Application of Independent Component Analysis and Nelder-Mead Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm in Non-Contact Blood Pressure Estimation.

In recent years, hypertension has become one of the leading causes of illness and death worldwide. Changes in lifestyle among the population have led to an increasing prevalence of hypertension. This study proposes a non-contact blood pressure estimation method that allows patients to conveniently monitor their blood pressure values. By utilizing a webcam to track facial features and the region of interest (ROI) for obtaining forehead images, independent component analysis (ICA) is employed to eliminate artifact signals. Subsequently, physiological parameters are calculated using the principle of optical wave reflection. The Nelder-Mead (NM) simplex method is combined with the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to optimize the empirical parameters, thus enhancing computational efficiency and accurately determining the optimal solution for blood pressure estimation. The influences of light intensity and camera distance on the experimental results are also discussed. Furthermore, the measurement time is only 10 s. The superior accuracy and efficiency of the proposed methodology are demonstrated by comparing them with those in other published literature.

The physiological and pathological properties of Mead acid, an endogenous multifunctional n-9 polyunsaturated fatty acid.

Mead acid (MA, 5,8,11-eicosatrienoic acid) is an n-9 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and a marker of essential fatty acid deficiency, but nonetheless generally draws little attention. MA is distributed in various normal tissues and can be converted to several specific lipid mediators by lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase. Recent pathological and epidemiological studies on MA raise the possibility of its effects on inflammation, cancer, dermatitis and cystic fibrosis, suggesting it is an endogenous multifunctional PUFA. This review summarizes the biosynthesis, presence, metabolism and physiological roles of MA and its relation to various diseases, as well as the significance of MA in PUFA metabolism.

The Study of the Acoustic Characteristics of Chitosan Acetate Film Using a Radial Electric Field Excited Resonator.

Currently, the lateral electric field excited resonators are used for the creation of various sensors. We have recently proposed a new type of acoustic resonator called radial electric field excited disk acoustic resonator. The advantage of this type of resonator is its high sensitivity to mechanical and electrical boundary conditions on its free surface. This makes it possible to determine both the acoustic and electrical properties of a thin layer of material deposited on the free end of the resonator. In this work, we used a radial electric field excited disk acoustic resonator of Russian-made barium plumbum zirconate titanate (BPZT) piezoceramics. With the help of this resonator, the material constants for the piezoceramic sample were refined, and their temperature dependencies were determined. Then, this resonator was used to determine the elastic modulus, viscosity, and conductivity of the chitosan acetate film in air and ammonia vapors of various concentrations. It was shown that the chitosan acetate film under the influence of ammonia vapor significantly changes its mechanical properties and increases its electrical conductivity thousands of times, and then completely restores its properties.

The Impact of Furfural on the Quality of Meads.

Furfural is a naturally occurring compound in bee honey, classified as a fermentation inhibitor. The aim of this study was to ascertain the concentration of furfural in mead worts, prepared at room temperature (unsaturated) and heated to boiling for 10 to 70 min (saturated), with an extract of 25 to 45°Brix. Moreover, the impact of the furfural on the fermentation course of mead wort was assessed. For this purpose, fermentation tests were conducted using mead wort (30°Brix) to which furfural was added at concentrations ranging from 1 to 100 mg/L. HS-SPME-GC-TOF-MS analysis revealed that the furfural concentration in mead worts varied between 2.3 and 5.3 mg/L. In saturated worts, the concentration increased by 2.8 to 4.5 times. Acidification of mead wort prior to boiling led to further increase in furfural concentration. The greatest changes occurred in the least concentrated worts, having the lowest buffer capacity. The addition of furfural to the mead wort did not inhibit fermentation, and an increase in attenuation was observed in the samples containing 2 mg/L of furfural compared to the control. Throughout the fermentation most of the furfural was reduced to furfuryl alcohol.

How Do Different Ingredients and Additives Affect the Production Steps and the Bioactive Potential of Mead?

Mead is a fermented alcoholic beverage that is made from honey diluted in water and commonly with the addition of other ingredients. The chemical characteristics of mead are closely related to the ingredients and additives that are used in its preparation, especially the type of honey, yeast strain and prefermentation nutrients, as well as herbs, spices and/or fruits. These additives can affect not only the fermentation process, in particular the yeast activity, the formation of metabolites and fermentation time, but also the bioactive potential of the mead, which mainly depends on phenolic compounds. Scientific studies have shown that the mead with added different plant species contains considerable amounts of different classes of polyphenols, which have important biological activities. Within this context, this review study seeks to investigate how different ingredients and additives can affect each of the stages of the preparation of mead, as well as its bioactive potential, in order to understand the effects on its chemical composition, and thus add greater commercial value to this beverage.

Gaussian and Lerch Models for Unimodal Time Series Forcasting.

We consider unimodal time series forecasting. We propose Gaussian and Lerch models for this forecasting problem. The Gaussian model depends on three parameters and the Lerch model depends on four parameters. We estimate the unknown parameters by minimizing the sum of the absolute values of the residuals. We solve these minimizations with and without a weighted median and we compare both approaches. As a numerical application, we consider the daily infections of COVID-19 in China using the Gaussian and Lerch models. We derive a confident interval for the daily infections from each local minima.

Subject-specific optimization of background suppression for arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging using a feedback loop on the scanner.

Background suppression (BGS) in arterial spin labeling (ASL) magnetic resonance imaging leads to a higher temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) of the perfusion images compared with ASL without BGS. The performance of the BGS, however, depends on the tissue relaxation times and on inhomogeneities of the scanner's magnetic fields, which differ between subjects and are unknown at the moment of scanning. Therefore, we developed a feedback loop (FBL) mechanism that optimizes the BGS for each subject in the scanner during acquisition. We implemented the FBL for 2D pseudo-continuous ASL scans with an echo-planar imaging readout. After each dynamic scan, the acquired ASL images were automatically sent to an external computer and processed with a Python processing tool. Inversion times were optimized on the fly using 80 iterations of the Nelder-Mead method, by minimizing the signal intensity in the label image while maximizing the signal intensity in the perfusion image. The performance of this method was first tested in a four-component phantom. The regularization parameter was then tuned in six healthy subjects (three males, three females, age 24-62 years) and set as λ = 4 for all other experiments. The resulting ASL images, perfusion images, and tSNR maps obtained from the last 20 iterations of the FBL scan were compared with those obtained without BGS and with standard BGS in 12 healthy volunteers (five males, seven females, age 24-62 years) (including the six volunteers used for tuning of λ). The FBL resulted in perfusion images with a statistically significantly higher tSNR (2.20) compared with standard BGS (1.96) ( p < 5 x 10 - 3 , two-sided paired t-test). Minimizing signal in the label image furthermore resulted in control images, from which approximate changes in perfusion signal can directly be appreciated. This could be relevant to ASL applications that require a high temporal resolution. Future work is needed to minimize the number of initial acquisitions during which the performance of BGS is reduced compared with standard BGS, and to extend the technique to 3D ASL.

Technological screening and application of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains isolated from fermented honey by-products for the sensory improvement of Spiritu re fascitrari, a typical Sicilian distilled beverage.

"Spiritu re fascitrari" is a Sicilian alcoholic beverage obtained through distillation of a decoction of spontaneously fermented honey by-products (FHP). The production process often leads to sensorial defects due to the unstable alcoholic fermentation. The objective of this work was to select Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains from FHP to be used as starter in decoction fermentation. Based on chemical, microbiological and technological data, from a total of 91 strains three S. cerevisae were selected for further testing to produce FHP at laboratory scale level. After FHP distillation, the analysis of volatile organic compounds showed a complex mixture of sensory active molecules, mainly alcohols and aldehydes. Among the alcohols, 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, phenylethyl alcohol, hexadecanol and octadecanol were found at the highest concentrations. Among the carboxylic acids, acetic acid was mainly detected in the spontaneously fermented samples. FHP fermented with the three selected strains were not characterized by the presence of off-odors or off-flavours. The results obtained in this work demonstrate that the selected S. cerevisiae strains are promising starters to stabilize the production of distilled alcoholic beverages produced from honey by-products.

Use of sequentially inoculation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Hanseniaspora uvarum strains isolated from honey by-products to improve and stabilize the quality of mead produced in Sicily.

Mead is a beverage produced by alcoholic fermentation of honey-must. The starter yeasts that are commonly used for the alcoholic fermentation of honey-must are oenological Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains. The objective of the present work was, for the first time, to apply yeasts of honey by-products origin to evaluate the influences the taste-olfactory attributes of mead. For this purpose, three experimental productions were set up, which included: (i) single inoculation of S. cerevisiae; (ii) single inoculation of Hanseniaspora uvarum; (iii) sequential inoculation of H. uvarum/S. cerevisiae. Two control trials were performed, using a commercial strain of S. cerevisiae of oenological origin and a spontaneous fermentation. The results of the chemical parameters showed differences between the trials in terms of residual sugars, acetic acid, glycerol, ethanol and volatile organic compounds. Sensorial analysis also showed a high heterogeneity among trials. The attributes of sweetness, honey and floral were found in mead fermented with H. uvarum, whereas all meads obtained with S. cerevisiae were dry, balanced and without off-odors and off-flavours. The results obtained showed that the controlled application of conventional and non-conventional yeast strains isolated from honey by-products origin could be a promising approach to improve the quality of meads.

Comparison of Volatile Profiles of Meads and Related Unifloral Honeys: Traceability Markers.

Volatile profiles of unifloral honeys and meads prepared in different ways (boiled-saturated, not boiled-unsaturated) were investigated by headspace solid-phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) and dehydration homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction (DHLLE) followed by GC-FID/MS analyses. The obtained data were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate the differences between the investigated products. The volatile profiles of honey as well as the boiled and the not boiled meads prepared from it showed significant discrepancies. The meads contained more aliphatic acids and esters but fewer monoterpenes and aliphatic hydrocarbons than the honey. Significant/substantial differences were found between the boiled (more aliphatic alcohols and acids) and the not boiled meads (more aliphatic hydrocarbons and esters). Some compounds related to yeast metabolism, such as tryptophol, may be considered markers of honey fermentation. This research allowed us to identify chemical markers of botanical origin, retained and detectable in the meads: 4-isopropenylcyclohexa-1,3-diene-1-carboxylic acid and 4-(1-hydroxy-2-propanyl)cyclohexa-1,3-diene-1-carboxylic acid for linden; valeric acid, γ-valerolactone, p-hydroxybenzoic acid for buckwheat; 4-hydroxybenzeneacetic acid, homovanillic acid and trans-coniferyl alcohol for honeydew; and methyl syringate for canola.

Effect of Wort Boiling on Volatiles Formation and Sensory Properties of Mead.

Mead is an alcoholic beverage based on bee honey, which can be prepared in different variations such as modified honey-water compositions, the addition of spices, and the use of different yeast strains. Moreover, the technological process of mead production such as the step of wort preparation (with or without boiling of wort before fermentation) can be modified. All these factors might have a significant impact on the formation of aroma-active compounds, and therefore, sensory acceptance by consumers. High vacuum distillation, using the so-called solvent assisted flavor evaporation (SAFE) technique, or headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) were applied for the isolation of the odorants. A sensory profile was used to monitor the changes in the aroma of the mead samples. Twenty-eight aroma-active compounds were detected during aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA) based on gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) and were finally identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using authentic reference compounds, including methyl propanoate, methyl 3-(methylthio)propanoate, and methional, all of them were identified for the first time in mead. Compounds with high flavor dilution (FD) factors were quantitated via stable isotope dilution analysis (SIDA) and revealed ethyl acetate (16.4 mg/L) to be the most abundant volatile compound, increasing to 57 mg/L after wort boiling, followed by ethyl hexanoate (both 1.2 mg/L). Furthermore, key aroma compounds were esters such as ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate, and ethyl 3-methylbutanoate. The sensory panel evaluated ethanolic, honey-like, clove-like, sweet, and fruity notes as the main aroma descriptors of mead. The significant change in sensory evaluation was noted in the sweet odor of the heat-treated mead.

Rice (Oryza sativa) Bran and Soybean (Glycine max) Meal: Unconventional Supplements in the Mead Production.

Research background: Due to the lack of nitrogen in honey, fermentation of honey must is limited or delayed, in addition to stimulating the production of unpleasant sensory compounds, such as sulfur derivatives. The use of natural supplements has been investigated as low-cost alternatives mainly to correct the nutritional deficiency of nitrogen in honey must in mead production. Experimental approach: Initially, the physicochemical characterization of the rice bran and soybean meal extracts was carried out. The fermentation of three yeasts (Saccharomyces bayanus Premier Blanc, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Montrachet and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Safbrew T-58) in honey must supplemented with 30 g/L rice bran or soybean meal extracts was evaluated. The trials were compared with the fermentations of the must with commercial supplement (30 g/L) and the control trials. Fermentations were carried out in Erlenmeyer flasks containing honey must with supplements, inoculated with 106 cell/mL yeast and incubated at 30 °C for 264 h. Results and conclusions: There was significant difference in the evaluated properties of the extracts, with the exception of reducing sugars. The fermentations with soybean meal extract reached the highest cell concentrations, as well as the largest consumption of glucose, fructose and ethanol. The glycerol concentrations slightly increased when soybean meal extract and commercial supplement were used. The highest concentrations of succinic and acetic acids were registered in the control trials produced by Saccharomyces strains Premier Blanc, Montrachet and Safbrew T-58. Formic and lactic acids were not produced. Results showed that the extracts can be used as low-cost alternatives for correcting the nutritional deficiency of nitrogen in honey must since their effect was similar to that of synthetic supplement. Novelty and scientific contribution: The use of low-cost, unconventional supplements such as those used in this work, in addition to reducing the cost of the process by reducing fermentation time and providing nutrients needed to improve yeast metabolism, prevents the formation of undesirable compounds in the beverage due to prolonged fermentation time. It also makes it possible to add value to industrial by-products. Unconventional supplements have still been little tested in mead production.

Aromatic and sensorial characterization of "Moscato pyments": an innovative beverage.

Pyment is a type of mead that is produced from the alcoholic fermentation of a honey solution with the addition of grape juice. Due to the demand for new beverages, pyment can be a profitable alternative for both grape and honey producers. Therefore, this work aimed to characterize the aromatic and physicochemical composition of pyments. The pyments were prepared with addition of 10, 20 and 30% of Moscato juice, and compared with Moscato wine and traditional mead. The results showed an increase in the fermentation rates of Moscato-pyments, indicating that the addition of Moscato juice reverses the low fermentative vigor often reported in mead fermentations. Physicochemical parameters showed an increase in total acidity and a decrease in residual sugar and alcohol, depending on Moscato juice concentration. Moscato-pyments showed an intermediate concentration of volatile compounds between the traditional mead and Moscato wine, with a better balance between fruity, floral and buttery, manifesting characteristic aromas of wines made with Moscato grapes and simultaneously, exposing characteristic aromas of honey. The sensory analysis reveals a significant difference between mead, pyments and Moscato wine. In general, pyments were considered, by the panelists, as the most equilibrated with intermediary aroma intensity, floral, fruity and honey aromas, and good persistence in the mouth.

A method for magnetocardiography functional localization based on boundary element method and Nelder-Mead simplex algorithm.

BACKGROUND: The magnetocardiography (MCG) functional localization can transfer the biomagnetic signal to the electrical activity information inside the heart. The electrical activity is directly related to the physiological function of the heart. METHODS: This study proposes a practical method for MCG functional localization based on the boundary element method (BEM) and the Nelder-Mead (NM) simplex algorithm. Single equivalent moving current dipole (SEMCD) is served as the equivalent cardiac source. The parameters of SEMCD are adapted using the NM simplex algorithm by fitting the measured MCG with the calculated MCG obtained based on BEM. The SEMCD parameters are solved in the sense that the difference between measured and calculated MCG is minimized. RESULTS: The factors affecting the localization accuracy of this BEM-NM method were first explored with synthetic signals. Then, the results with real MCG signals show a good agreement between the SEMCD location and the region where ventricle depolarization starts, demonstrating the feasibility of this idea. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first three-dimensional localization of the onset of ventricular depolarization with the BEM-NM method. The method is promising in the noninvasive localization of lesions for heart diseases.

Measurement-Based Domain Parameter Optimization in Electrical Impedance Tomography Imaging.

This paper discusses the optimization of domain parameters in electrical impedance tomography-based imaging. Precise image reconstruction requires accurate, well-correlated physical and numerical finite element method (FEM) models; thus, we employed the Nelder-Mead algorithm and a complete electrode model to evaluate the individual parameters, including the initial conductivity, electrode misplacement, and shape deformation. The optimization process was designed to calculate the parameters of the numerical model before the image reconstruction. The models were verified via simulation and experimental measurement with single source current patterns. The impact of the optimization on the above parameters was reflected in the applied image reconstruction process, where the conductivity error dropped by 6.16% and 11.58% in adjacent and opposite driving, respectively. In the shape deformation, the inhomogeneity area ratio increased by 11.0% and 48.9%; the imprecise placement of the 6th electrode was successfully optimized with adjacent driving; the conductivity error dropped by 12.69%; and the inhomogeneity localization exhibited a rise of 66.7%. The opposite driving option produces undesired duality resulting from the measurement pattern. The designed optimization process proved to be suitable for correlating the numerical and the physical models, and it also enabled us to eliminate imaging uncertainties and artifacts.

The Radial Electric Field Excited Circular Disk Piezoceramic Acoustic Resonator and Its Properties.

A new type of piezoceramic acoustic resonator in the form of a circular disk with a radial exciting electric field is presented. The advantage of this type of resonator is the localization of the electrodes at one end of the disk, which leaves the second end free for the contact of the piezoelectric material with the surrounding medium. This makes it possible to use such a resonator as a sensor base for analyzing the properties of this medium. The problem of exciting such a resonator by an electric field of a given frequency is solved using a two-dimensional finite element method. The method for solving the inverse problem for determining the characteristics of a piezomaterial from the broadband frequency dependence of the electrical impedance of a single resonator is proposed. The acoustic and electric field inside the resonator is calculated, and it is shown that this location of electrodes makes it possible to excite radial, flexural, and thickness extensional modes of disk oscillations. The dependences of the frequencies of parallel and series resonances, the quality factor, and the electromechanical coupling coefficient on the size of the electrodes and the gap between them are calculated.

Genome and Pangenome Analysis of Lactobacillus hilgardii FLUB-A New Strain Isolated from Mead.

The production of mead holds great value for the Polish liquor industry, which is why the bacterium that spoils mead has become an object of concern and scientific interest. This article describes, for the first time, Lactobacillus hilgardii FLUB newly isolated from mead, as a mead spoilage bacteria. Whole genome sequencing of L. hilgardii FLUB revealed a 3 Mbp chromosome and five plasmids, which is the largest reported genome of this species. An extensive phylogenetic analysis and digital DNA-DNA hybridization confirmed the membership of the strain in the L. hilgardii species. The genome of L. hilgardii FLUB encodes 3043 genes, 2871 of which are protein coding sequences, 79 code for RNA, and 93 are pseudogenes. L. hilgardii FLUB possesses three clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), eight genomic islands (44,155 bp to 6345 bp), and three (two intact and one incomplete) prophage regions. For the first time, the characteristics of the genome of this species were described and a pangenomic analysis was performed. The concept of the pangenome was used not only to establish the genetic repertoire of this species, but primarily to highlight the unique characteristics of L. hilgardii FLUB. The core of the genome of L. hilgardii is centered around genes related to the storage and processing of genetic information, as well as to carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism. Strains with such a genetic constitution can effectively adapt to environmental changes. L. hilgardii FLUB is distinguished by an extensive cluster of metabolic genes, arsenic detoxification genes, and unique surface layer proteins. Variants of MRS broth with ethanol (10-20%), glucose (2-25%), and fructose (2-24%) were prepared to test the strain's growth preferences using Bioscreen C and the PYTHON script. L. hilgardii FLUB was found to be more resistant than a reference strain to high concentrations of alcohol (18%) and sugars (25%). It exhibited greater preference for fructose than glucose, which suggests it has a fructophilic nature. Comparative genomic analysis supported by experimental research imitating the conditions of alcoholic beverages confirmed the niche specialization of L. hilgardii FLUB to the mead environment.

Merit Ptah, "The First Woman Physician": Crafting of a Feminist History with an Ancient Egyptian Setting.

Merit Ptah is widely described as "the first woman physician and scientist" on the Internet and in popular history books. This essay explores the origins of this figure, showing that Merit Ptah came into being in the 1930s when Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead misinterpreted a report about an authentic ancient Egyptian healer. Merit Ptah gradually became a prominent figure in popular historical accounts during second-wave of feminism, and, in the twenty-first century she appeared in Wikipedia and subsequently spread throughout the Internet as a female (sometimes black African) founding figure. The history of Merit Ptah reveals powerful mechanisms of knowledge creation in the network of amateur historians, independently from the scholarly community. The case of Merit Ptah also pinpoints factors enabling the spread of erroneous historical accounts: the absence of professional audience, the development of echo chambers due to an obscured chain of knowledge transmission, the wide reach of the Internet, the coherence with existing preconceptions, the emotional charge of heritage, and even - in the case of ancient Egypt - the tendency to perceive certain pasts through a legendary lens. At the same time, the story of Merit Ptah reveals how important role models have been for women entering science and medicine.

Selection of low nitrogen demand yeast strains and their impact on the physicochemical and volatile composition of mead.

Mead is an ancient alcoholic beverage produced through the fermentation of a diluted solution of honey. Due to the peculiar and varied composition of honey, mead production faces several problems, such as slow or stuck fermentations mainly due to the low nitrogen concentration, lack of uniformity of the final product and the production of unpleasant aromas. In this context, this work aimed to select low nitrogen-demand yeast strains and evaluate their potential for the production of mead. Therefore, among 21 commercial wine yeast strains, 5 were selected based on their fermentative behavior at low assimilable nitrogen concentrations. The selected strains were further evaluated for their contributions in meads produced with limited nitrogen availability, and the results showed significant differences on some physicochemical parameters like biomass production, residual sugars, glycerol concentration, and fermentative rate. Moreover, meads obtained with selected strains differed in the concentration of several volatile compounds. The volatile compounds concentration and the principal component analysis based on odor activity values allowed separating strains into three groups. In general, S. cerevisiae var bayanus strains (QA23, Spark, and AWRI-R2) were the largest producers of aromatic compounds, particularly those with floral and fruity descriptors. The selection of yeast strains with low nitrogen-demand and different volatile compounds production can be explored by mead makers to limit fermentation problems and obtain characteristic products.

Dietary coconut oil ameliorates skin contact hypersensitivity through mead acid production in mice.

Coconut oil is used as a dietary oil worldwide, and its healthy effects are recognized by the fact that coconut oil is easy to digest, helps in weight management, increases healthy cholesterol, and provides instant energy. Although topical application of coconut oil is known to reduce skin infection and inflammation, whether dietary coconut oil has any role in decreasing skin inflammation is unknown. In this study, we showed the impact of dietary coconut oil in allergic skin inflammation by using a mouse model of contact hypersensitivity (CHS). Mice maintained on coconut oil showed amelioration of skin inflammation and increased levels of cis-5, 8, 11-eicosatrienoic acid (mead acid) in serum. Intraperitoneal injection of mead acid inhibited CHS and reduced the number of neutrophils infiltrating to the skin. Detailed mechanistic studies unveiled that mead acid inhibited the directional migration of neutrophils by inhibiting the filamentous actin polymerization and leukotriene B4 production required for secondary recruitment of neutrophils. Our findings provide valuable insights into the preventive roles of coconut oil and mead acid against skin inflammation, thereby offering attractive therapeutic possibilities.