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The purpose of this paper is to address malnourishment in developing countries by a food-based approach in which locally produced and consumed foods are improved by applying food processing techniques that benefit the amount and availability of desirable nutrients.

To facilitate this approach, this paper reports on the composition and in vitro micronutrient accessibility of 14 traditional mung bean foods from India in relation to their preparation methods.

Proximate composition, in vitro mineral accessibility, phytic acid and polyphenol contents varied among the range of products. Products requiring either fermentation or germination, had higher in vitro iron, zinc and calcium accessibility. Average in vitro iron, zinc and calcium accessibility of the mung bean products were 16, 9 and 418 mg kg−1 dry weight. Phytic acid and polyphenols averaged 2.1 and 1.8 g kg−1 dry weight, respectively, and were negatively correlated with in vitro mineral accessibility.

Different mung bean products (100 g) cover 12.0-59.5, 5.2-45.6, 4.2-28.6 and 1.1-7.1 per cent of the recommended dietary allowance for protein, iron, zinc and calcium, respectively, for seven- to nine-year-old Indian children.

This study demonstrated the wide range of traditional mung bean foods in India and presents options to tackle malnourishment by a food-based approach.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the in vitro influence of 200 kV/m electrostatic fields (ESF) on the microviscosity, viscosity and polarity of rat erythrocyte membranes for revealing the possible changes in lipid-protein interactions due to the field influence.

The investigation of the parameters of erythrocyte membranes and their ghosts, particularly, their microviscosity, the amount and immersion degree of membrane proteins in lipid bilayer, polarity in depth of membrane and its viscosity carried out by the spectrofluorimetric method using the hydrophobic fluorescent probe pyrene.

The carried out investigations shown that the in vitro influence of ESF changes membrane microviscosity, the quantity of membrane peripheral proteins and their immersion degree in the lipid bilayer, if the ghosts have prepared from erythrocytes previously exposed in the field. The analysis of the same parameters for previously prepared erythrocyte ghosts exposed to the 200 kV/m ESF during an hour did not reveal any changes.

Data obtained and their comparison with the results of the previous works allow authors to conclude that the in vitro influence of ESF leads to the changes in the lipid-protein interactions in erythrocyte membranes.

Sargassum fusiforme is a popular edible seaweed in coastal cities of China that contains diverse nutrients including iodine. Cooking is an effective way to improve food safety, but it can alter both the contents of elements along with speciation and bioavailability. Three common cooking methods, the soaking, steaming and boiling, were evaluated for their effects on the protein structures, protein digestibility, iodine content and iodine bioavailability of S. fusiforme.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to study the structural changes of protein, and an in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell culture system was used to evaluate the digestibility of protein, bioaccessibility and bioavailability of iodine.

Boiling and steaming altered the protein secondary structure demonstrated by increased a-helix and random coil and decreased β-sheet, which improved the in vitro protein digestibility. Iodine content was reduced by cooking, with the highest loss observed after boiling, followed by soaking and steaming, while it was found that both bioaccessibility and cellular uptake of iodine were significantly elevated by boiling and steaming using an in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell culture system. The presence of ascorbic acid, citric acid or tyrosine was beneficial for the iodine absorption, while oxalic acid and phytic acid hindered the iodine bioavailability.

The present finding suggested that cooking was conducive to the digestion and absorption of iodine in S. fusiforme. In addition, different dietary factors could have a certain impact on the absorption of iodine. Results of the study are essential for improving the application value of S. fusiforme to ensure reasonable consumption of seaweeds.

The bioavailability of iron from faba bean is low because it is present as an insoluble complex with food components such as phytate, fiber and tannin. The purpose of this paper is to try to identify the nature of the complexes between anti‐nutritional factors and iron in faba bean and legume fractions by using simulations of gastro‐intestinal digestion.

To this aim, the authors evaluated the effect of the action of fiber‐ and/or phytate‐degrading enzymes on solubilization of iron from insoluble residues obtained after gastro‐intestinal digestion of faba bean flour and fractions.

In insoluble residues of raw faba bean flour, simultaneous action of cellulase and phytases made it possible to release about 28 percent units more iron than that released with the treatment without enzymes. About 49.8 percent of iron in raw faba bean flour was solubilized after in vitro digestion and simultaneous action of cellulase and phytase. In the residues of the hull fraction, a significant increase in iron solubility has not been seen (p>0.05) after action of cellulase or phytases. Simultaneous action of cellulase and phytase led to the release of more than 60 and 18 percent units of additional iron for residues of dehulled faba bean and hull fractions, respectively.

In dehulled faba bean, iron was chelated by phytates and fibers. In the hull of faba bean, a high proportion of iron was chelated by iron‐tannins, while the rest of iron was chelated in complexes between phytates and fibers.

Antimicrobials may be incorporated into garments to protect the textiles, control malodour or to potentially reduce the spread of infection. Yet still not well understood is how antimicrobial-treated textiles may influence a person's resident microflora during wear, as limited in vivo testing has previously been carried out. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether normal skin microflora was altered as a result of contact with selected antimicrobial-treated fabrics.

Three selected antimicrobial-treated fabrics (i.e. Fabric 1: triclosan; Fabric 2: zinc pyrithione derivative; and Fabric 3: silver chloride and titanium dioxide) were placed on the forearm of participants (n=19). Bacterial counts obtained under treated and untreated fabrics following 24 hours of occlusion were compared. The antimicrobial efficacy of fabrics displayed in vitro was also compared with the activity displayed in vivo.

Two of the three fabrics (Fabrics 1 and 2) reduced bacterial populations on the skin following 24 hours occlusion compared to the matched control fabrics (Fabric 1: p<0.05; Fabric 2: p<0.001). Whereas, following occlusion with Fabric 3 bacterial populations were not significantly different than the matched control. The present study demonstrated that in vitro assessment of antimicrobial capacities of fabrics do not necessarily predict the effects of such fabrics during wear.

The paper highlights that in vivo studies are a necessary and important tool for understanding the interactions of an antimicrobial-treated fabric with the wearer's skin. As well, the new method developed can be used by other researchers to examine the potential impact on skin microflora due to contact with antimicrobial-treated textiles.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the most dominant pigment of pomegranate explants for natural color coatings and detect the presence of phytochemical constituents and comparison of the antioxidant activities.

Extracts of leaf, stem, peel and seed of in vitro and in vivo growth cultures were prepared for phytochemical constituent and antioxidant activity. The supernatant from 95 per cent methanol was mixed with 15 per cent polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with the ratio of 1:1 to form a coating system.

Although glycosides was not found in this species, tests for tannins and flavonoids were positive in all samples. The IC50 values were also comparable to commercial antioxidant ascorbic acid with 34.92 per cent inhibition. Chlorophyll a and b were detected in stem and leaf using UV-photospectrometer in 420 and 645 nm wavelengths ranges. The effects of heat and salt on the stability of natural dye colorants mixed with polyvinyl alcohol to form a basic coating system were indicated negatively in in vivo and in vitro growth cultures.

The paper shows that further improvement with co-pigmentations may give a notable mixture from pomegranate extraction for the paint materials or nail varnish. It was also indicated that pomegranate contains some compounds such as polyphenolics that can donate electron/hydrogen easily.

The technological innovations in the field of human reproduction which have been advancing at a dizzying pace, especially in Israel, have posed complex ethical dilemmas for social workers and social scientists. Do these developments, particularly in vitro fertilisation, offer a feasible solution for infertile couples or are they at the same time creating difficult, intricate problems whose outcome has yet to be clarified? Is it not paradoxical that attempts to “assist” nature by artificial means have led to such results as the birth of a child to a 60‐year‐old woman from eggs donated by another woman?

In the Indian system of medicine – Ayurveda, Musa paradisiaca has been mentioned as a remedy for various diseases and ailments. Based on the folkloric use, the purpose of this paper is to verify and compare the hypoglycemic potential of unripe, ripe and overripe fruit extract of Musa paradisiaca.

Hypoglycemic activity of fruit extracts has been evaluated using various in vitro methods, namely, determination of glucose adsorption capacity, glucose uptake in yeast cells, amylolysis kinetics and glucose diffusion.

The extracts of unripe, ripe and overripe fruits of Musa paradisiaca adsorbed glucose, and the adsorption of glucose increased remarkably with an increase in glucose concentration. In the amylolysis kinetic experimental model, the rate of glucose diffusion was found to increase with time, and all the extracts of unripe, ripe and overripe fruits of Musa paradisiaca demonstrated significant inhibitory effects on the movement of glucose into external solution across the dialysis membrane as compared to the control. The extracts under study also promoted glucose uptake by the yeast cells in all the five glucose concentrations used in the study.

Here, the authors have verified and compared the hypoglycemic potential of Musa paradisiaca, its unripe fruit extract was found to show a better activity than ripe and overripe fruit extracts.

Banana, being an all season readily available fruit, is widely consumed due to its ready availability and low cost. It acts as a complete food for even low socio-economic classes of society, owing to its rich nutritional values. Even in a processed and unprocessed manner, it is an important constituent of diet. The research suggests that instead of consuming ripe and overripe fruit, the unripe fruit will help in management of diabetes.

The aim of this paper is to predict the in-vivo degradation behaviour of Mg-based implants through in-vitro immersion test.

A novel placement mode arming to mimic the in-vivo situation was investigated in this work. Specimens were mounted on bones and then immersed in dynamic Hank’s solution.

The degradation behaviour of the specimen’s two sides is unequal. The bottom side which clings to the bone was isolated from solution in the early stage. During the late immersion period, there was crevice corrosion appearing on the bottom side. Weight loss and mechanical properties of specimens were also affected by the placement mode.

Placement mode reported here have guiding significance for degradation behaviour of bio-implants in the clinical study.

Placement mode reported here have guiding significance for degradation behaviour of bio-implants in the clinical study.

A novel placement mode arming to mimic the in-vivo situation was investigated in this work, which was better fit the actual in vivo immersion situation.