Search Results (10)

Background: In schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD), social cognition mediates the relationship between neurocognition and social functioning. Although people with major depressive disorder (MDD) also exhibit cognitive impairments, which are often prolonged, little is known about the role of social cognition in MDD. Methods: Using data obtained through an internet survey, 210 patients with SSD or MDD were selected using propensity score matching based on their demographics and illness duration. Social cognition, neurocognition, and social functioning were evaluated using the Self-Assessment of Social Cognition Impairments, Perceived Deficits Questionnaire, and Social Functioning Scale, respectively. The mediation effects of social cognition on the relationship between neurocognition and social functioning were examined in each group. Invariances of the mediation model across the two groups were then analyzed. Results: The SSD and MDD groups had mean ages of 44.49 and 45.35 years, contained 42.0% and 42.8% women, and had mean illness durations of 10.76 and 10.45 years, respectively. In both groups, social cognition had significant mediation effects. Configural, measurement, and structural invariances across the groups were established. Conclusion: The role of social cognition in patients with MDD was similar to that in SSD. Social cognition could be a common endophenotype for various psychiatric disorders. Full article

In this study, targeted metabolome analysis was applied to identify the discriminative metabolites between Indonesian shallot landraces, Japanese long-day onion (LDO) varieties, and Japanese short-day onion (SDO) varieties. In total, 172 metabolite signal intensities were subjected to multivariate PLS-DA, VIP, and random forest modeling to gain further insight into genotype-specific metabolites. PLS-DA divides the examined genotypes into three different clusters, implying that shallot landraces exhibited a distinct metabolite profile compared with Japanese LDO and SDO varieties. The PLS-DA, VIP, and random forest results indicated that the shallot and LDO are richer in metabolite constituents in comparison with the SDO. Specifically, amino acids and organosulfur compounds were the key characteristic metabolites in shallot and LDO genotypes. The analysis of S-alk(en)yl-L-cysteine sulfoxide (ACSO) compounds showed higher accumulation in the shallot landraces relative to LDO and SDO varieties, which explains the stronger pungency and odor in shallots. In addition, the LDO showed higher ACSO content compared with the SDO, implying that long-day cultivation might enhance sulfur assimilation in the Japanese onion. The LDO ‘Super Kitamomiji’ and the shallots ‘Probolinggo’ and ‘Thailand’ showed higher ACSO content than other varieties, making it useful for Allium breeding to improve the flavor and stress tolerance of onions. Full article

Demand Side Management (DSM) is an effective tool for utilities through reducing the demand of peak load and controlling the utilization of the energy of the system. The implementation of DSM provides benefits for utilities and is profitable for the customers who are involved in this process. DSM based on a load shifting strategy is proposed in this paper by employing various devices to minimize the energy consumption pattern in the system. The proposed hybrid strategy is the joint implementation of the Wingsuit Flying Search Algorithm (WFSA) and Artificial Cell Swarm Optimization (ACSO). The searching behavior of WFSA is enhanced by ACSO. Hence, it is named the WFS2ACSO technique. The implementation of this load shifting technique was carried out on three different types of loads, these being residential loads, commercial loads, and industrial loads. Two case studies, over summer and winter, were validated to check the feasibility of the test system. The proposed method aimed to achieve the load demand in an effective way for the minimization of bill electrification, Peak to Average Ratio (PAR), and the consumption of power. The Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing was implemented to calculate the savings in energy bills. The proposed test system of the Micro Grid (MG) was executed on a MATLAB platform with two case studies based on the optimization methods WFSA and WFS2ACSO. Simulation results demonstrated the comparative analysis of electricity cost and peak load with different algorithms and were carried out with and without DSM consideration. The projected DSM methodology achieved considerable savings as the peak load demand of MG decreased. Furthermore, the decrease in PAR levels of 14% in the residential load, 16% in the commercial load, and 10% in the industrial load, with and without the DSM methodology, was presented. The flight length and awareness of probability tuning parameters make the proposed algorithm more effective in obtaining better results. The test results obtained prove the effectiveness of the hybridized algorithm as compared with other trend-setting optimization techniques such as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Ant Lion Optimization (ALO). Full article

Currently, grid-connected Photovoltaic (PV) systems are widely encouraged to meet increasing energy demands. However, there are many urgent issues to tackle that are associated with PV systems. Among them, partial shading is the most severe issue as it reduces efficiency. To achieve maximum power, PV system utilizes the maximum power point-tracking (MPPT) algorithms. This paper proposed a two-level converter system for optimizing the PV power and injecting that power into the grid network. The boost converter is used to regulate the MPPT algorithm. To make the grid-tied PV system operate under non-uniform weather conditions, dragonfly optimization algorithm (DOA)-based MPPT was put forward and applied due to its ability to trace the global peak and its higher efficiency and shorter response time. Furthermore, in order to validate the overall performance of the proposed technique, comparative analysis of DOA with adaptive cuckoo search optimization (ACSO) algorithm, fruit fly optimization algorithm combined with general regression neural network (FFO-GRNN), improved particle swarm optimization (IPSO), and PSO and Perturb and Observe (P&O) algorithm were presented by using Matlab/Simulink. Subsequently, a voltage source inverter (VSI) was utilized to regulate the active and reactive power injected into the grid with high efficiency and minimum total harmonic distortion (THD). The instantaneous reactive power was adjusted to zero for maintaining the unity power factor. The results obtained through Matlab/Simulink demonstrated that power injected into the grid is approximately constant when using the DOA MPPT algorithm. Hence, the grid-tied PV system’s overall performance under partial shading was found to be highly satisfactory and acceptable. Full article

The quality, antioxidant capacities, and organosulfur profile of chives (Allium schoenoprasum L.) treated with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) during storage were investigated in this study. The 1-MCP treatment (100 μL/L, fumigation 12 h at 20 °C) effectively inhibited tissue respiration and H₂O₂ production, enhanced the ascorbic acid (ASA) and glutathione (GSH) content, and promoted the activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase SOD, Catalase CAT, and ascorbic peroxidase APX) during the 5-day storage period at 20 °C. The result further showed that the 1-MCP treatment inhibited chlorophyll degradation, alleviated cell membrane damage, and delayed the chive senescence, with the yellowing rate being reduced by 67.8% and 34.5% in the 1-MCP treated chives on days 4 and 5 of storage at 20 °C, respectively. The free amino acid content of the chive was not affected by the 1-MCP treatment at 20 °C. However, the senescence rate of the chive was not reduced by the 1-MCP treatment when stored at 3 °C. The liquid chromatography data further showed that the 1-MCP treatment induced a 15.3% and 13.9% increase in the isoalliin and total S-alk(en)ylcysteine sulfoxides (ACSOs) content of the chive on day 2 at 20 °C, respectively. Furthermore, there was a strong positive correlation between ACSOs content and CAT/APX activity, indicating that ACSOs probably played a key role in enhancing the antioxidant capacities of the chive during storage at 20 °C. Thus the study efficiently demonstrates that 1-methylcyclopropene preserves the quality of chive (Allium schoenoprasum L.) by enhancing its antioxidant capacities and organosulfur profile during storage. Full article

The combination of the garlic-derived amino acid, S-allyl-l-cysteine sulfoxide (ACSO), and ornithine or arginine on CCl₄-induced hepatic injury was examined. After investigating the effectiveness of the mixture of ACSO and ornithine or arginine in preventing hepatic injury in vivo, an extract rich in ACSO and ornithine was prepared by converting arginine in garlic to ornithine by arginase from Hypsizygus marmoreus (buna-shimeji), after screening the productivity of ornithine among 12 kinds of mushrooms. Co-administration of ACSO with ornithine or arginine suppressed the increase in aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance, and the decrease in glutathione S-transferase and cytochrome p450 2E1 activities after CCl₄ injection more effectively than a single administration of ACSO. All extracts prepared from garlic and buna-shimeji with low and high contents of ACSO and arginine or ornithine significantly suppressed CCl₄-induced hepatic injury in rats. Considering that ACSO is tasteless, odourless, and enhances taste, and ornithine has a flat or sweet taste and masks bitterness, the extract rich in ACSO and ornithine from garlic and buna-shimeji could be considered a potential antioxidant food material that can be added to many kinds of food to prevent hepatic injury. Full article

The heptyl butanoate ester was synthesized from butanoic acid and heptanol in a heterogeneous medium in the presence of sulfonated activated carbon (AC-SO₃H) catalyst particles subjected to microwave irradiation, which led to higher conversion yields (greater product yields) than conventional heating with an oil bath. The advantage of the microwaves appeared only when the moisture content in the butanoic acid batch(es) was high, suggesting that, unlike conventional heating, the reverse reaction caused by the moisture content and/or by the byproduct water was suppressed by the microwaves. This contrasted with the results that were found when carrying out the reaction in a homogeneous medium in the presence of the 2,4,6-trimethylpyridinium-p-toluene sulfonate (TMP-PTS) catalyst, as product yields were not improved by microwave heating relative to conventional heating. The removal of moisture/water content in the reaction solution was more pronounced when the reactor was cooled, as the reaction yields were enhanced via selective heating of the heterogeneous catalyst. A coupled electromagnetic field/heat transfer analysis gave credence to the selective heating of the AC-SO₃H catalyst, which was further enhanced by cooling the reactor. It was deduced that unforeseen impurities and local high-temperature fields generated on the surface of small fine catalyst particles may have had an effect on the microwave chemistry such that the associated phenomena could be mistaken as originating from a nonthermal effect of the microwaves. Accordingly, it is highly recommended that impurities and selective heating be taken into consideration when examining and concluding the occurrence of a microwave nonthermal effect. Full article

S-Allyl-l-cysteine sulfoxide (ACSO) is a precursor of garlic-odor compounds like diallyl disulfide (DADS) and diallyl trisulfide (DATS) known as bioactive components. ACSO has suitable properties as a food material because it is water-soluble, odorless, tasteless and rich in bulbs of fresh garlic. The present study was conducted to examine the preventive effect of ACSO on hepatic injury induced by CCl₄ in rats. ACSO, its analogs and garlic-odor compounds were each orally administered via gavage for five consecutive days before inducing hepatic injury. Then, biomarkers for hepatic injury and antioxidative state were measured. Furthermore, we evaluated the absorption and metabolism of ACSO in the small intestine of rats and NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) nuclear translocation by ACSO using HepG2 cells. As a result, ACSO, DADS and DATS significantly suppressed the increases in biomarkers for hepatic injury such as the activities of aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and decreases in antioxidative potency such as glutathione (GSH) level and the activities of glutathione S-transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). We also found ACSO was absorbed into the portal vein from the small intestine but partially metabolized to DADS probably in the small intestine. In in vitro study, ACSO induced Nrf2 nuclear translocation in HepG2 cells, which is recognized as an initial trigger to induce antioxidative and detoxifying enzymes. Taken together, orally administered ACSO probably reached the liver and induced antioxidative and detoxifying enzymes by Nrf2 nuclear translocation, resulting in prevention of hepatic injury. DADS produced by the metabolism of ACSO in the small intestine might also have contributed to the prevention of hepatic injury. These results suggest potential use of ACSO in functional foods that prevent hepatic injury and other diseases caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Full article

Selective heating of microwave-absorbing solid catalysts in a heterogeneous medium may affect a chemical reaction; such selectivity cannot be achieved by conventional oil-bath or steam heating methods. Moreover, microwave methods are often misunderstood with respect to equipment and temperature measurements, so that additional experimentation is necessary. In this regard, the present study intended to clarify the effect of microwave selective heating on acid hydrolytic processes using a sulfonated activated carbon catalyst (AC-SO₃H). The model reaction chosen was the acid hydrolysis of cellulose carried out in a Pyrex glass microwave reactor, with the process being monitored by examining the quantity of total sugar, reducing sugar, and glucose produced. Heat transfer from the catalyst to the aqueous solution through absorption of microwaves by the catalyst occurred as predicted from a simulation of heat transfer processes. The resulting experimental consequences are compared with those from the more uniform microwave conduction heating method by also performing the reaction in a SiC microwave reactor wherein microwaves are absorbed by SiC. Some inferences of the influence of microwave selective heating of carbon-based catalyst particles are reported. Under selective heating conditions (Pyrex glass reactor), the yield of glucose from the acid hydrolysis of cellulose was 56% upon microwave heating at 200 °C, nearly identical with the yield (55%) when the hydrolytic process was performed under mainly conventional heating conditions in the SiC reactor. Although the beneficial effect of catalyst selective heating was not reflected in the reaction efficiency, there were substantial changes in the state of adsorption of cellulose on the catalyst surface. Full article

Sulfonated (SO₃H-bearing) activated carbon (AC-SO₃H) was synthesized by an aryl diazonium salt reduction process. The obtained material had a SO₃H density of 0.64 mmol·g^-1 and a specific surface area of 602 m²·g^-1. The catalytic properties of AC-SO₃H were compared with that of two commercial solid acid catalysts, Nafion NR50 and Amberlyst-15. In a 10-h esterification reaction of acetic acid with ethanol, the acid conversion with AC-SO₃H (78%) was lower than that of Amberlyst-15 (86%), which could be attributed to the fact that the SO₃H density of the sulfonated carbon was lower than that of Amberlyst-15 (4.60 mmol·g^-1). However, AC-SO₃H exhibited comparable and even much higher catalytic activities than the commercial catalysts in the esterification of aliphatic acids with longer carbon chains such as hexanoic acid and decanoic acid, which may be due to the large specific surface area and mesoporous structures of the activated carbon. The disadvantage of AC-SO₃H is the leaching of SO₃H group during the reactions. Full article