The present article reviews the history of mushroom uses in culinary, food and medicinal values; current status future aspect research. Mushrooms contain biologically active polysaccharides, lipid proteins fruit bodies, each them has a distinct role health as either nutritional value or elements. Immunostimulating polysaccharides found mushrooms, are most important for modern medicine. Several ...

Abstract The Medusomyces gisevi (combucha) culture has long been widely used by the population for food purposes, as well a natural prophylactic and medicinal agent. detoxification, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunostimulating, hypolipidemic properties etc. are among proven of kombucha. Researches number authors have pronounced bacteriostatic bactericidal effect kombucha metabolites agains...

Background: Aloes have been used as medicinal plants for centuries. The immunomodulatory effect of Aloe vera has previouslybeen shown. Meanwhile, TNF-α, as an inflammatory cytokine, plays an essential role in defense against invading pathogen. Objectives: In the present study, the effects of A. vera extract gel and its fractions were investigated on the TNF-α production bymacrophages against Ca...

Although each statistical unit on which measurements are taken is unique typically there is not enough information available to account totally for its uniqueness. Therefore heterogeneity among units has to be limited by structural assumptions. One classical approach is to use random effects models, which assume that heterogeneity can be described by distributional assumptions. However, inferen...

Meta-analysis is a standard statistical method used to combine the conclusions of individual studies that are related and the results of single study alone can not answered to deal with issues. The data are summarized by one or more outcome measure estimates along with their standard errors. The multivariate model and the variations between studies are not considered in most articles. Here we d...

This paper sheds some light on the problems associated with random effects gravity approaches. Arguments for the superiority of a fixed effects model are given both along intuitive and econometric lines based on a Hausman test.  2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.