = 0.012). External limiting membrane (ELM) and ellipsoid zone (EZ) defects were present in four eyes (40%) pre-operatively. At the final visit 2 eyes (20%) had persistent defect in both ELM & EZ. None of the eyes progressed to full-thickness macular hole following surgery. CONCLUSIONS: The modified surgical technique of LHEP Embedding with ILM inversion is demonstrated to provide satisfactory results with reduced risk of complications for degenerative LMH. Larger and long-term follow-up studies are needed to establish this technique as standard surgical procedure for LMH with LHEP.

Intravitreal dexamethasone implant with retinal photocoagulation for adult-onset Coats' disease.

PURPOSE: To report a case of adult-onset Coats' disease with secondary retinal vasoproliferative tumor managed with dexamethasone intravitreal implant and retinal photocoagulation. METHODS: Case study. RESULTS: A 41-year-old female with counting finger vision was diagnosed with Coats' disease with secondary retinal vasoproliferative tumor in right eye. Fundus examination revealed exudative retinopathy involving posterior pole and a retinal tumor located in the inferotemporal quadrant. Optical coherence tomography scan confirmed massive exudative neurosensory detachment and fundus fluorescein angiography showed areas of telangiectatic vessels with capillary non-perfusion. Intravitreal injection of dexamethasone implant was done initially followed by laser photocoagulation when the detachment resolved. There was significant improvement in patient's visual acuity with no further recurrence of exudation. CONCLUSION: Intravitreal dexamethasone implant Ozurdex(®) (Allergan, Inc., Irvine, Calif., USA) may be an effective initial therapeutic approach for Coats' disease with massive exudation.

Clinical outcomes of double membrane peeling with or without simultaneous phacoemulsification/gas tamponade for vitreoretinal-interface-associated (VRI) disorders.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical outcomes of double membrane (ERM & ILM) peeling and the effect of combined cataract surgery and SF6 gas injection in vitreoretinal interface (VRI) disorders. This is a retrospective interventional study. Seventy-two eyes with idiopathic vitreoretinal interface abnormalities that underwent 23 gauge pars plana vitrectomy with "double stain and double peel" technique were reviewed. SD-OCT was used to classify VRI disorders into following 4 groups: 44 in ERM type, 17 in VMTS type, 7 in macular pseudohole (MPH) type, and 4 in lamellar macular hole (LMH) type. ERM was a common association in all types. Mean preoperative BCVA improved from 0.58 ± 0.14 logMAR to 0.27 ± 0.16 logMAR units (p = 0.001). Mean CFT reduced from 409.17 ± 122.31 µm preoperatively to 277.28 ± 0.16 µm postoperatively (p < 0.0001). Among the VRI subtypes, visual improvement was significant except in LMH variety (ERM type, p = 0.0029; VMTS type, p = 0.0281; MPH type, p = 0.05; and LMH type, p = 0.7926). Mean change in CFT from baseline was least in LMH cases (p = 0.0093). There was no significant difference in BCVA and CFT in the group who had combined phacovitrectomy versus pseudophakic group (p > 0.05). Use of intraocular SF6 gas tamponade did not show any added benefits among the groups (p > 0.05). Improvement in foveal contour was seen in all groups. Simultaneous removal of ILM along with ERM during surgery for VRI disorders helps in restoring normal foveal contour with a favorable visual outcome. Combined cataract extraction or use of intraocular SF6 gas injection does not affect the surgical results.

Post-discharge Outcomes of COVID-19 Patients in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: Understanding the post-discharge outcomes of COVID-19 patients is essential for informed healthcare planning and support services. This study aimed to assess the physical health status of COVID-19 patients three months after discharge from a tertiary care hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. METHODS: A descriptive follow-up study design was used, involving 200 COVID-19 discharged patients. Data were collected from healthcare facilities and participants through structured questionnaires and telephonic interviews. The study duration was between November 2020 to April 2021. RESULTS: Persistence of COVID-19-related symptoms was reported by 49 (24.50%) of participants reported at follow-up, while 41 (20.50%) indicated previous symptoms from discharge. CONCLUSIONS: After discharge, most of patient returned to normal activities within three months.Persistence of symptoms and test positive rate was less in those patients.

Review of endogenous endophthalmitis during pregnancy including case series.

Endogenous endophthalmitis during pregnancy is a rare condition with few reports of such infections in the peri- and post-partum period. We reviewed the literature on endogenous endophthalmitis in pregnancy and also report a series of four patients who presented to our institution from January 2011 to September 2011. We retrospectively reviewed four patients who developed endogenous endophthalmitis either during pregnancy (two patients) or in the post-partum period (two patients--one after abortion and one after normal term delivery). Presenting visual acuity ranged from finger counting at 3 m to no perception of light. Positive cultures included Bacillus mycoides (vitreous) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (urine). Vitrectomy was performed in three patients. In one patient, the vision improved to 20/20. On reviewing the literature and our experience we concluded that endogenous endophthalmitis related to pregnancy is a rare entity with visual prognosis generally being poor. Fluoroquinolones are best avoided. Cephalosporins and amphotericin B are generally the preferred drugs.

StressNet: a spatial-spectral-temporal deformable attention-based framework for water stress classification in maize.

In recent years, monitoring the health of crops has been greatly aided by deploying highthroughput crop monitoring techniques that integrate remotely captured imagery and deep learning techniques. Most methods rely mainly on the visible spectrum for analyzing the abiotic stress, such as water deficiency in crops. In this study, we carry out experiments on maize crop in a controlled environment of different water treatments. We make use of a multispectral camera mounted on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for collecting the data from the tillering stage to the heading stage of the crop. A pre-processing pipeline, followed by the extraction of the Region of Interest from orthomosaic is explained. We propose a model based on a Convolution Neural Network, added with a deformable convolutional layer in order to learn and extract rich spatial and spectral features. These features are further fed to a weighted Attention-based Bi-Directional Long Short-Term Memory network to process the sequential dependency between temporal features. Finally, the water stress category is predicted using the aggregated Spatial-Spectral-Temporal Characteristics. The addition of multispectral, multi-temporal imagery significantly improved accuracy when compared with mono-temporal classification. By incorporating a deformable convolutional layer and Bi-Directional Long Short-Term Memory network with weighted attention, our proposed model achieved best accuracy of 91.30% with a precision of 0.8888 and a recall of 0.8857. The results indicate that multispectral, multi-temporal imagery is a valuable tool for extracting and aggregating discriminative spatial-spectral-temporal characteristics for water stress classification.

Unilateral double optic nerve head pits with foveo-schisis detachment treated by modified internal limiting membrane peeling technique.

A 44-year-old female with a vision of 10/200 in the right eye had double pits in the temporal segment of the optic disc with serous macular detachment. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) confirmed serous retinal detachment, an outer layer hole, and double optic disc pits. The patient underwent pars plana vitrectomy with modified ILM flap surgery involving fovea-sparing internal limiting membrane peeling (FSIP) technique with inverted ILM flap tucking with gas tamponade. Post surgery, the communications between perineural and intraretinal spaces were obliterated with flaps of ILM covering the pits, with reduced serous macular detachment and BCVA of 20/120. FSIP with inverted internal limiting membrane flap tuck can be an effective technique to manage rare cases of double ODP-M.

Incidence of Paradoxical Neurosensory Detachment in Diabetic Eyes Undergoing Hemodialysis for End-Stage Renal Disease.

Introduction Ocular fluid dynamics are known to improve during hemodialysis, and the improvement of uremia after dialysis may lead to osmotic pressure changes in the retina, which eventually affect retinal edema. Recent studies using optical coherence tomography (OCT) to assess the effect of hemodialysis on macular thickness have shown variable results with a majority of them finding a decrease in retinal thickness. Paradoxical neurosensory retinal detachment (NSD) may be defined as the accumulation of subretinal fluid under the macula in patients who are on continuous HD. The purpose of the study was to find out the incidence of paradoxical neurosensory detachment in diabetic eyes undergoing hemodialysis (HD) and its management. Methods This was a cross-sectional, prospective study involving end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients secondary to diabetes. This study evaluated the changes in macular thickness in diabetic retinopathy patients with and without diabetic macular edema (DME) by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) 60 minutes before and after HD for ESRD. Results Sixty-three eyes (36 patients) were included, with a mean age of 58.2±9.8 years. Seven eyes had paradoxical NSD at presentation with an incidence of 11.11%. Eyes with DME (Group A) showed a significant reduction in central macular thickness (CMT) by 28±2µm post HD, compared to eyes without DME (Group B) where CMT decreased by 15±2µm (p=0.003). Massive subretinal fluid accumulation (paradoxical NSD) with mean CMT 675.57±69.41µm recovered to 250.71±46.79µm at the final follow-up. Five eyes underwent an intravitreal dexamethasone implant (DEX-I, Ozurdex; Allergan, Dublin, Ireland) to achieve the resolution of SRF, whereas two eyes improved spontaneously by nine months. Conclusion Hemodialysis results in a decrease of macular thickness in diabetic eyes with or without DME. Paradoxical neurosensory detachment can develop in eyes of patients undergoing HD chronically. Intravitreal dexamethasone implant (DEX-I, Ozurdex; Allergan, Dublin, Ireland) results in early amelioration of such a complication.

Ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) of bioactive compounds from fruit and vegetable processing by-products: A review.

Growing fruit and vegetable processing industries generates a huge amount of by-products in the form of seed, skin, pomace, and rind containing a substantial quantity of bioactive compounds such as polysaccharides, polyphenols, carotenoids, and dietary fiber. These processing wastes are considered to be of negligible value compared to the processed fruit or vegetable due to lack of sustainable extraction technique. Conventional extraction has certain limitations in terms of time, energy, and solvent requirements. Ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) can extract bioactive components in very less time, at low temperature, with lesser energy and solvent requirement. UAE as a non-thermal extraction technique is better equipped to retain the functionality of the bioactive compounds. However, the variables associated with UAE such as frequency, power, duty cycle, temperature, time, solvent type, liquid-solid ratio needs to be understood and optimized for each by-product. This article provides a review of mechanism, concept, factor affecting extraction of bioactive compounds with particular focus on fruit and vegetable by-products.

Severe Vaso-Occlusive Retinopathy in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Case Series.

This study aims to describe the clinical profile of severe vaso-occlusive retinal disorders in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and it is a retrospective case series. The clinical characteristics of three patients with SLE with vascular occlusions in four eyes were described. Branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) was present in all three patients with combined non-ischemic central retinal vein occlusion (NICRVO) in one patient and evolving ischemic CRVO in another patient. Additional branch retinal artery insufficiency was observed in the other eye of a patient with BRAO. Antinuclear antibody (ANA) titer was elevated in all patients. One patient had a positive lupus anticoagulant with elevated activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and concurrent homocysteinemia was present in another patient. Intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (ranibizumab) injection was administered to two eyes. Intravenous methyl prednisolone (IVMP) injection along with oral azathioprine was used in all patients with the need for anticoagulation in two patients along with SLE treatment. Vision in two eyes did not improve to the functional level despite aggressive therapy. Visually blinding severe vaso-occlusive retinopathy in the form of BRAO with or without CRVO can manifest in patients with SLE. Undetected antiphospholipid syndrome and homocysteinemia may be associated risk factors for such ophthalmic complications.

Intraocular pressure fluctuation following intravitreal dexamethasone implant and incidence of secondary ocular hypertension: a Zambian perspective.

INTRODUCTION: to evaluate the effect of dexamethasone biodegradable implant (DEX-I), on intraocular pressure (IOP), to determine the incidence of secondary ocular hypertension (OHT) and to analyze the IOP changes as per the treatment indication in Zambian cohort. METHODS: retrospective consecutive case series of patients receiving one DEX-I between January 2016 and September 2018 with a minimum follow-up of four months in a tertiary care centre in Zambia. The IOP was recorded before the injection and at 1st week, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th month after the injection. Ocular hypertension was defined as IOP ≥ 21 mmHg or an increase of ≥ 10 mmHg from baseline. RESULTS: the effects of 122 injections given to ninety - nine patients (65 male: 65%; mean age 57.3) were included. The main indications for treatment were diabetic macular edema (DME, 52%), retinal vein occlusion (18%), post-surgical macular edema (18%) and non-infectious posterior uveitis (10%). Mean IOP before the injection was was 14.7mmHg and at 1st week, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th months after the injection it was 14.4 (p=0.08), 16.1 (p=0.01), 17.5 (p<0.001), 15.7 (p=0.006) and 14.9 (p=0.06) mmHg, respectively. The incidence of secondary OHT was 30.32% in this cohort. Peak incidence of OHT was between 1 - 2 months, with majority of cases in DME group (75%) and 43% diabetic eyes followed by 23% non-infectious posterior uveitis cases developing OHT post injection. OHT was well managed with anti-glaucoma medications only. CONCLUSION: DEX-I showed a good pressure tolerance in this cohort. Secondary ocular hypertension developed in one-third of patients receiving injection which was transient and successfully managed with topical anti-glaucoma medications only. Diabetic eyes are more prone to develop ocular hypertension and therefore needs close monitoring following injection.

Advances in application of ultrasound in food processing: A review.

Food processing plays a crucial role in coping up with the challenges against food security by reducing wastage and preventing spoilage. The ultrasound technology has revolutionized the food processing industry with its wide application in various processes, serving as a sustainable and low-cost alternative. This non-destructive technology offers several advantages such as rapid processes, enhanced process efficiency, elimination of process steps, better quality product and retention of product characteristics (texture, nutrition value, organoleptic properties), improved shelf life. This review paper summarizes the various applications of ultrasound in different unit operations (filtration, freezing, thawing, brining, sterilization/pasteurization, cutting, etc.) and specific food divisions (meat, fruits and vegetables, cereals, dairy, etc.) along with, the advantages and drawbacks of the technology. The further scope of industrial implementation of ultrasound has also been discussed.

Quality characteristics of sand, pan and microwave roasted pigmented wheat (Triticum aestivum).

Present study investigated the effect of sand, pan and microwave roasting on physico-chemical, functional and rheological properties of yellow (YW), purple (PW), and black wheat (BW). All roasting methods enhanced the browning index (BI), water absorption capacity (WAC) and oil absorption capacity (OAC) roasted wheat flour. Microwave roasting showed significantly higher impact on BI (58.61% for YW, 131% for BW and 83.85% for PW) and WAC (47.93% for YW, 44.63% for BW and 32.09% for PW). However, the decrease in density, emulsifying capacity (EC), foaming capacity (FC), total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and total anthocyanin content (TAC), and antioxidant activity was observed on roasted wheat flour. Roasting also affected the pasting properties of wheat flours and peak, trough, breakdown and final viscosity decreased.

Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of angioid streak associated choroidal neovascular membrane (AS-CNV): a Zambian case series.

This case series illustrates clinical features and treatment outcomes of angioid streak associated CNV (AS-CNV) in 3 consecutive patients. Mean age of patients was 43.2 years with one female patient. Bilateral CNV was present in one patient. Comet-tail lesions were present in all cases. No underlying systemic association was found in any of the patients. All patients were treated with 3 loading doses of anti-VEGF injections (ranibizumab in two and aflibercept was used in one case). Subretinal fluid resolved in all cases with no recurrence of CNV activity at mean follow-up of 10.75 months. AS-CNV in Zambian eyes responds favourably to anti-VEGF injections.

Effect of microwave treatment (low power and varying time) on potato starch: Microstructure, thermo-functional, pasting and rheological properties.

The present study focused on the effect of microwave treatment (300 W for 1, 3 and 5 min) on the physicochemical, morphological, structural and rheological properties of potato starch. Significant effect (p < 0.05) of treatment time was observed on water activity and moisture content while non-significant effect occurred on color. Water absorption capacity increased from 0.82-1.16 g/g with treatment time while oil absorption capacity decreased from 0.63-0.53 g/g. Dynamic and loss moduli, pasting temperatures and final viscosities were positively correlated with treatment time. The peak and pasting viscosity incremented till 3 min treatment but decreased at 5 min. Onset temperature of gelatinization ranged from 53.8 to 57.4 °C with treatment time. SEM micrographs showed unaffected starch granules at 1 min of treatment while fissures and indentations developed at 3 and 5 min. The X-Ray diffraction patterns indicated the transformation of starch crystals from B crystallite to amorphic type.

Physico-functional and antioxidant properties of sand-roasted chickpea (Cicer arietinum).

The effect of roasting on the physical, color, thermal, functional and antioxidant properties of chickpea was investigated. Chickpea grains were roasted in sand at three temperatures (180, 200 and 220°C) for different times (5, 10 and 15min). Highest surface area and lowest bulk density were obtained for grains roasted at 220°C for 15min. The lightness 'L' of flour decreased from 88.48 (unroasted) to 78.73 (220°C, 15min) while significant increase in 'a' and 'b' color values was observed from -0.73 to 2.25 and 22.43 to 24.83, respectively on roasting. Significant decrease in enthalpy of gelatinization (-0.14 to -0.46J/g), enthalpy of amylase-lipid complex (4329-2293J/g), total flavonoid content (22.89-16.64mg quercetin equivalents/100g) and antioxidant activity (22.85-7.36%) was observed upon roasting. However, roasting led to an increase in water absorption capacity (0.89-3.64g/g), water absorption index (1.97-3.52) and oil absorption capacity (1.60-3.54g/g).

Retinal Neovascularisation in Susac Syndrome: A Rare Complication.

PURPOSE: To report a case of Susac syndrome with ocular complications in the chronic stage of the disease. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: A 37-year-old male patient of Indian origin presented with painless blurring of vision in the right eye. Ophthalmoscopic examination revealed vitreous hemorrhage in the right eye and NVE in both eyes well-documented angiographically. Old medical records revealed a previous attack of bilateral BRAO as a complete triad of Susac syndrome 10 years before, with an uncomplicated clinical course. Panretinal photocoagulation helped in stabilization of the condition. CONCLUSION: Ocular neovascularisation like NVE with vitreous hemorrhage can be a late manifestation of occlusive arteriolitis in Susac syndrome.

Secondary Angle-Closure Glaucoma Due to Posterior Synechiae of Iris Following Combined Phacoemulsification and 23-Gauge Transconjunctival Vitrectomy.

PURPOSE: To describe the clinical characteristics of eyes with secondary angle-closure glaucoma following combined phacovitrectomy. METHODS: Retrospective case series. RESULTS: Nine eyes developed angle-closure glaucoma due to iris posterior synechiae with an incidence rate of 1.82% (95% CI: 0.64 - 3%) among 493 eyes following phacovitrectomy. PDR with TRD was the most common surgical indication. Single piece IOL insertion and silicone oil were present in all cases. Fibrin in the anterior chamber was found in six eyes postoperatively. Mean degree of iris bombe was 310±79.37° at 3.55±1.87 weeks with a mean IOP of 32.56±5.89 mm of Hg. Systemic diabetes and grade of cataract were the only significant risk factors (r2 =1; p= 0.016 and 0.049, respectively). Nd:YAG laser PI relieved the angle-closure attack in all cases. CONCLUSION: Systemic diabetes and advanced grade of cataract are significant risk factors for secondary angle-closure glaucoma following combined phacovitrectomy.