Recognition of depressed affect in hospitalized psychiatric patients: staff and patient perceptions

A comparison of self-report vs. observer rating of depressed mood in a heterogenous inpatient population revealed wide variations in concordance among diagnostic groups. Patients diagnosed as having Affective Psychosis and "Other' illnesses showed the highest correlation between four self-report scales and an observer rating scale. Patients with a diagnosis of depressive Neurosis showed only modest correlation, while Schizophrenics revealed no significant correlation, on these instruments, suggesting inconsistent communication of affect from Schizophrenic patients to observers. In contrast, when self-report scales were intercorrelated, patients in all four diagnostic categories showed highly significant correlations, indicating that they were consistently reporting their affective state on these instruments. The implications of these findings for future research as well as for practical clinical management are discussed.     

Effects of gamma irradiation dose and short-term storage on phytochemicals,antioxidants, and textural properties of boiled ‘Tainan 9’ peanuts

Boiled peanuts are preferable as a ready-to-eat healthy snack; however, gamma irradiation as a postharvest treatment of raw peanuts may induce unfavourable food components. Hence, the phytochemical, antioxidant, and the texture of boiled ‘Tainan 9’ peanuts pretreated with gamma irradiation (0, 2.5, 5, and 10 kGy) and stored at 29 ± 2 °C for up to 180 days were investigated. Both gamma irradiation and storage time contributed to testa darkening in raw peanuts. In boiled irradiated products, irradiation doses and storage time affected the moisture content (MC), total proteins, total oil, total soluble sugars, and antioxidant capacity (P ≤ 0.05). Total phenolic and flavonoid contents showed an increase at days 90 and decreased at days 180 across all treatments. A positive correlation was observed among ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), total phenolics, and total flavonoids. Gamma irradiation at 10 kGy led to increase of peroxide value (PV) (P ≤ 0.05), but malondialdehyde (MDA) content was unaffected. Textural properties of boiled irradiated peanuts were soft. As a result, gamma irradiation at 5 kGy is recommended for postharvest treatment of raw peanuts with subsequent storage up to 180 days to obtain the eating quality of boiled peanuts with good phytochemicals and antioxidant properties, which is a challenge for food industry.     

Characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pentadesma butyracea sabine</Emphasis> Butters of Different Production Regions in Benin

Pentadesma butter (Pentadesma butyracea, sabine, clusiaceae) is an extract of the kernels of tree fruits in West Africa and similar to shea butter. The study of the fatty acid composition, triacylglycerols, sterols and tocopherols of Pentadesma butter was carried out on seeds collected in ten production areas in Benin. The results obtained show that the composition in fatty acids is characterized by the presence of stearic acid and oleic acid, which represent nearly 96% of the total fatty acids. The triacylglycerols profile of the different butters is marked by the overwhelming presence of the triacylglycerols SOS and SOO. The unsaponifiable fraction shows, for the sterolic composition, a predominance of stigmasterol (nearly 68% of the total sterols) whilst the β-tocopherol is the main tocopherol.     

Modified Dietary Fiber from Cassava Pulp and Assessment of Mercury Bioaccessibility and Intestinal Uptake Using an In Vitro Digestion/Caco‐2 Model System

The ability of modified dietary fiber (MDF) generated from cassava pulp to modulate the bioaccessibility and intestinal absorption of heavy metals may be helpful to mitigate health risk associated with select foods including select fish high in methyl mercury. Using a coupled in vitro digestion/Caco‐2 human intestinal cell model, the reduction of fish mercury bioaccessibility and intestinal uptake by MDF was investiaged. MDF was prepared from cassava pulp, a byproduct of tapioca production. The highest yield (79.68%) of MDF was obtained by enzymatic digestion with 0.1% α‐amylase (w/v), 0.1% amyloglucosidase (v/v) and 1% neutrase (v/v). MDF and fish tissue were subjected to in vitro digestion and results suggest that MDF may reduce mercury bioaccessibility from fish to 34% to 85% compared to control in a dose‐dependent manner. Additionally, accumulation of mercury from digesta containing fish and MDF was only modestly impacted by the presence of MDF. In conclusion, MDF prepared from cassava pulp may be useful as an ingredient to reduce mercury bioavailability from food such as fish specifically by inhibiting mercury transfer to the bioaccessibile fraction during digestion.     

Hyperbaric oxygen and thrombolysis in myocardial infarction: the ''HOT MI'' randomized multicenter study

Reactions mediated by the brain are part of the response to intraperitoneal administration of endotoxin, a model of gram-negative bacterial infection. To test the hypothesis that a compromised blood-brain barrier (BBB) may contribute to these reactions, the integrity of the BBB was measured following lipopolysaccharide administration. Rats received intraperitoneal injections of 50 microg/kg or 2 mg/kg of endotoxin. Brain uptake of a macromolecular vascular marker, 3H-labelled rat serum albumin, and of a poorly permeable low molecular weight substance, [14C]sucrose, was then measured with the intravenous bolus injection method. Compared to controls, neither dose of endotoxin affected the BBB permeability for these tracers. This was true when brain uptake was measured 5 min or 2 h after lipopolysaccharide injection. It is concluded that intraperitoneal endotoxin even at a high dose does not acutely disrupt the BBB.     

King Boletus mushroom-derived bioactive protein hydrolysate: characterisation,antioxidant, ACE inhibitory and cytotoxic activities

The enzymatic-bromelain King Boletus mushroom protein hydrolysate (eb-KBM) was determined in terms of the biological properties (antioxidant, antihypertensive and cytotoxic activities) and compared with unhydrolysed or water-soluble King Boletus mushroom extract (ws-KBM). The eb-KBM showed high antioxidant activities, as assessed by ABTS (70.9%), DPPH (60.9%) assays and hydroxyl radicals (66.0%) scavenging method. Angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity of eb-KBM was 21.1% at 1 mg protein mL⁻¹. Anticancer activity-relevant cytotoxicity of eb-KBM in ChaGo-K1 (undifferentiated lung carcinoma) and HEP-G2 (hepatocarcinoma) cells was higher than that of ws-KBM, with lower IC₅₀ values (6.43 and 6.35 µg mL⁻¹, respectively). The great biological activities of eb-KBM were related to its amino acid composition, with high contents of hydrophobic amino acids and aromatic amino acids. These results indicate that King Boletus mushroom protein hydrolysate or bioactive peptide could be used as natural antioxidative, ACE inhibitory and anticancer activities in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries.     

Presence and persistence of depressive symptoms in patient and community populations

The authors used a questionnaire to assess presence and persistence of 16 depression-associated symptoms in two inpatient groups and a random community sample. Nondepressed inpatients were more likely than the community population to experience psychological symptoms of depression, but persistence of the symptoms was the same for both groups. In contrast, significantly more depressed patients than community respondents indicated presence for all but 2 symptoms and persistence for all but 1. Thus persistence of symptoms may be more specific to depression than mere presence.