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Aims: To determine the contributions of different kinds of symptoms to the quality of life and mediating effect of psychological and physical symptoms between heart failure symptoms and quality of life. Design: A multi‐centre cross‐sectional study. Methods: 2006 chronic heart failure patients from four cities were recruited in China from January 2021 to December 2022. Patients' symptoms and quality of life were self‐reported, and data were analysed using correlation analysis, dominance analysis and mediating effects analysis. Results: The dominance analysis revealed that the overall mean contributions of heart failure, psychological and physical symptoms were.083,.085 and.111; 29.5%, 30.2% and 39.5% of the known variance. And heart failure symptoms could negatively affect quality of life through psychological and physical symptoms, accounting for 28.39% and 22.95% of the total effect. Heart failure symptoms could also affect quality of life through the chain‐mediated effect of physical and psychological symptoms, accounting for 16.74%. Conclusions: Physiological symptoms had the strongest effect on quality of life and heart failure symptoms had the weakest. Most of the effect for heart failure symptoms on quality of life in chronic heart failure patients was mediated by psychological and physiological symptoms. Relevance to Clinical Practice: It is important to design non‐pharmacological intervention plans for the enhancement of physical and psychological symptoms' management skills, to reduce the adverse impact of heart failure symptoms on quality of life. Reporting Method: Study methods and results reported in adherence to the STROBE checklist. No Patient or Public Contribution: No patients or members of the public were involved in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Women and healthcare providers lack adequate information on medication safety during pregnancy. While resources describing fetal risk are available, information is provided in multiple locations, often with subjective assessments of available data. We developed a list of medications of greatest concern during pregnancy to help healthcare providers counsel reproductive-aged and pregnant women. Methods Prescription drug labels submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with information in the Teratogen Information System (TERIS) and/or Drugs in Pregnancy and Lactation by Briggs & Freeman were included (N = 1,186 medications; 766 from three data sources, 420 from two). We used two supervised learning methods ('support vector machine' and 'sentiment analysis') to create prediction models based on narrative descriptions of fetal risk. Two models were created per data source. Our final list included medications categorized as 'high' risk in at least four of six models (if three data sources) or three of four models (if two data sources). Results We classified 80 prescription medications as being of greatest concern during pregnancy; over half were antineoplastic agents (n = 24), angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (n = 10), angiotensin II receptor antagonists (n = 8), and anticonvulsants (n = 7). Discussion This evidence-based list could be a useful tool for healthcare providers counseling reproductive-aged and pregnant women about medication use during pregnancy. However, providers and patients may find it helpful to weigh the risks and benefits of any pharmacologic treatment for both pregnant women and the fetus when managing medical conditions before and during pregnancy., Author(s): Elizabeth C. Ailes [sup.1] , John Zimmerman [sup.2] , Jennifer N. Lind [sup.1] , Fanghui Fan [sup.2] , Kun Shi [sup.2] , Jennita Reefhuis [sup.1] , Cheryl S. Broussard [...]

A classic problem in preservation is the microbes can grow in low-moisture foods. In this paper, the water sorption, and thermodynamic properties of glucose/WPI solid matrices were measured, while their molecular mobility was analyzed and associated with the microbial growth of D. Hansenii at various aw and 30 °C. Although the sorption isotherms, Tg, and relaxation processes of studied matrices were affected by aw and WPI, the microbial growth showed highly dependent on water mobility rather than aw. Hence, we introduced water usability (Uw), derived from the mobility difference between system-involved water and liquid pure water explicating from the classical thermodynamic viewpoint, to describe the dynamic changes of water mobility in glucose/WPI matrices. Despite to aw, the yeast growth rate was enhanced at high Uw matrices concomitantly with a rapid cell doubling time. Therefore, the proposed Uw provides a better understanding of the water relationships of microorganisms in food preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Maltose is an essential derivative of starch. To understand the processability and stability of maltose‐containing foods, material characterization of the phase and state transition from its amorphous state is required. Although the crystallization of amorphous maltose is well understood, few studies have reported the relationship between the crystallization and the glass transition temperature (Tg)‐related molecular mobility. In this study, water sorption, crystallization, Tg‐related α‐relaxation, and the corresponding time factor for amorphous maltose and maltose / whey protein isolate (WPI) mixtures are measured at various water activity (aw) levels and 25 °C. RESULTS: The water‐additive principle for maltose / WPI mixtures was observed at aw ≤ 0.440 at the molecular level, whereas the crystallization of amorphous maltose occurred at high aw values (≥0.534). The crystal formation and crystallization kinetics of amorphous maltose were affected by water and WPI at aw ≥ 0.534 and 25 °C, as determined by X‐ray diffraction. The relationship between Tg and the water content was fitted by the Gordon–Taylor model, and its constant showed a compositional dependence for the maltose / WPI mixtures. The α‐relaxation temperature of the amorphous samples decreased due to water plasticization, but increased with an increase in the WPI quantity. The Strength (S) value for amorphous maltose, which was a quantitative estimate of the compositional effects on molecular mobility, was based on the William–Landel–Ferry (WLF) equation. CONCLUSION: The S concept exhibits considerable potential for application in controlling the crystallization of amorphous maltose and improving the processability and stability of maltose‐containing foods. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Color-based clustering algorithm was established to recognize maltose crystals. • Maltose mainly crystallized to anhydrate α -maltose and β -maltose monohydrate. • Protein changed the mutarotation and recrystallization of unstable β -maltose. • Crystal formation mechanism was governed by T g -related molecular mobility. • CCA method provided a rapid and quantitative measure for maltose crystallinity. Maltose crystallization affects the processibility and stability of sugar-rich foods. This study introduced a color-based clustering algorithm (CCA) to analyze crystallinity from the images of amorphous maltose/protein models. The XRD and DSC were also implemented in maltose crystallization characterization and validated the CCA analysis. The results indicated that CCA could effectively recognize maltose crystals (R = 0.9942), and amorphous maltose mainly crystallized to anhydrate α -maltose and β -maltose monohydrate according to its morphological aspects measured by CCA , XRD , and DSC. However, protein could change the mechanism of maltose crystal formation by disturbing the mutarotation and recrystallization processes of unstable β -maltose. Besides, maltose crystal formation and crystallinity were governed by molecular mobility as the CCA -derived Avrami indexes changed with the Strength parameter. Compared to XRD and DSC , the proposed CCA can provide a rapid and quantitative measure for maltose crystallinity and has great potential applications in the online detection of sugar crystallization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]