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The study aims to find new anticorrosive components from a plant source, namely, Pachysandra terminalis Sieb. et Zucc. (P. terminalis), a traditional medicinal shrub predominantly used by Tujia people.

Because phenolic components from plants are known for its numerous values in several fields, the corrosion inhibitive ability of P. terminalis extract was analyzed by electrochemical studies (polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) and surface examination (by scanning electron microscopy [SEM], energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy [EDX] and atomic force microscopy [AFM]).

The examination of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoids content (TFC) and individual phenols (UHPLC) showed the presence of 85.21 mg/g (TPC), 25.38 mg/g (TFC), protocatechuic acid (62.10 µg/g), gentisic acid (60.21µg/g), rutin (50.12 µg/g), kaempferol (46.58 µg/g) and p-Coumaric acid (42.35µg/g) . The polarization study shows that the maximum shift is (16 mV), imposing a mixed mode of inhibition, dominantly anodic. The surface morphology studies by SEM, EDX and AFM confirmed the adsorption of phytochemical components on the low carbon steel surface blocking the active sites.

The study unveils the inhibitive nature of P. terminalis, preventing aggressive attack by 0.5 M HCl on low carbon steel. This also exhibits few phenols present in methanolic leaf extract which may be the role player of corrosion inhibition.

The aim of the present study is to gain correlation between saffron colours, their antioxidant capacity and the constituents of the secondary metabolites of three different saffron samples commonly available in the Malaysian market.

In this study, saffron samples imported from Iran, Spain and Kashmir were extracted using methanol and the total antioxidant capacity were analysed using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical-scavenging assay. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) and electrospray ionization coupled with mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) were then used to identify secondary metabolites present in the saffron crude extracts. The colour variation of the saffron extract was expressed by the CIELAB colorimeter in terms of lightness (L*), greenness (a*), yellowness (b*), chroma (C) and hue angle (H°). Principle component analysis (PCA) was carried out to analyse the similarities and correlation between variables.

This study reveals that antioxidant has a positive correlation with flavanols, especially quercetin and kaempferol. In addition, colour appearance is not necessarily an indicator for the antioxidant level.

The major classes of polyphenolics identified in saffron methanolic crude extract are flavonoids and phenolic acids. Further improvements in the extraction and identification methods may find other compounds that could attribute to the visual factors and antioxidant capacity as a complement for this preliminary study.

This analysis provides comparison basis and valuable information for saffron consumers in Malaysia depending on the consumers’ purpose of whether to have a certain desired colour or health benefits.

A comparative study about saffron product available in Malaysian market is original. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt of evaluation on a saffron product that has been carried out in Malaysia.

This paper aims to solve the problem of the inability to apply learning methods for robot motion skills based on dynamic movement primitives (DMPs) in tasks with explicit environmental constraints, while ensuring the reliability of the robot system.

The authors propose a novel DMP that takes into account environmental constraints to enhance the generality of the robot motion skill learning method. First, based on the real-time state of the robot and environmental constraints, the task space is divided into different regions and different control strategies are used in each region. Second, to ensure the effectiveness of the generalized skills (trajectories), the control barrier function is extended to DMP to enforce constraint conditions. Finally, a skill modeling and learning algorithm flow is proposed that takes into account environmental constraints within DMPs.

By designing numerical simulation and prototype demonstration experiments to study skill learning and generalization under constrained environments. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of generating motion skills that satisfy environmental constraints. It ensures that robots remain in a safe position throughout the execution of generation skills, thereby avoiding any adverse impact on the surrounding environment.

This paper explores further applications of generalized motion skill learning methods on robots, enhancing the efficiency of robot operations in constrained environments, particularly in non-point-constrained environments. The improved methods are applicable to different types of robots.

Drug checking is a popular method to reduce risks of drug use. In many countries, including Finland, legislation restricts implementing drug checking. The aim of this study was to explore whether some benefits of drug checking could be achieved by substance residue analysis.

Drug paraphernalia (mostly empty plastic bags) were used in the study. Participants left a sample and information about the former content to a local needle exchange point. After laboratory analysis, participants could return for the results and a short consultation on the substance(s) found. Afterward, participants were asked whether they would still use the batch.

Ninety-eight samples were received. In most cases, the samples had originally been sold as amphetamine (n = 39). Overall, laboratory results matched with supposed content in 52 cases, but in 21 cases, the sold content had been altered, in 17 cases, only other psychoactive substances were found and in 8 cases, no traces of psychoactive substances were found. Participants returned for results in two-thirds of the cases. When the laboratory result did not match participants’ expectations, the majority of participants estimated they would not use the same batch (17/25) or would use it in a different way (2/25).

While reports on drug checking are numerous, studies exploring possibilities to achieve harm-reducing benefits of drug checking by analyzing drug residues are scarce. The results of this pilot study suggest some benefits of drug checking can be achieved by substance residue analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the functionalities, safety regulations and product applications of herb Stevia rebaudiana extract. This plant material is embedded with multiple functionalities such as antioxidant, antidiabetics, anti-inflammation and antimicrobial. The regulations released from global authorities are covered to ensure the safety premise of stevia. Besides, the product applications of the extract of aerial parts of the herb S. rebaudiana helps us to recognize its value from commercial side.

Relevant literatures are selected and obtained from main scientific databases such as Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed and trade magazines published between 2000 and 2023. The keywords and their possible combinations such as sweetening, antioxidant, antidiabetics, anti-inflammation, safety and product development were used to ensure the preciseness and completeness of literature searching. Major data such as sweetness, total phenolic content and dose together with latter critical conclusions from searched publications were appropriately used and discussed. In this review, approximately 150 scientific literatures were meticulously ordered and analyzed. In applications, it is the first time that sentiment analysis was used to obtain a market assessment of the stevia-containing products.

This review paper helps rearrange the scientific affairs of those stevia extract’s functions like sweetening, antioxidant, antidiabetics and inflammation. Sweetness indexes of steviol glycosides were summarized together for comparison while various in vitro and in vivo approaches were reviewed to quantify those functions’ capacities and to depict the related mechanism. The regulation of steviol glycoside compounds such as rebaudioside A was established by global authorities such as US Food and Drug Administration and Joint FAO/World Health Organization Expert Committee to ensure the safety endorsement before commercialization. Then, this study discussed about the market performance of stevia ingredients or products with the self-developed data analytics. This study also investigated the product development progress of stevia-containing food products in the categories of beverage, bakery, dairy and confectionery. Those stevia-containing food consumer goods can be acceptable by certain consumers.

This review paper precisely presents the evidential information about the stevia’s multiple functionalities with mechanisms and global regulation milestones. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is then the first time to probe the stevia-containing products’ market performance through data analytics.

The 3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) content in ecstasy tablets has increased enormously throughout Europe across the past decade. This study aims to determine whether this is caused by the production of “stronger” tablets (more mg MDMA per mg of tablet), or if tablets have simply been getting larger and heavier (more mg of tablet in total).

A data set of 31,716 ecstasy tablets obtained in 2012–2021 by 10 members of the Trans European Drug Information (TEDI) network was analysed.

The MDMA mass fraction in ecstasy tablets has remained virtually unchanged over the past 10 years, with increased MDMA contents being attributed almost exclusively to increased tablet weight. These trends seem to be uniform across Europe, despite varying sampling and analytical techniques being used by the TEDI participants. The study also shows that while tablet weight correlates perfectly with MDMA content on a yearly basis, wide variations in the MDMA mass fraction make such relations irrelevant for determining the MDMA content of individual tablets.

These results provide new opportunities for harm reduction, given that size is a tangible and apparently accurate characteristic to emphasise that one tablet does not simply equate to one dose. This is particularly useful for harm reduction services without the resources for in-house quantification of large numbers of ecstasy tablets, although the results of this study also show that chemical analysis remains crucial for accurate personalised harm reduction.

The findings are both new and pertinent, providing a novel insight into the market dynamics of ecstasy tablet production at a transnational level.

The importance of nutraceuticals and functional foods has been a topic of interest in nutrition research for many years. This review aims to summarize the findings on the nutritive value and health benefits of chia, as well as its use as a food fortificant.

Published literature on the nutritive value and therapeutic properties of chia has been reviewed.

Chia, an ancient grain, belongs to the mint family (Lamiaceae) and was cultivated in Mexico and Guatemala by the Mayas and Aztecs of a pre-Columbian era. In addition to being gluten-free, chia seeds are concentrated source of omega-3 fatty acids (mainly α-linolenic acid), fiber (insoluble) and polyphenolic compounds (myricetin, quercetin, kaempferol, chlorogenic and caffeic acids), which were found to be comparatively higher than many other grains, cereals and oily seeds. Chia supplementation has potential to lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, obesity, hypertension, cancer, diabetes, pruritus and celiac disease. Because of its nutraceutical and physiochemical properties, chia has been widely used as a whole seed, flour, seed mucilage, gel and oil for developing various enriched food products, such as bread, pasta, cakes, cookies, chips, cheese, yoghurt, meat, fish and poultry.

With advancement in nutrition research, chia would have a great future perspective as feed, food and medicine. However, further research is needed to validate the potential therapeutic effect of chia supplementation on human health.

A region can be registered as a geographical indication (GI) when its human or natural characteristics influence product attributes. However, GI registration is a complex process that can lead applicants to conflicts and resource waste. Since metabolomics can support product typicality, it can be an effective tool to evidence the place-product link, essential for GI registration. With the aim of increasing GI registration efficiency, this research aimed to map the Brazilian GI registration process from end to end, using business process model and notation (BPMN), and evaluate the application of metabolomics techniques as facilitator.

A qualitative exploratory study was proposed, with the Brazilian GI registration process as unit of analysis. Primary data was obtained through twelve in-depth interviews with GI producers, members of supporting institutions and metabolomics experts. Based on the collected data, the complete GI registration map was designed with bpmn.io software.

Results provided a clear view of the GI registration process. Interviewees considered the selection of the appropriate GI category, the establishment of GI common rules, product specification and the confirmation of the place-product link as the most demanding requirements. Since the last two involve specifying the influence of the origin on products, the use of metabolomics was suggested as a powerful tool to complete these stages.

The theoretical contribution is provided by the interweave of the three scientific fields mentioned (GI, business process management (BPM) and metabolomics) to contribute to the still small body of literature on GI-related processes. Additionally, other theoretical contributions are the presentation of a GI registration map associated to the use of “omics” techniques as process facilitator.

The practical contribution of this work is the establishment of an end-to-end view of the entire GI registration process, which makes easier for applicants to engage, plan resources and achieve the GI label. Furthermore, metabolomics acts as a facilitator since its data can be used for different purposes on the way to GI registration.

Results can be used to facilitate GI registration, reducing resources demanded from applicants. GI labels provide product protection, better selling prices and competitive advantages for producers, which are positive outcomes in countries with a commodity-based economy like Brazil.

The originality of the study lies in the approach used to map the GI registration process, as well as the suggestion of metabolomics as facilitator in some of its stages.