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Background and purpose: In Parkinson's disease (PD), the course of the disorder is highly variable between patients. Well‐designed, prospective studies for identifying PD progression biomarkers are necessary. Our aim was to show the results of baseline evaluations of an ongoing global PD project, COPPADIS‐2015 (Cohort of Patients with PArkinson's DIsease in Spain, 2015). Methods: This was an observational, descriptive, nationwide study (Spain). The recruitment period ended in October 2017. Baseline evaluation included more than 15 validated scales and complementary studies in a subgroup of participants. Results: In total, 1174 subjects from 35 centres were considered valid for baseline analysis: 694 patients (62.6 ± 8.9 years old, 60.3% males), 273 caregivers (58.5 ± 11.9 years old, 31.8% males) and 207 controls (61 ± 8.3 years old, 49.5% males). The mean disease duration was 5.5 ± 4.4 years. Hoehn and Yahr stage was 1 or 2 in 90.7% of the patients whilst 33.9% and 18.1% of them presented motor fluctuations and dyskinesias, respectively. The mean Non‐Motor Symptoms Scale total score was 45.4 ± 38.1, and 30.4% of the patients presented cognitive impairment, 16.1% major depression, 12.7% impulse control disorder, 7.2% compulsive behaviour, 57.2% pain and 13.2% falls. Compared to the control group, PD patients presented a significantly higher burden of non‐motor symptoms and a worse quality of life. More than 300 subjects conducted complementary studies (serum biomarkers, genetic and neuroimaging). Conclusions: Parkinson's disease is a complex disorder and different non‐motor symptoms are frequently present and are more prevalent than in controls. In real clinical practice it is important to ask for them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was undertaken to assess protein denaturation and starch gelatinization in ground samples of common black beans exhibiting the hard-to-cook (HTC) defect. Using differential scanning calorimetry, no significant differences in either gelatinization or denaturation temperatures were found between hard and soft beans but tropical storage conditions produced significant increases in gelatinization enthalpy and decreases in denaturation enthalpy. Endotherms of cooked samples showed as little as 34% of the protein had denatured in HTC beans as compared to over 85% in soft beans. Micrographs indicated the ground raw material was composed of clumps of cotyledon cells; cooking soft beans produced cell separation but this did not occur in HTC samples. These data supported the idea that bean hardening was accompanied by limited water availability inside cotyledon cells that could reduce cell swelling, starch gelatinization and protein denaturation, leading to textural toughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BSTRACT The effect of pH and ionic strength (IS) of soaking solution on the water holding capacity (WHC) of hard-to-cook (HTC) and control black beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris) was evaluated. Beans were soaked 18 hr in solutions covering the pH range 1-7 at constant IS (1.0 M) or in solutions ranging in IS from 0.01 to 1.3M (prepared with either NaCl or CaCl2) at pH 7. WHC was significantly reduced in the pH range 3.5 to 5.1 in control beans but the effect was not as pronounced with HTC samples which had a lower WHC at each pH. Solutions prepared with NaCl produced significantly lower WHC values than CaCl2 solutions in the control but not in the HTC beans. WHC values in control beans tended to increase with higher IS, although this effect was not as apparent for HTC beans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]