Search

In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the stability of droplets in the emulsion during storage and distinguish the stability of different prescriptions. The multisample analytical centrifugation-LUMisizer was applied to evaluate the impact of freeze-thaw cycles on droplets, combined with droplet size parameters, zeta potential, and observation by cryo -transmission electronic microscopy. After freeze-thaw cycles, the droplets showed significant changes in characters, globule size distribution, and light transmission. After freeze-thaw cycles, the droplets were demulsified (oil droplets and creaming were observed). Formulations with different contents of propofol (10:1 and 20:1, m/v) showed significant differences in the behavior of the droplets. Droplets by accelerated destruction could be distinguished by LUMisizer, which could quickly identify the stability and effectively supplement the traditional methods, offering better quality control of droplets in the emulsion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study optimised the conditions for ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of defatted wheat germ protein (WGP) and evaluated its effect on the functional properties. Single-factor and orthogonal experiment designs were combined to optimise the UAE extraction condition. The extraction of WGP reached the highest level, at 88.66%, with a solid : liquid ratio of 1 : 25 g·mL-1, pH value of 9.0, ultrasonic time of 10 min, and ultrasonic power at 400 W. Under these conditions, albumin, globulin, prolamin, and glutenin accounted for 32.26, 28.52, 5.42, and 22.40% of total protein, respectively. In addition, this study compared the functional properties of WGP extracted by UAE with the results based on a commercially available soy protein (SP) isolate (SPI). The UAE of WGP had better oil absorption, foaming, and emulsifying properties. Therefore, UAE is a promising technique for food protein extraction because it can change the protein efficiencies and properties of the extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is one of the most important resources. As the most important transboundary river in Asia, the Mekong River, plays a significant role in the development of aquatic ecosystems in the Belt and Road Initiative. The water utilization status of the Mekong River Basin Region and the Mekong River transboundary distribution and development are examined. A non-radial direction distance function is used to analyze the water use efficiency of the Mekong River Basin Region from two perspectives: total-factor and water-factor. The influencing factors of water use efficiency are discussed in terms of grey relational analysis. The results reveal that water use efficiency in Qinghai, Yunnan, Thailand and Cambodia is at a relatively optimal level, but in Tibet, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam it is relatively low. Economic development level, technological progress, industrial structure, trade and foreign investment all influence water use efficiency; the level of economic development has the greatest effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) is widely consumed as a functional food due to its multiple health effects, but few studies about COS supplement on placental antioxidant and nutrition transport capacity were reported. Taken pregnant sow as a model, we aimed to investigate the effects of dietary COS supplementation during late gestation on placental amino acids transport and antioxidant defense capacity of sows. From day (d) 85 of gestation to parturition, sixteen pregnant sows were divided into a control group (basal diet without COS supplementation) and a COS group (30 mg COS/kg basal diet). Plasma sample of sow was collected on d 110 of gestation, and placenta tissue was obtained during parturition. Then plasma antioxidant enzyme's activities, the relative level of oxidant stress related genes, amino acids transport related genes and mTOR pathway molecules in placenta were determined. Results: Results showed that maternal dietary supplementation with COS increased (P < 0.05) plasma total SOD, caused a downtrend in plasma MDA (0.05 < P < 0.10) on d 110 of gestation. Interestingly, the mRNA expression of some antioxidant genes in the placenta were increased (P < 0.05) and pro-inflammatory cytokines were reduced (P < 0.05) by COS supplement, whereas no significant difference was observed in the activities of placental total SOD and CAT between two groups. Additionally, further study demonstrated that COS feeding stimulated mTOR signaling pathway, increased amino acids transporters expression in placenta. Conclusions: These observations suggested that COS supplement in sow's diet during late gestation enhanced antioxidant defense capacity of sows, promoted placental amino acids transport, which may contribute to the health of sows and development of fetus during gestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of L-arginine (Arg) on photomicrographs and HSP70 expression in the liver of weanling piglets. Twelve healthy Landrace x Yorkshire piglets that had been weaned at 21 d (average body weight 5.56 ± 0.51 kg) were randomly divided into a control group and an Arg group (6 g/kg feed). At age 28 d, all of the piglets were slaughtered to obtain liver samples to determine HSP70 expression by real-time PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. Results: The results showed that, compared to control piglets, treatment with Arg decreased inflammatory reactions caused by weaning. The immunohistochemical localization of HSP70 in liver revealed strong expression in the Arg group. Arg increased HSP70 mRNA and HSP70 expression in the liver (P < 0.05). Conclusions: These findings suggest that dietary supplementation with Arg could maintain liver health by inducing HSP70 expression in weanling piglets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starving Myxococcus xanthus bacteria use their motility systems to self-organize into multicellular fruiting bodies, large mounds in which cells differentiate into metabolically inert spores. Despite the identification of the genetic pathways required for aggregation and the use of microcinematography to observe aggregation dynamics in WT and mutant strains, a mechanistic understanding of aggregation is still incomplete. For example, it is not clear why some of the initial aggregates mature into fruiting bodies, whereas others disperse, merge, or split into two. Here, we develop high-throughput image quantification and statistical analysis methods to gain insight into M. xanthus developmental aggregationdynamics. A quantitative metric of features characterizing each aggregate is used to deduce the properties of the aggregates that are correlated with each fate. The analysis shows that small aggregate size but not neighbor-related parameters correlate with aggregate dispersal. Furthermore, close proximity is necessary but not sufficient for aggregate merging. Finally, splitting occurs for those aggregates that are unusually large and elongated. These observations place severe constraints on the underlying aggregation mechanisms and present strong evidence against the role of long-range morphogenic gradients or biased cell exchange in the dispersal, merging, or splitting of transient aggregates. This approach can be expanded and adapted to study self-organization in other cellular systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the online and offline practical reform of the Modern Instrumental Analysis course of biotechnology majors from teaching content, teaching method, teaching demonstration to teaching effect, the traditional single offline lecture is transformed into diversified and interactive modern teaching. The practical reform enriches and optimizes the course content, perfects and improves the course assessment system, and improves the teaching quality. It achieves the student-centered and application-oriented teaching goal, and also provides reference for further cultivating high-quality applied talents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the edible fungi industry in Hebei Province has developed rapidly, with gradually increased cultivation scale and production output, and has become the pillar industry of the province, playing a certain role in promoting the development of rural economy and rural revitalization. Based on the in-depth analysis of the development status, future development direction and current constraints of the edible fungi industry in each typical county of Hebei Province in recent years, the paper puts forward corresponding development countermeasures, which has certain reference value for the county-level edible fungi industry of Hebei Province to promote rural revitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a study to analyze the unmet needs of and risk factors for use of assistive walking devices by the elderly based on sample survey data from Shanghai, China from July to October 2019. Among a total sample size of 11,193 people age 55 and older, 1,947 people (17.39%) needed assistive walking devices, 829 (42.58%) of whom needed but did not use those devices. Multivariate analysis indicated that residence, living alone or cohabitating, indoor handrails, the number of diseases, and IADL were factors influencing the unmet need for assistive walking devices (p < 0.05, respectively). People who lived in community health centers (p = 0.0104, OR = 1.956, 95% CI: 1.171-3.267) and those who lived only with their spouse (p = 0.0002, OR = 2.901, 95% CI: 1.641-5.126) were more likely to have an unmet need for assistive walking devices. People without indoor handrails (p = 0.0481, OR = 0.718, 95% CI: 0.517-0.997), those with 3 or more diseases (p = 0.0008, OR = 0.577, 95% CI: 0.418-0.796), and those with severely impaired IADL (p = 0.0002, OR = 0.139, 95% CI: 0.05-0.386) were less likely to have an unmet need for assistive walking devices. Self-perceived needs of the elderly, the diversity and performance of assistive devices, and the accessibility and affordability of assistive walking devices may lead to unmet needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a study to assess the characteristics, scope of activity, and negative emotions in elderly women with urinary incontinence (UI) based on a longitudinal follow-up conducted in Shanghai, China from 2013 to 2019. A total of 3,531 elderly women were included in the final analysis, and 697 women who experienced UI during follow-up were included in the UI group. Subjects with UI were subdivided into those with partial UI (UI once a day or less) and UI (frequent UI). Two thousand eight hundred and thirty-four women who did not have UI during the same period served as the control group. The prevalence of UI was 19.74% in this study. Logistic regression analysis revealed that being older (> 80 years of age), having a high level of education (> 12 years; elderly people with a high level of education may pay more attention to their health and notice UI more readily), a low personal monthly income (= 3,000 RMB), more gravidity/parity, and having a chronic disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), dementia, or Parkinson's disease) were risk factors for UI (p < 0.05). About 60% of women in the partial UI group engaged in daily activities outdoors, while this number decreased sharply to 3.6% in the UI group. Women in the UI group were more likely to have negative emotions, such as depression, anxiety, irritability, or feeling worthless (p < 0.001). Among elderly women with dementia, those with UI had defects in terms of judgment in everyday life, the ability of convey information, and the ability to understand information (p < 0.05). More attention needs to be paid to the adverse effects of UI on activities of daily living (ADL) and mental health in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-fat diet (HFD) is demonstrated to disturb the bile acid metabolism. The rhythm of bile acid metabolism can also be affected by uridine, whose metabolism exhibits a daily rhythm. However, the mechanism of dynamic uridine administration affecting bile acid during HFD remains unclear. In this study, C57BL/6J mice were fed HFD (the control group; CON) or HFD with oral administration of uridine in the daytime (DUR) and nighttime (NUR) to investigate the mechanism of the effect of uridine on the bile acid. This study showed that the mRNA expression of uridine transporters and circadian clock genes in the jejunum was affected by zeitgeber time (ZT) (P < 0.001). Genes related to the metabolism of pyrimidines in the liver showed a high dependence on daily rhythm (P < 0.01), and DUR remarkably up-regulated the expression of ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M2 (RRM2) (P < 0.05) compared to the CON group. Importantly, the mRNA expression of bile acids nuclear receptors, bile acid synthesis, and transporters in the liver showed significantly rhythmically changed (P < 0.05), and the expression of cholesterol 7-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1), fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4), Na+/taurocholate co transporting polypeptide (NTCP), and bile salt export pump (BSEP) mRNAs of mice with uridine administration increased significantly (P < 0.05). The mRNA expression of the transporters of cholesterol and bile acids in the ileum was also affected by ZT (P < 0.01) and significantly dependent on uridine administration (P < 0.05). The expression of FXR and SHP was significantly affected by ZT and uridine, respectively. In conclusion, dynamic administration of uridine could regulate the rhythm of gene expression of pyrimidine and bile acid metabolism in the liver and ileum of HFD-fed mice, which contributed to the further study of circadian rhythmic physiological and pathological changes of bile acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aim to maximise phytic acid removal and minimise losses of dry matter and minerals (Ca, Fe, Zn) in faba bean, fractions of faba beans (whole faba beans, dehulled faba beans, hulls) and flours, were soaked in demineralised water at 10 °C (SDW), NaAc buffer of pH 3.5 at 10 °C (SAB), and 500 U L−1 phytase of pH 5.5 at 50 °C (SPS). In whole seeds and flour, SAB removed 20–51% phytic acid from seeds, and SPS 100% from flour depending upon different preheating treatments; dry matter, Ca, Fe, and Zn losses were 1.8–18%, 20–61%, 33–61% and 8–51%. In dehulled seeds flour, phytic acid could be removed 100% by SPS treatments. In dehulled seeds and flour, losses of dry matter, Ca, Fe were 2.4–18.6%, 12–63%, 11–43%, and Zn apparent gain was 12–73% respectively. In hulls flour, SPS removed 80–82% phytic acid, and SAB 48–50% depending upon different preheating treatments; dry matter, Ca, Zn losses were 6.4–28.7%, 16–46%, 60–72%, and Fe apparent gain was 2–73%, respectively. Phytase application is an effective method to rapidly remove phytic acid while preserving relatively more dry matter and minerals than other soaking approaches in faba bean fractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under starvation conditions, a swarm of Myxococcus xanthus cells will undergo development, a multicellular process culminating in the formation of many aggregates called fruiting bodies, each of which contains up to 100,000 spores. The mechanics of symmetry breaking and the self-organization of cells into fruiting bodies is an active area of research. Here we use microcinematography and automated image processing to quantify several transient features of developmental dynamics. An analysis of experimental data indicates that aggregation reaches its steady state in a highly nonmonotonic fashion. The number of aggregates rapidly peaks at a value 2- to 3-fold higher than the final value and then decreases before reaching a steady state. The time dependence of aggregate size is also nonmonotonic, but to a lesser extent: average aggregate size increases from the onset of aggregation to between 10 and 15 h and then gradually decreases thereafter. During this process, the distribution of aggregates transitions from a nearly random state early in development to a more ordered state later in development. A comparison of experimental results to a mathematical model based on the traffic jam hypothesis indicates that the model fails to reproduce these dynamic features of aggregation, even though it accurately describes its final outcome. The dynamic features of M. xanthus aggregation uncovered in this study impose severe constraints on its underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]