Identification of taste critical quality attribute and formulation optimization of Xiaoer Qingrening Granules based on electronic tongue and human senses / 药学学报

This study primarily concentrated on scientific problems of poor taste caused by unclear critical quality attributes of oral preparations manufactured by Chinese materia medica, successfully established an identification method for taste critical quality attribute and a taste improvement method combining electronic tongue with human senses, and determined the optimal taste formula, to improve patients' oral medication compliance. The study received ethical approval from the Review Committee of the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. The results showed that the proportion of bitterness of Xiaoer Qingrening Granule was 61.8%, and its bitterness grade was 3.70, it was determined that bitterness is the critical quality attribute that caused the poor taste of Xiaoer Qingrening Granule. Additionally, the optimal taste formula per milliliter of Xiaoer Qingrening sugar-free intermediate was determined with allowable daily intake, solubility, and sweetness as the limiting conditions, which was 40 mg hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin, 180 mg trehalose, and 1.5 mg acesulfame potassium. Compared with the Xiaoer Qingrening Granule, the sensory evaluation score of the optimal taste formula was increased by 37.5 points. In conclusion, this study achieved the taste improvement of Xiaoer Qingrening Granule and formed a set of taste improvement strategies including the identification of taste critical quality attribute, the selection of the type and dosage of corrigent, and the optimization of taste formula, which provided a thought reference for the taste improvement of other oral preparations and a new perspective for quality control of intelligent manufacturing of traditional Chinese medicines.

Medicine, health and the human side: responsibility in medical practice.

Throughout history, the world has been concerned with progress in different areas, and Medicine has not been the exception. Nevertheless, has this progress been positive in the sense of entailing benefits? The question emerges considering that through this progress, human beings have been able to modify natural processes. Considering this, the research question is: What is the role that medicine-a human and scientific discipline-must play, and which is the concept of what a human being must have in a world where utilitarianism prevails over non-material benefits? Also, what are the implications of that role and concept on the decision-making about health, notions about humanity and, areas which require responsibility? The rise of artificial procedures which generate life, simultaneously defying time leads to the main objective of this paper: To present ideas on the current perception about the medical practice; in terms of responsibility about the human side of the patient, related to artificial practices. A second objective is to approach a social topic that motivates to reflect on new and recurring practices in the medical field. This topic will be studied from a hermeneutical perspective to establish relations and an interpretative approach between them, through Thiebaut's work and Tría's Philosophy of the Limit, considering the concept of human being and considering that there are limits which should be respected. Afterwards, the focus will be on the medical praxis and its sense of responsibility regarding human beings.

Assessment of poultry egg liking scores using sighted and blind people.

BACKGROUND: Of the 18 043 bird species, the eggs of only hen and quail are generally available to consumers. Thus people are deprived of the opportunity to benefit from the huge diversity of eggs offered by nature. Poultry eggs can vary in their color of albumen and yolk, smell, taste and texture. In this study, sighted and blind people were employed for sensory evaluation with the aim of determining the preferences of consumers toward hard-boiled and scrambled eggs of different species of birds, and whether the appearance of these eggs has an effect on the perception of other sensory impressions. RESULTS: Sighted people differently evaluated the texture of both boiled and scrambled eggs as compared with blind people. This was mainly because blind people largely used their sense of touch for evaluation. All other attributes of boiled eggs were evaluated similarly by both groups of panelists, whereas those of scrambled eggs were evaluated differently. CONCLUSION: The obtained results unequivocally demonstrated that differences in taste of scrambled eggs when served hot are easier to evaluate than those of boiled eggs. On the basis of ranking by the sensory panel, it was established that eggs of birds belonging to the order Galliformes are more preferred by consumers than those of duck and goose. By contrast, eggs of ostrich and emu are characterized by unfavorable sensory profiles; moreover, the albumen of boiled ostrich eggs has an unsightly appearance. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Conducting Polymer Based Nanobiosensors.

In recent years, conducting polymer (CP) nanomaterials have been used in a variety of fields, such as in energy, environmental, and biomedical applications, owing to their outstanding chemical and physical properties compared to conventional metal materials. In particular, nanobiosensors based on CP nanomaterials exhibit excellent performance sensing target molecules. The performance of CP nanobiosensors varies based on their size, shape, conductivity, and morphology, among other characteristics. Therefore, in this review, we provide an overview of the techniques commonly used to fabricate novel CP nanomaterials and their biosensor applications, including aptasensors, field-effect transistor (FET) biosensors, human sense mimicking biosensors, and immunoassays. We also discuss prospects for state-of-the-art nanobiosensors using CP nanomaterials by focusing on strategies to overcome the current limitations.