Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) has become of great interest in recent years because of its worthy biological activities. This study aims to produce COS using the enzymatic method, and investigates Paenibacillus sp. TKU047, a chitinolytic-producing strain, in terms of its chitosanase productivity on several chitinous material-containing mediums from fishery process wastes. The highest amount of chitosanase was produced on the medium using 2% (w/v) squid pens powder (0.60 U/mL) as the single carbon and nitrogen (C/N) source. The molecular mass of TKU047 chitosanase, which could be the smallest one among chitinases/chitosanases from the Paenibacillus genus, was approximately 23 kDa according to the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) method. TKU047 chitosanase possessed the highest activity at 60 °C, pH 7, and toward chitosan solution with a higher degree of deacetylation (DDA) value. Additionally, the hydrolysis products of 98% DDA chitosan catalyzed by TKU047 chitosanase showed the degree of polymerization (DP) ranging from 2 to 9, suggesting that it was an endo-type activity chitosanase. The free radical scavenging activity of the obtained chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) was determined. The result showed that COS produced with Paenibacillus sp. TKU047 chitosanase expressed a higher 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity than that from the commercial COSs with maximum activity and IC50 values of 81.20% and 1.02 mg/mL; 18.63% and 15.37 mg/mL; and 15.96% and 15.16 mg/mL, respectively. As such, Paenibacillus sp. TKU047 may have potential use in converting squid pens waste to produce chitosanase as an enzyme for bio-activity COS preparation.

Oral health (OH) and general health (GH) indicators are representations of the health status of the body. The OH indicators provide information about the oral health status while the GH indicators are used to assess the functional, cognitive, and mental conditions. OH is reported to be associated with GH. However, some specific associations, especially longitudinal relationships between OH and GH indicators, have not been fully explored. We examined the prediction ability from OH to GH and vice versa using a Belgian registry. We collected information from 8359 elderly participants, who were older than 65, lived at home, and received home care. The demographic and clinical information including three binary OH indicators and four ordinal GH indicators were collected. The participants were recorded at baseline and every six months afterwards. We opted for a generalization of a vector autoregressive model to ordinal responses. This model allows to estimate autocorrelations and cross-lagged correlations, addressing the prediction of GH from OH in a cross-sectional and longitudinal manner. We showed that individuals who had poorer OH had a higher risk of suffering from poor GH status. The percentages of correct or close prediction for GH indicators from OH indicators are high, being around 80% for all GH indicators. Additionally, having a poor OH (resp. GH) status was additionally predictive of a poor GH (resp. OH) status at following assessments. Our finding suggests using historical records of OH as well as GH indicators to draw better health care plan for geriatrics population.

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Objectives To explore the failure of the oral health‐related section of the interRAI (ohr‐interRAI), this study investigated test content validity (A.) and reasons for inaccurate assessments (B.). Background Poor oral health negatively affects quality of life and is associated with a number of systemic diseases. The interRAI instruments, internationally used for geriatric assessment, should accurately detect oral conditions that require care. Previous research showed that the ohr‐interRAI and related precursor versions do not achieve this goal. Materials and Methods (A.) A group of 12 experts rated completeness, relevance, clarity of wording and feasibility of the ohr‐interRAI. Content validity indices were calculated per item (threshold 0.78). (B.) Focus group discussions with 23 caregivers were organized. A semi‐structured question guide made sure that all topics of interest were covered. Qualitative content structuring analysis was applied after transcription. Results (A.) Experts agreed on the relevance of the items on chewing, pain, gingival inflammation and damaged teeth. They regarded none of the items as worded clearly and only prosthesis use and pain were considered to be assessable by untrained caregivers. All experts agreed that the ohr‐interRAI was incomplete. (B.) Focus group discussions revealed that in the care environment oral health had low priority. Aspects related to the ohr‐interRAI itself and aspects related to the assessment situation impeded the oral health assessment. The approach of the caregivers to complete the ohr‐interRAI was inappropriate to accurately detect oral care needs. Conclusions Findings challenge test content validity of the ohr‐interRAI and reveal reasons for inaccurate assessments.