Abstract This study was aimed at evaluation of effects of ball-milled roasted chickpea (RC) powder on physicochemical, rheological and sensorial properties of yogurt supplemented with RC levels of 1 (RCY1), 2 (RCY2), 3 (RCY3), 4 (RCY4), and 5 g/100 mL (RCY5). Results showed a gradual decline in the pH of pre-inoculated samples with corresponding increases in powder concentration from 1 to 5 g/ 100 mL. Degrees of lightness and yellowness increased in supplemented samples as compared to control (RCY0). Higher firmness was exhibited by RCY3 and RCY5 samples in the range of 59.39-78.56 g. RCY3 showed the highest consistency value (1480.214 g/s). Overall, the syneresis was significantly lower (p<0.05) in supplemented samples as compared to control. The addition levels of more than 3% RC resulted in smoother and more gradual dispersive patterns of particles, and RCY4 showed the most prominent polydispersity and resembled RCY5. Comparatively, supplemented samples exhibited a significantly lower degree of shear-thinning as compared to control samples. RCY5 showed the maximum texture score among all supplemented samples, and supplemented samples showed comparable sensory attributes to those of control samples. It was evident from this study that RC powder can be employed as a functional food ingredient in yogurt production.

In this paper, 2-hydrazino-6-methoxy-1,3-benzothiazole was introduced into diethylenetriamine pentaacetic (DTPA) by acylation reaction. The corresponding non-ion Gd(III) complex holding promise of a single molecule magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent was obtained by treating this ligand with GdCl3·6H2 O. The efficacy of the contrast agent was assessed by measuring the longitudinal relaxivity (r1), the r1 of Gd(III)-DTPA-bisbenzothiazole hydrazide was up to 6.44 mM-1,s-1, which was 1.8 times higher than that of the analogous MRI contrast agent Gd(III)-DTPA (r1 = 3.64 mM-1s-1) in commercial use. In addition, in vitro MR images on a 0.5 T magnetic field exhibited a remarkable enhancement of signal contrast for Gd(III)-DTPA-bisbenzothiazole hydrazide than Gd(III)-DTPA. These results demonstrate that this non-ion Gd(III) complex acts as a potentially MRI contrast agent.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and spectrum of Nkx2.5 mutations associated with idiopathic atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: A cohort of 136 unrelated patients with idiopathic atrial fibrillation and 200 unrelated, ethnically matched healthy controls were enrolled. The coding exons and splice junctions of the Nkx2.5 gene were sequenced in 136 atrial fibrillation patients, and the available relatives of mutation carriers and 200 controls were subsequently genotyped for the identified mutations. The functional characteristics of the mutated Nkx2.5 gene were analyzed using a dual-luciferase reporter assay system. RESULTS: Two novel heterozygous Nkx2.5 mutations (p.N19D and p.F186S) were identified in 2 of the 136 unrelated atrial fibrillation cases, with a mutational prevalence of approximately 1.47%. These missense mutations co-segregated with atrial fibrillation in the families and were absent in the 400 control chromosomes. Notably, 2 mutation carriers also had congenital atrial septal defects and atrioventricular block. Multiple alignments of the Nkx2.5 protein sequences across various species revealed that the altered amino acids were completely conserved evolutionarily. Functional analysis demonstrated that the mutant Nkx2.5 proteins were associated with significantly reduced transcriptional activity compared to their wild-type counterpart. CONCLUSION: These findings associate the Nkx2.5 loss-of-function mutation with atrial fibrillation and atrioventricular block and provide novel insights into the molecular mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation. These results also have potential implications for early prophylaxis and allele-specific therapy of this common arrhythmia.

Três novos pigmentos orgânicos contendo grupamentos carbazol, iminodibenzil e fenotiazina como doadores de elétrons e anéis rodanina bi-ancoradores como receptores de elétrons, foram sintetizados e avaliados como fotossensibilizadores em células solares. Células solares empregando corantes com grupos fenotiazinas como unidades transportadora de buracos e anéis rodanina biancoradores como receptores de elétrons exibiram uma densidade de fotocorrente de curto circuito de 10,6 mA cm-2, voltagem de circuito aberto de 0,658 V e fator de preenchimento de 0,7, correspondendo a uma eficiência de conversão total de 4,91% sob luz solar padrão AM 1.5.

Three new organic dyes comprising carbazole, iminodibenzyl and phenothiazine moieties, as electron donors and di-anchoring rhodanine rings as the electron acceptors, were synthesized and evaluated for use in dye-sensitized solar cells. A solar cell employing dye-containing phenothiazine as a hole-transporting unit and di-anchoring rhodanine rings as the electron acceptors exhibits a short circuit photocurrent density of 10.6 mA cm-2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.658 V and a fill factor of 0.7, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 4.91% at standard AM 1.5 sunlight.