Articles

Probiotic bacteria and plant-based matrices: An association with improved health-promoting features

Graphical abstract of article
Elsevier,

Journal of Functional Foods, Volume 87, December 2021

The performance of probiotic bacterial strains is influenced by the carrier food and its functional components which while buffering the probiotic through the gastro-intestinal tract, contribute to an efficient implantation of bacterial cells and regulate probiotic features. Particularly, plant-based matrices are eligible substrate for hosting and delivering microbial populations because of their richness in nutrients, fibers, vitamins, minerals and dietary bioactive phytochemicals.

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SDG:

Goal 2: Zero hunger; Goal 3: Good health and well-being; Goal 13: Climate action

Tags:

Food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture; Plant-based Food Development, Global

Artificial intelligence in computational pathology – challenges and future directions

Elsevier,

Digital Signal Processing: A Review Journal, Volume 119, December 2021

The field of digital histopathology has seen incredible growth in recent years. Digital pathology is becoming a relevant tool in healthcare, industrial and research sectors to reduce the saturation of pathology departments and improve the productivity of pathologists by increasing diagnostic accuracy and reducing turnaround times. Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms may be used for the identification of relevant regions, extraction of features from a histological image and overall classification of images into specific classes.

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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being

Tags:

Health and wellbeing; Technology; Intelligent Buildings; Artificial Intelligence, Global

Removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in conventional drinking water treatment processes

Elsevier,

Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Volume 243, December 2021

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water pose a serious threat to human health due to their toxic effects. This manuscript evaluates various drinking water treatment processes to remove these compounds from drinking water, in order to assure the quality of water intended for human consumption.
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SDG:

Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation; Goal 3: Good health and well-being

Tags:

Health and wellbeing; Water and sanitation, Global

Effects of a social norm-based handwashing intervention including handwashing stations, and a handwashing station-only intervention on handwashing with soap in urban Côte d'Ivoire: a cluster randomised controlled trial

Elsevier,

The Lancet Global Health, Volume 9, December 2021

This study supports SDGs 3 and 6 by showing that a handwashing intervention involving disgust-inducing messages, combined with the provision of handwashing stations in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, successfully increased rates of handwashing with soap after toilet use. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of combining health-based messaging with non-health-based messaging when implementing water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions.
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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being; Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation

Tags:

Health and wellbeing; Water and sanitation, Africa

Sustainability-oriented innovation: Improving problem definition through combined design thinking and systems mapping approaches

Elsevier, Thinking Skills and Creativity, Volume 42, December 2021
Sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI) is receiving increased focus, as sustainability takes a more central role in business, development, and education arenas. SOI processes typically draw from design thinking toolkits, with a focus on the user's needs and experiences. While this is an effective way to ensure that the innovation process is grounded in real, definable needs, it's also limited in its ability to place the problem in a larger societal and systemic context. This can lead to a narrow or incomplete problem definition.
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SDG:

Goal 4: Quality education; Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure; Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production

Tags:

Sustainable consumption and production, Global

Microplastics occurrence and fate in the environment

Graphical abstract
Elsevier,

Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 32, December 2021

Microplastics (MPs) are found in all conceivable media from air, sediments, soils, freshwater, seawater, and organisms, including humans. This paper emphasizes current advances in the study of MPs and presents a review of recent two years of literature on the occurrence and fate of these particles in the environment. The occurrence and fate of MPs are affected by their characteristics and interaction with the media in the environment, including particle mobility and transport processes.

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SDG:

Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production

Tags:

Biodiversity and ecosystems; Chemicals and waste; Microplastics, Global

Use of Race, Ethnicity, and National Origin in Studies Assessing Cardiovascular Risk in Women With a History of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy

Relative number of participants with a diagnosis of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) in studies that assessed its association with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
Elsevier,

CJC Open, Volume 3, Issue 12, December 2021

In studies of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, white women are overrepresented. There is limited and heterogeneous reporting of race and ethnicity information across studies and few include race and/or ethnicity variables in statistical analysis.
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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being; Goal 10: Reduced inequalities

Tags:

Diversity and inclusion; Hypertension Goals, Global

Diagnostic biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease

Elsevier,

Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry, Volume 5, December 2021

This review article examines the various types of diagnostic biomarkers which are used in the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and summerizes the A/T/N classification system for Alzheimer’s biomarkers and its use in the biomarker-based diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Furthermore it reviews the use of structural MRI, 18F-FDG PET, Amyloid PET, Tau PET, cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, and the emerging role of plasma biomarkers in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. In doing so the authors discuss each biomarkers correlation with pathologic findings, ability to distinguish Alzheimer’s disease from healthy aging, ability to distinguish Alzheimer’s disease from other neurodegenerative diseases, role in A/T/N classification system, and limitations of each biomarker.
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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being

Tags:

Health and wellbeing, North America

On CRDPs and CRPD: why the rights of people with disabilities are crucial for understanding climate-resilient development pathways

Elsevier, The Lancet Planetary Health, Volume 5, December 2021
This Personal View supports SDGs 3 and 13, drawing attention to how the lived experiences of disability can deepen understanding of climate-resilient development, and how marginalisation increases vulnerability. The paper stresses the importance of solidarity in underpinning social choices.
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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being; Goal 13: Climate action; Goal 10: Reduced inequalities

Tags:

Health and wellbeing; Human rights, Global

Lifetime burden of disease due to incident tuberculosis: a global reappraisal including post-tuberculosis sequelae

Elsevier, The Lancet Global Health, Volume 9, December 2021
An Article in support of SDG 3, estimating the global burden of tuberculosis, inclusive of post-tuberculosis morbidity and mortality, in view of the increasing evidence of long-term disability and elevated mortality risks in tuberculosis survivors.
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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being

Tags:

Health and population, Global

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