The effectiveness of using protease and combinations of protease and high-intensity ultrasound for high-purity, high-yield tamarind seed polysaccharide (TSP) production was investigated. Tamarind kernel powder (TKP) suspension was treated with protease alone at 0.16, 0.48, and 0.80 units/mL and with protease-ultrasound combinations over 3 different orders of sequence (before, simultaneous with, and after protease digestion) using combinations of 0.48 units/mL protease and high-intensity ultrasound at 25% and 50% amplitude for 15 and 30 min. The long protease digestion time could produce high-purity isolated TSP, but the polysaccharide yields were lower. The polysaccharide purity and yield were highly improved, even at a shorter protease digestion time, when the protease treatment was combined with high-intensity ultrasound. The increased amplitude level and sonication time decreased the average molecular weight of the polysaccharide. The rheological properties of the TKP and the isolated TSP, from nondestructive oscillatory measurements, demonstrated that the latter present a viscoelastic solution. The decreasing of protein content resulted in better elasticity of the solution. The power law model could be used to fit the down curve between shear rate and shear stress data. The consistency coefficient (K) increased while the flow behavior index decreased with the increased purity of the polysaccharide as a result of increasing increased digestion time, enzyme concentration, sonication power, and sonication time.

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Purpose: Prior research has demonstrated that the postpartum period is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment. This study aims to investigate whether disrupted spontaneous neural activity exists in postpartum women without depression using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and to detect the relationship between these abnormalities and cognitive impairment.Materials and Methods: Postpartum women (n = 22) were compared with age- and education-matched nulliparous women (n = 23) using rs-fMRI. We calculated the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo) values to evaluate spontaneous neural activity and detect the relationship between rs-fMRI data and cognitive performance.Results: Relative to nulliparous women, postpartum women had significantly decreased ALFF and ReHo values primarily in the left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and prefrontal cortex and increased ALFF values in left cerebellar posterior lobe. We found a positive correlation between the ALFF and ReHo values in the PCC and the complex figure test (CFT)-delayed scores in postpartum women (r = 0.693, p = 0.001; r = 0.569, p = 0.011, respectively). Moreover, the clock-drawing test (CDT) scores showed positive correlations with the ALFF and ReHo values in the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG; r = 0.492, p = 0.033; r = 0.517, p = 0.023, respectively).Conclusion: Our combined ALFF and ReHo analyses revealed decreased spontaneous neural activity, mainly in the PCC and prefrontal cortex, which was correlated with specific impaired cognitive functioning in postpartum women. This study may elucidate the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying postpartum cognitive impairment and enhance our understanding of the neurobiological aspects of the postpartum period.