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Real-time thermal sensing through flexible temperature sensors in extreme environments is critically essential for precisely monitoring chemical reactions, propellant combustions, and metallurgy processes. However, despite their low response speed, most existing thermal sensors and related sensing materials will degrade or even lose their sensing performances at either high or low temperatures. Achieving a microsecond response time over an ultrawide temperature range remains challenging. Here, we design a flexible temperature sensor that employs ultrathin and consecutive Mo 1- x W x S 2 alloy films constructed via inkjet printing and a thermal annealing strategy. The sensing elements exhibit a broad work range (20 to 823 K on polyimide and 1,073 K on flexible mica) and a record-low response time (about 30 μs). These properties enable the sensors to detect instantaneous temperature variations induced by contact with liquid nitrogen, water droplets, and flames. Furthermore, a thermal sensing array offers the spatial mapping of arbitrary shapes, heat conduction, and cold traces even under bending deformation. This approach paves the way for designing unique sensitive materials and flexible sensors for transient sensing under harsh conditions., Competing Interests: Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Weiwei Li et al.)

The microwave and millimeter-wave (MMW) imaging technology is gaining increasing interest for food inspection. It allows for noninvasive, contactless, and fast scanning capabilities, while being cost-efficient and safe to human. This review paper introduces the fundamentals in the interaction of electromagnetic wave with food materials and the current MMW sensing and imaging systems used for foods. Then we present emerging technologies in MMW imaging for inspecting food quality and safety, aiming to meet the modern food industry's demand. According to the most recent technological advancements, it is expected that high-performance antenna, ultrawide bandwidth signal generation, nano-scale semiconductor technologies, radio frequency identification with inductance-capacitance resonator, and machine learning could significantly enhance the capabilities of MMW imaging systems for food inspection.

The modulation of the coordination environment of single atom catalysts (SACs) plays a vital role in promoting CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR). Herein, N or B doped Fe-embedded graphyne (Fe-GY), Fe-nXGYm (n = 1, 2, 3; X = N, B; m = 1, 2, 3), are employed as probes to reveal the effect of the coordination environment engineering on CO 2 RR performance via heteroatom doping in SACs. The results show that the doping position and number of N or B in Fe-GY significantly affects catalyst activity and CO 2 RR product selectivity. In comparison, Fe-1NGY exhibits high-performance CO 2 RR to CH 4 with a low limiting potential of -0.17 V, and Fe-2NGY3 is demonstrated as an excellent CO 2 RR electrocatalyst for producing HCOOH with a low limiting potential of -0.16 V. With applied potential, Fe-GY, Fe-1NGY, and Fe-2NGY3 exhibit significant advantages in CO 2 RR to CH 4 while hydrogen evolution reaction is inhibited. The intrinsic essence analysis illustrates that heteroatom doping modulates the electronic structure of active sites and regulates the adsorption strength of the intermediates, thereby rendering a favorable coordination environment for CO 2 RR. This work highlights Fe-nXGYm as outstanding SACs for CO 2 RR, and provides an in-depth insight into the intrinsic essence of the promotion effect from heteroatom doping., (© 2024 The Authors. Small published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Wireless and wearable sensors attract considerable interest in personalized healthcare by providing a unique approach for remote, noncontact, and continuous monitoring of various health-related signals without interference with daily life. Recent advances in wireless technologies and wearable sensors have promoted practical applications due to their significantly improved characteristics, such as reduction in size and thickness, enhancement in flexibility and stretchability, and improved conformability to the human body. Currently, most researches focus on active materials and structural designs for wearable sensors, with just a few exceptions reflecting on the technologies for wireless data transmission. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art wireless technologies and related studies on empowering wearable sensors. The emerging functional nanomaterials utilized for designing unique wireless modules are highlighted, which include metals, carbons, and MXenes. Additionally, the review outlines the system-level integration of wireless modules with flexible sensors, spanning from novel design strategies for enhanced conformability to efficient transmitting data wirelessly. Furthermore, the review introduces representative applications for remote and noninvasive monitoring of physiological signals through on-skin and implantable wireless flexible sensing systems. Finally, the challenges, perspectives, and unprecedented opportunities for wireless and wearable sensors are discussed., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Macular carotenoids, which consist of lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin, are dietary antioxidants and macular pigments in the eyes, protecting the macula from light-induced oxidative stress. Lutein is also the main carotenoid in the infant brain and is involved in cognitive development. While a few articles reviewed the role of lutein in early health and development, the current review is the first that focuses on the outcomes of lutein supplementation, either provided to mothers or to infants. Additionally, lutein status and metabolism during pregnancy and lactation, factors that limit the potential application of lutein as a nutritional intervention, and solutions to overcome the limitation are also discussed. In brief, the lutein intake in pregnant and lactating women in the United States may not be optimal. Furthermore, preterm and formula-fed infants are known to have compromised lutein status compared to term and breast-fed infants, respectively. While lutein supplementation via both maternal and infant consumption improves lutein status in infants, the application of lutein as a nutritional intervention may be compromised by its low bioavailability. Various encapsulation techniques have been developed to enhance the delivery of lutein in adult animals or human but should be further evaluated in neonatal models.

Lutein is essential for infant visual and cognitive development but has low stability and solubility. This study aimed to enhance the stability and bioaccessibility of lutein using oil-in-water emulsions stabilized with biopolymers. Commercially available octenylsuccinylated (OS) starches, including capsule TA® (CTA), HI-CAP®100 (HC), and Purity Gum® 2000 (PG), along with gum Arabic (GA) variants Ticaloid acacia Max® (TAM), TICAmulsion® 3020 (TM), and pre-hydrate gum Arabic (PHGA), were chosen as emulsifiers. By screening the effect of biopolymer concentration and oil volume fraction (Φ), emulsions stabilized with CTA, HC, or TM at 20% and 30% (w/v) concentration and 70% Φ exhibited a gel-like structure and were selected for further assessments. After a week at 25 °C, emulsions stabilized by CTA and HC showed no significant change in droplet size, while TM emulsion exhibited a 1.58-fold increase. At 45 °C, all emulsions exhibited increase in droplet size. Lutein retention is higher in CTA emulsions at both storage temperatures than free lutein. In vitro bioaccessibility of all lutein emulsions was higher than that of free lutein. These findings highlight the superior stability and bioaccessibility of the lutein emulsion stabilized by OS starch, positioning it as a promising carrier to broaden lutein applications in infant foods., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors confirm that they have no conflict of interest to declare for this publication., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Newborns' eyes and brains are prone to oxidative stress. Lutein has antioxidant properties and is the main component of macular pigment essential for protecting the retina, but has low bioavailability, thereby limiting its potential as a nutritional supplement. Oil-in-water emulsions have been used as lutein delivery systems. In particular, octenylsuccinated (OS) starch is a biopolymer-derived emulsifier safe to use in infant foods, while exhibiting superior emulsifying capacity. This study determined the effects of an OS starch-stabilized lutein emulsion on lutein bioavailability in Sprague-Dawley neonatal rats. In an acute study, 10-day-old pups received a single oral dose of free lutein or lutein emulsion, with subsequent blood sampling over 24 h to analyze pharmacokinetics. The lutein emulsion group had a 2.12- and 1.91-fold higher maximum serum lutein concentration and area under the curve, respectively, compared to the free lutein group. In two daily dosing studies, oral lutein was given from postnatal day 5 to 18. Blood and tissue lutein concentrations were measured. The results indicated that the daily intake of lutein emulsion led to a higher lutein concentration in circulation and key tissues compared to free lutein. The OS starch-stabilized emulsion could be an effective and safe lutein delivery system for newborns.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene have commonly been applied as the sensitive layer of strain sensors. However, the buckling deformation of CNTs and the crack generation of graphene usually leads to an unsatisfactory strain sensing performance. In this work, we developed a universal strategy to prepare welded CNT-graphene hybrids with tunable compositions and a tunable bonding strength between components by the in situ reduction of CNT-graphene oxide (GO) hybrid by thermal annealing. The stiffness of the hybrid film could be tailored by both initial CNT/GO dosage and annealing temperature, through which its electromechanical behaviors could also be defined. The strain sensor based on the CNT-graphene hybrid could be applied to collect epidermal bio-signals by both capturing the faint skin deformation from wrist pulse and recording the large deformations from joint bending, which has great potential in health monitoring, motion sensing and human-machine interfacing.

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has become a major public health concern worldwide. Slowly digested or indigestible carbohydrates such as resistant starch (RS) are associated with a low glycemic index (GI) and the decreased risk of developing T2D. Recently, starch inclusion complexes (ICs) have raised attention due to their thermally stable structure and high RS content. In this study, starch-ascorbyl palmitate (AP) ICs were produced using two different methods with hydrothermal treatments performed, and their in vitro digestion kinetics and in vivo glycemic response in C57BL/6J mice were investigated to determine their potential as a new type of RS, i.e., RS5. After treatments of annealing followed by acid hydrolysis (ANN-ACH), IC samples produced by both methods retained V-type crystalline structure. Either in their raw or treated conditions, V 6h -AP ICs prepared using the "empty" V-type method exhibited a more favorable hydrolysis pattern as compared to its counterpart produced by the DMSO method in terms of a lower hydrolysis rate and equilibrium concentration (C ∞ ) (p < 0.05). From the in vitro results, the ANN-ACH treated V 6h -AP IC exhibited an estimated GI (eGI) value of 54.83, falling within the range of low GI foods and was the lowest among all tested samples (p < 0.05). Consistent with the in vitro digestion kinetics, the in vivo results showed that mice fed with ANN-ACH V 6h -AP IC exhibited a modest glycemic response as evidenced by the lowest increase in postprandial blood glucose and AUC blood glucose (p < 0.05). In addition, the in vivo GI of the ANN-ACH V 6h -AP IC (39.53) was the lowest among all the sample treatments and was even lower than that of the RS2 comparison (56, p < 0.05), indicating its more pronounced effect in modulating the postprandial glycemic response in mice and great potential as a new RS5., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors confirm that they have no conflict of interest to declare for this publication., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The 70-gene signature (70-GS, MammaPrint) test has been recommended by the main guidelines to evaluate prognosis and chemotherapy benefit of hormonal receptor positive human epidermal receptor 2 negative (HR + /Her2-) early breast cancer (BC). However, this expensive assay is not always accessible and affordable worldwide. Based on our previous study, we established nomogram models to predict the binary and quartile categorized risk of 70-GS., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a consecutive cohort of 150 female patients with HR + /Her2- BC and eligible 70-GS test. Comparison of 40 parameters including the patients' medical history risk factors, imaging features and clinicopathological characteristics was performed between patients with high risk (N = 62) and low risk (N = 88) of 70-GS test, whereas risk calculations from established models including Clinical Treatment Score Post-5 years (CTS5), Immunohistochemistry 3 (IHC3) and Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) were also compared between high vs low binary risk of 70-GS and among ultra-high (N = 12), high (N = 50), low (N = 65) and ultra-low (N = 23) quartile categorized risk of 70-GS. The data of 150 patients were randomly split by 4:1 ratio with training set of 120 patients and testing set 30 patients. Univariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression were performed to establish the two nomogram models to predict the the binary and quartile categorized risk of 70-GS., Results: Compared to 70-GS low-risk patients, the high-risk patients had significantly less cardiovascular co-morbidity (p = 0.034), more grade 3 BC (p = 0.006), lower progesterone receptor (PR) positive percentage (p = 0.007), more Ki67 high BC (≥ 20%, p < 0.001) and no significant differences in all the imaging parameters of ultrasound and mammogram. The IHC3 risk and the NPI calculated score significantly correlated with both the binary and quartile categorized 70-GS risk classifications (both p < 0.001). The area under curve (AUC) of receiver-operating curve (ROC) of nomogram for binary risk prediction were 0.826 (C-index 0.903, 0.799-1.000) for training and 0.737 (C-index 0.785, 0.700-0.870) for validation dataset respectively. The AUC of ROC of nomogram for quartile risk prediction was 0.870 (C-index 0.854, 0.746-0.962) for training and 0.592 (C-index 0.769, 0.703-0.835) for testing set. The prediction accuracy of the nomogram for quartile categorized risk groups were 55.0% (likelihood ratio tests, p < 0.001) and 53.3% (p = 0.04) for training and validation, which more than double the baseline probability of 25%., Conclusions: To our knowledge, we are the first to establish easy-to-use nomograms to predict the individualized binary (high vs low) and the quartile categorized (ultra-high, high, low and ultra-low) risk classification of 70-GS test with fair performance, which might provide information for treatment choice for those who have no access to the 70-GS testing., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) control many essential biological pathways which are often misregulated in disease. As such, selective PPI modulators are desirable to unravel complex functions of PPIs and thus expand the repertoire of therapeutic targets. However, the large size and relative flatness of PPI interfaces make them challenging molecular targets for conventional drug modalities, rendering most PPIs "undruggable". Therefore, there is a growing need to discover innovative molecules that are able to modulate crucial PPIs. Peptides are ideal candidates to deliver such therapeutics attributed to their ability to closely mimic structural features of protein interfaces. However, their inherently poor proteolysis resistance and cell permeability inevitably hamper their biomedical applications. The introduction of a constraint ( i.e. , peptide cyclization) to stabilize peptides' secondary structure is a promising strategy to address this problem as witnessed by the rapid development of cyclic peptide drugs in the past two decades. Here, we comprehensively review the recent progress on stabilized cyclic peptides in targeting challenging PPIs. Technological advancements and emerging chemical approaches for stabilizing active peptide conformations are categorized in terms of α-helix stapling, β-hairpin mimetics and macrocyclization. To discover potent and selective ligands, cyclic peptide library technologies were updated based on genetic, biochemical or synthetic methodologies. Moreover, several advances to improve the permeability and oral bioavailability of biologically active cyclic peptides enable the de novo development of cyclic peptide ligands with pharmacological properties. In summary, the development of cyclic peptide-based PPI modulators carries tremendous promise for the next generation of therapeutic agents to target historically "intractable" PPI systems., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Metal chalcogenides are primarily used for thermoelectric applications due to their enormous potential to convert waste heat into valuable energy. Several studies focused on single or dual aliovalent doping techniques to enhance thermoelectric properties in semiconductor materials; however, these dopants enhance one property while deteriorating others due to the interdependency of these properties or may render the host material toxic. Therefore, a strategic doping approach is vital to harness the full potential of doping to improve the efficiency of thermoelectric generation while restoring the base material eco-friendly. Here, we report a well-designed counter-doped eco-friendly nanomaterial system (~70 nm) using both isovalent (cerium) and aliovalent (cobalt) in a Bi 2 Se 3 system for enhancing energy conversion efficiency. Substituting cerium for bismuth simultaneously enhances the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity via ionized impurity minimization. The boost in the average electronegativity offered by the self-doped transitional metal cobalt leads to an improvement in the degree of delocalization of the valence electrons. Hence, the new energy state around the Fermi energy serving as electron feed to the conduction band coherently improves the density of the state of conducting electrons. The resulting high power factor and low thermal conductivity contributed to the remarkable improvement in the figure of merit (zT = 0.55) at 473 K for an optimized doping concentration of 0.01 at. %. sample, and a significant nanoparticle size reduction from 400 nm to ~70 nm, making the highly performing materials in this study (Bi2-xCexCo2x3Se3) an excellent thermoelectric generator. The results presented here are higher than several Bi 2 Se 3 -based materials already reported.

Recently, surging interests exist in direct electrochemical ammonia (NH 3 ) synthesis from nitric oxide (NO) due to the dual benefit of NH 3 synthesis and NO removal. However, designing highly efficient catalysts is still challenging. Based on density functional theory, the best ten candidates of transition-metal atoms (TMs) embedded in phosphorus carbide (PC) monolayer is screened out as highly active catalysts for direct NO-to-NH 3 electroreduction. The employment of machine learning-aided theoretical calculations helps to identify the critical role of TM-d orbitals in regulating NO activation. A V-shape tuning rule of TM-d orbitals for the Gibbs free energy change of NO or limiting potentials is further revealed as the design principle of TM embedded PC (TM-PC) for NO-to-NH 3 electroreduction. Moreover, after employing effective screening strategies including surface stability, selectivity, the kinetic barrier of potential-determining step, and thermal stability comprehensively studied for the ten TM-PC candidates, only Pt embedded PC monolayer has been identified as the most promising direct NO-to-NH 3 electroreduction with high feasibility and catalytic performance. This work not only offers a promising catalyst but also sheds light on the active origin and design principle of PC-based single-atom catalysts for NO-to-NH 3 conversion., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Data on the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the preoperative evaluation and surgery planning of gynecomastia are limited. The purpose of this study is to reveal MRI features and categories of gynecomastia and compare surgical outcomes following MRI and sonography as well as their diagnostic accuracy., Methods: The area of the gland and the whole breast on the transverse plane via nipple of MRI were measured to calculate the ratio between them. Areola, mass and branch patterns were categorized to represent three different gynecomastia type on MRI. 183 patients were included, with 38 in MRI group and 145 in sonography group. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed by the level of agreement between preoperative imaging findings and intraoperative observations. Surgical data, patients' satisfaction and complications were compared between the two groups., Results: MRI in 75 gynecomastic breasts demonstrated the average ratio of the gland to the whole breast was 10.6%±13.3%. The most common MRI categories were branch patterns (45.3%). The diagnostic concordance rate of MRI was higher than sonography (100% vs. 86.8%, p = 0.001). Among those junior surgeons, the length of surgery was reduced in MRI group (100 min vs. 115 min, p = 0.048). There was no difference in terms of patient's satisfaction and complication rate between MRI and sonography., Conclusion: MRI was superior to sonography in diagnostic accuracy to assess the tissue components of gynecomastia and provided informative guidance especially for junior surgeons. Surgical outcomes were comparable regardless of the use of MRI or sonography for evaluation., Level of Evidence Iv: IThis journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 ., (© 2023. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature and International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.)

The research of additive biomass flame retardants is becoming more and more popular. In this work, amino modified halloysite nanotubes (A-HNTs), chitosan (CS) and phytic acid (PA) were introduced into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix to construct PA/A-HNT/CS/PVA organic-inorganic composite film with hydrogen bond and covalent bond cross-linking network structure. Adding PA/A-HNT/CS can remarkably improve the mechanical strength, UV resistance and thermal stability of PVA film. Compared with control PVA film, the transmittance of composite film in ultraviolet region decreases from 90 % to <15 %, and the tensile strength raises from 19.8 MPa to 31.0 MPa. The thermal decomposition temperature of the composite film increases, the weight loss rate decreases obviously, and the carbon residue can reach 26 wt% at 700 °C. The limiting oxygen index increases from 18.5 % to 32.2 %. Furthermore, the addition of this flame-retardant system can obviously reduce the combustion intensity of PVA, and its flame-retardant grade can reach V-0. It is of great significance to expand the application of PVA and the development of biomass flame retardant., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The second-largest transcription factor superfamily in plants is that of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) family, which plays an important complex physiological role in plant growth, tissue development, and environmental adaptation. Systematic research on the Chenopodium quinoa bHLH family will enable a better understanding of this species. Herein, authors used a variety of bioinformatics methods and quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) to explore the evolution and function of the 218 CqbHLH genes identified. A total of 218 CqbHLH transcription factor genes were identified in the whole genome, located on 18 chromosomes. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the CqbHLH and AtbHLH proteins to determine their homology, and the members were divided into 20 subgroups and one unclustered gene. Authors also analyzed 218 CqbHLH genes, conservative motifs, chromosome diffusion, and gene replication. The author constructed one Neighbor-Joining (NJ) tree and a collinearity analysis map of the bHLH family in C. quinoa and six other plant species to study the evolutionary relationship and homology among multiple species. In addition, the expression levels of 20 CqbHLH members from different subgroups in various tissues, different fruit developmental stages, and six abiotic stresses were analyzed. Authors identified 218 CqbHLH genes and studied their biological functions, providing a basis for better understanding and further studying the bHLH family in quinoa., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Xue, Fan, Zheng, Yang, Feng, Chen, Yang, Yao, Weng, Kong, Liu, Cheng and Ruan.)

High entropy oxide nanoparticles (HEO NPs) with multiple component elements possess improved stability and multiple uses for functional applications, including catalysis, data memory, and energy storage. However, the synthesis of homogenous HEO NPs containing five or more immiscible elements with a single-phase structure is still a great challenge due to the strict synthetic conditions. In particular, several synthesis methods of HEO NPs require extremely high temperatures. In this study, we demonstrate a low cost, facile, and effective method to synthesize three- to eight-element HEO nanoparticles by a combination of electrospinning and low-temperature ambient annealing. HEO NPs were generated by annealing nanofibers at 330 °C for 30 minutes under air conditions. The average size of the HEO nanoparticles was ∼30 nm and homogenous element distribution was obtained from post-electrospinning thermal decomposition. The synthesized HEO NPs exhibited magnetic properties with the highest saturation magnetization at 9.588 emu g -1 and the highest coercivity at 147.175 Oe for HEO NPs with four magnetic elements while integrating more nonmagnetic elements will suppress the magnetic response. This electrospun and low-temperature annealing method provides an easy and flexible design for nanoparticle composition and economic processing pathway, which offers a cost- and energy-effective, and high throughput entropy nanoparticle synthesis on a large scale., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Vitamin D plays a significant role in the physiological functions of the human body. However, the application of vitamin D in functional foods is limited due to its sensitivity to light and oxygen. Therefore, in this study, we developed an effective method to protect vitamin D by encapsulating it in amylose. In detail, vitamin D was encapsulated by amylose inclusion complex, followed by structural characterization and evaluation of its stability and release properties. The results of X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that vitamin D was successfully encapsulated in the amylose inclusion complex, and the loading capacity was 1.96% ± 0.02%. The photostability and thermal stability of vitamin D after encapsulation was increased by 59% and 28%, respectively. In addition, in vitro simulated digestion showed that vitamin D was protected through the simulated gastric environment and can be released gradually in the simulated intestinal fluid, implying its improved bioaccessibility. Our findings provide a practical strategy for the development of functional foods based on vitamin D.

Amylose, the linear component of starch, can complex with small molecules to form single helical inclusion complexes of 6, 7, or 8 glucosyl units per helical turn, known as V 6 , V 7 , and V 8 . In this study, starch-salicylic acid (SA) inclusion complexes with different amounts of residual SA were obtained. Their structural characteristics and digestibility profiles were obtained with complementary techniques and an in vitro digestion assay. Upon complexation with excess SA, V 8 type starch inclusion complex was formed. When excess SA crystals were removed, the V 8 polymorphic structure could remain, while further removing intra-helical SA converted the V 8 conformation to V 7 . Furthermore, the digestion rate of the resulted V 7 was lowered as indicated by increased resistant starch (RS) content, which could be due to its tight helical structure, whereas the two V 8 complexes were highly digestible. Such findings could have practical implications for novel food product development and nanoencapsulation technology., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Microwave imaging technology is a useful method often applied in medical diagnosis and can be used by the food industry to ensure food safety and quality. For fruit, ripeness is the primary characteristic which determines quality for the consumer. This paper proposes a novel microwave imaging system to determine the ripeness of watermelon as a proof of concept. The design employs a circular array with 10 Coplanar Vivaldi antennas offering wide bandwidth, high gain, and high efficiency. S-parameters between antennas are collected quickly via automated channel switching for fast image generation. Eight different watermelon samples of varying ripeness, type, dimensions, and origin are scanned and imaged. Comparisons with sample cross-sections show distinct differences in image characteristics based on watermelon maturity. Sugar concentration of unripe and ripe watermelon is also measured and plotted for further validation of the imaging technique., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Nathan Jeong reports financial support was provided by 10.13039/100000199USDA and Alabama Department of Agriculture. Yu Gan reports financial support was provided by US Department of Agriculture., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Purpose: Screen-detected unilateral non-palpable breast cancer (NPBC) shows favorable prognosis, whereas bilateral breast cancer (BBC), especially synchronous BBC (SBBC) manifests worse survival than unilateral breast cancer (BC). It remains unclear whether screen-detected bilateral NPBC has compromised survival and requires intensified treatment or favorable prognosis and needs de-escalating therapy., Methods: From 2003 to 2017, 1,075 consecutive NPBC patients were retrospectively reviewed. There were 988 patients with unilateral NPBC (UniNPBC), and 87 patients with ipsilateral NPBC + any contralateral BC [(N + AnyContra) PBC], including 32 patients with bilateral NPBC (BiNPBC) and 55 patients with ipsilateral NPBC + contralateral palpable cancer [(N + Contra) PBC]. Median follow-up time was 91 (48-227) months. Clinicopathological characteristics were compared between UniNPBC and BBC, whereas relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) among BBC subgroups. RFS and OS factors of BBC were identified., Results: Compared to UniNPBC, patients with screen-detected bilateral BC had more invasive (85.1%, 74.8%), ER negative (26.4%, 17.1%), PR negative (36.8%, 23.5%), triple-negative (21.6%, 8.5%) BC as well as less breast conserving surgery (17.2%, 32.4%), radiotherapy (13.8%, 32.0%) and endocrine therapy (71.3%, 83.9%). 10 year RFS and OS rates of (N + AnyContra) PBC (72.8%, 81.5%), (N + Contra) PBC (60.6%, 73.9%), and synchronous (N + Contra) PBC (58.1%, 70.1%) were significantly compromised compared to UniNPBC (91.0%, 97.2%). RFS factors of BBC included pN3 (p = 0.048), lymphovascular invasion (p = 0.008) and existence of contralateral palpable interval BC (p = 0.008), while the OS relevant factor was pN3 (p = 0.018)., Conclusion: Screen-detected bilateral NPBC including SynBiNPBC and MetaBiNPBC showed good prognosis as UniNPBC so that the therapy of BiNPBC could be de-escalated and optimized according to UniNPBC. Contrarily, screen-detected ipsilateral NPBC with contralateral palpable BC [(N + Contra) PBC] manifested unfavorable survival worse than UniNPBC and synchronous (N + Contra) PBC had the worst survival among all subgroups, implying that these were actually bilateral interval BC and required intensified treatment., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Ethylene gas was loaded into "pre-formed" V-type starch (V 6 , V 7 and V 8 ) by molecular encapsulation, and granular cold-water-soluble starch (GCWSS) was chosen as a control. The formation, structural characteristics and morphological properties of inclusion complexes (ICs) were investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and 13 C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The V 6a -type starch represented the most effective structure in encapsulating ethylene gas among different "pre-formed" V-type starches. The Avrami equation was used to describe the release kinetic properties of ethylene gas from ICs under various conditions of temperatures and relative humidities (RHs). The release of ethylene from ICs conformed to diffusion-limited release mechanisms (temperature) and first-order kinetics (RH). This could be caused by the differences in starch structure and association mechanisms between ethylene and starch single helices. Accelerated ripening experiments showed that ethylene-starch ICs could ripen bananas within 5 days, suggesting that this molecular encapsulation technology can provide precise control and targeted application of ethylene gas in the ripening of vegetables and fruits., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: A sensitive and specific imaging method to detect metastatic cancer cells in lymph nodes to detect the early-stage breast cancer is still a challenge. The purpose of this study was to investigate a novel breast cancer-targeting and tumour microenvironment ATP-responsive superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIOs) imaging probe (abbreviated as SPIOs@A-T) that was developed to detect lymph node metastasis through fluorescence molecular imaging (FMI) and magnetic particle imaging (MPI)., Methods: The conjugation of the targeted peptide CREKA and SPIOs was via linker sulfo-SMCC, while the dsDNA-Cy5.5 was modified on SPIOs through the conjugation between maleimide group in sulfo-SMCC and sulfydryl group in dsDNA-Cy5.5. SPIOs@A-T was characterised for its imaging properties, targeting ability and toxicity in vitro. Mice with metastatic lymph node (MLN) of breast cancer were established to evaluate the FMI and MPI imaging strategy in vivo. Healthy mice with normal lymph node (NLN) were used as control group. Histological examination and biosafety evaluation were performed for further assessment., Results: After injection with SPIOs@A-T, the obvious high fluorescent intensity and MPI signal were observed in MLN group than those in NLN group. FMI can specifically light up MLN using an ATP-responsive fluorescence design. On the other hand, MPI could complement the limitation of imaging depth from FMI and could detect MLN more sensitively. Besides, the biosafety evaluation results showed SPIOs@A-T had no detectable biological toxicity., Conclusion: SPIOs@A-T imaging probe in combination with FMI and MPI can provide a promising novel method for the precise detection of MLN in vivo., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Objectives: Interpretation discrepancy is a major disadvantage of breast imaging. This study aimed to determine the clinical benefit of the pre-biopsy second-look breast ultrasound (US)., Methods: Patients with suspicious breast masses referred to our tertiary hospital for US-guided breast biopsy were retrospectively reviewed between August 2017 and November 2019. Here, second-look assessments were performed by experienced specialized breast radiologists via performing a bilateral breast US scan plus reviewing former imaging studies, and results were compared with the initial assessment. Interpretation changes in terms of biopsy recommendation and surgical management (i.e., lumpectomy to mastectomy) were analyzed., Results: A total of 537 patients were enrolled in this study. Interpretation discrepancies occurred in 109 patients (20%; 95% CI, 17%-24%). Among them, there were 84 patients (16%; 95% CI, 13%-19%) whose masses were re-classified as BI-RADS 3 by the second-look US and underwent 2-year follow-up, showing 82 benign, 1 malignant, and 1 high-risk lesions. On the other hand, 16 patients (3%; 95% CI, 2%-5%) undertook biopsy at an additional site, identifying 10 new malignant lesions, 3 high-risk lesions, and 3 benign lesions, resulting in surgical management changes in 12 patients. In addition, nine (2%; 95% CI, 1%-3%) patients received discrepant disease ranges, which also altered surgical management. Overall, 21 patients (4%; 95% CI, 3%-6%) got their surgical management altered by the second-look US., Conclusion: Pre-biopsy second-look assessment of breast US can reduce unnecessary biopsies in 16% of patients and alter surgical management in 4% of patients, suggesting it is a practical and valuable method for patient care improvement., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Ma, Qin, Kong, Zhao, Xiao, Wang, Zhang, Jiang, Li, Liu and Zhu.)

High internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) stabilized by debranched starch-capric acid (DBS-CA) complex nanoparticles were fabricated and their performance was evaluated. DBS-CA was prepared through enzymatic debranching and solid encapsulation methods, and displayed V-type crystalline structure. Contact angle measurements show enhanced hydrophobicity of DBS-CA compared to native starch. The DBS-CA nanoparticles have an average size of 463.77 nm and tended to be aggregating as analyzed by scanning electron microscope and dynamic light scattering particle size analysis. When used as a particulate emulsifier, DBS-CA could stabilize HIPEs with oil volume fraction as high as 80%. The HIPEs showed pH-dependent properties; good storage stability and mechanical strength were achieved within pH range from 3 to 11, especially under alkaline conditions. It was proposed that smaller particle size and higher surface charging were responsible for the more tightly connected gel structure and thus their performance. This study demonstrates a novel approach to fabricate food-grade Pickering HIPEs, which may have many promising potential applications in the food industry., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

CO 2 capture and separation by using charge-modulated adsorbent materials is a promising strategy to reduce CO 2 emissions. Herein, three TM-HAB (TM=Co, Ni, and Cu; HAB=hexa-aminobenzene) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) were evaluated as charge-modulated CO 2 capture and separation materials by using density functional theory and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The results showed that each TM-HAB presented a high electrical conductivity and structural stability when injecting charges. The CO 2 adsorption energy increased from 0.211 to 2.091 eV on Co-HAB, 0.262 to 2.119 eV on Ni-HAB, and 0.904 to 2.803 eV on Cu-HAB, respectively, with the increase in charge state from 0.0 to 3.0 e - . Co-HAB and Ni-HAB were better charge-modulated CO 2 capture materials with less structure deformation based on energy decomposition analyses. The kinetic process demonstrated that considerably low energy consumptions of 0.911 and 1.589 GJ ton -1 CO 2 were observed for a complete adsorption-desorption cycle on Co-HAB and Ni-HAB. All charged MOFs, especially Co-HAB and Ni-HAB, exhibited higher CO 2 adsorption energies and adsorption capacities than those of H 2 , N 2 , and CH 4 , thereby exhibiting high CO 2 selectivities. Interaction analysis confirmed that the injecting charges had a more pronounced enhancement in the coulombic interactions between CO 2 and MOFs. The results of this work highlight Co-HAB and Ni-HAB as promising charge-modulated CO 2 capture and separation materials with controllable CO 2 capture, high selectivity, and low energy consumption., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Lutein, a potent antioxidant and the main macular pigment that protects the macula from light-initiated oxidative damage, has low bioavailability. Various nanoscale delivery systems have been developed for improving its bioavailability. This systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of nanoscale delivery systems on improving lutein bioavailability in rodent models. Using EBSCOhost and PubMed, a total of eleven peer-reviewed articles published from 2000 to 2020 were identified. Plasma lutein concentration, pharmacokinetic parameters, including maximum concentration (C max ), area under curve (AUC), and time to reach the maximum concentration (T max ), and lutein accumulation in organs were extracted to evaluate the bioavailability of lutein using nanoscale delivery methods as compared with unencapsulated or raw lutein. Various nanoscale delivery systems, including polymer nanoparticles, emulsions, and lutein nanoparticles, significantly improved the bioavailability of lutein, as evidenced by increased plasma lutein concentrations, C max , or AUC. Additionally, five out of seven studies observed enhanced accumulation of lutein in the liver and the eyes. Polymer nanoparticles and emulsions improve the dispersibility and stability of lutein, thus lutein might be more accessible in the small intestine. Lutein nanoparticles shortened the T max . Further studies are warranted to evaluate the effectiveness of nanoscale delivery systems on improving the functionalities of lutein.

Background: Osteoarthritis is a common disease among middle-aged and older adults. The arthroscopic approach is among the less traumatic of the treatments and provides quicker recovery. The purpose of this study was to use bibliometrics analysis to clarify the current status and existing problems in the research of the arthroscopic treatment of osteoarthritis., Methods: The Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) database in the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) was used as the data source for the literature search. The search terms were "osteoarthritis" and "arthroscopy", with the intersection of the search results of these 2 search terms being used. CiteSpace software used to analyze the final results of the search in the following aspects: annual publication, subject distribution, country/institution distribution, journal distribution, author distribution, and keyword usage. Finally, burst detection was applied to analyze the annual use trend of the keywords., Results: A total of 2,738 document records were retrieved, and the frequency of citations was 82,932 times. The number of publications and the number of citations showed an obvious annual increasing trend. The country with the highest number of publications and centrality was the United States of America, and most important research institutions were from the United States. Extensive cooperation between countries and institutions was evident. The important journals in this field were mainly professional journals of orthopedics and joints. Keyword analysis showed that early research mainly focused on the technical operation of arthroscopic treatment of osteoarthritis, while the focus in recent years has been on long-term prognosis and risk prediction., Conclusions: The application of arthroscopy in the treatment for osteoarthritis should be further explored, especially for large joints other than hip and knee joints.

Ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C, was previously reported to inhibit the activity of pancreatic α-amylase, the primary digestive enzyme for starch. A major implication of such inhibition is a slowed rate of starch digestion into glucose, which thereby reduces postprandial hyperglycemia. The aim of this study was to explore the inhibitory effects of ascorbic acid at various concentrations on the in vitro digestion of high amylose maize starch (HAMS) and potato starch (PS) in both raw and cooked conditions. Resistant starch (RS) content, defined as the starch that remained after 4 h of simulated in vitro enzymatic digestion, was measured for the starch samples. Upon the addition of ascorbic acid, the RS contents increased in both raw and cooked starches. Cooking significantly reduced the RS contents as compared to raw starches, and less increase in RS was observed with the addition of ascorbic acid. The inhibitory effect of ascorbic acid on the digestion of raw starches showed a dose-dependent trend until it reached the maximum extent of inhibition. At the concentrations of 12.5 and 18.75 mg/mL, ascorbic acid exhibited the most potent inhibitory effect on the in vitro starch digestion in raw and cooked conditions, respectively. Overall, our results strongly indicate that ascorbic acid may function as a glycemic modulatory agent beyond other important functions, and its effects persist upon cooking with certain concentrations applied., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Guo, Gutierrez, Tan and Kong.)

The linear component of starch, especially amylose, is capable of forming inclusion complex (IC) with various small molecules. It could significantly modify the structure and properties of starch, and it could bring beneficial effects when bioactive compounds can be encapsulated. This review discusses the formation and characterization of the starch-guest IC and focuses on the recent developments in the use of starch ICs for the encapsulation and controlled release of bioactive guest compounds. A great number of guest compounds, such as lipids, aroma compounds, pharmaceuticals, and phytochemicals, were studied for their ability to be complexed with starch and/or amylose and some of the formed ICs were evaluated for the chemical stability improvement and the guest release regulation. Starch-guest ICs has a great potential to be a delivery system, as most existing studies demonstrated the enhancement on guest retention and the possibility of controlled release., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Catechin is a natural phenolic compound with various bioactivities. However, it is unstable under light and heat environments. Amylose can form a single helical hydrophobic cavity to encapsulate and protect bioactive compounds. In this work, we applied amylose inclusion complexes (IC) to encapsulate a lipophilized catechin, i.e., hexadecyl catechin (HC), to improve its photostability and thermal stability. The formation of amylose-HC IC was characterized using differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The photostability and thermal stability studies showed that the retention of guest molecules in IC was 86.1% ± 5.1% and 87.4% ± 0.6%, respectively, which was significantly higher than that of the catechin, HC, and amylose-HC physical mixture groups. Moreover, the in vitro release profile of IC demonstrated a steady and complete release of catechin. The findings show the amylose encapsulation of catechin is a promising technique to preserve bioactive compounds in food., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: In addition to women, men also undergo breast surgeries, and early studies on the blood supply of breasts are nearly all conducted in female subjects. The vasculature of the male breast is seldom studied. Understanding the male-specific blood supply of the breast is important for pre-operative planning and reducing complications. The purpose of this retrospective study is to fill the gap in the literature by describing the main blood supply and its orientation in the male breast., Methods: We retrospectively evaluated thoracic computed tomographic angiography (CTA) data from January 1, 2017 to July 30, 2019. Single or multiple dominant arteries and their origins were traced, and the artery route and orientation related to the nipple-areola complex (NAC) were revealed through data analysis of the images., Results: Totally, 284 breasts were included. Most breasts were supplied by a single dominant artery (196, 69%), among which the lateral thoracic artery (LTA; 119, 41.9%; type I) and internal thoracic artery (ITA; 63, 22.2%; type II) were the most common arteries. A minority of breasts were supplied by vascular anastomoses formed by dual arteries (17, 6.0%; type III), and in 25.0% of breasts, no specific dominant artery was found (type IV). The predominant artery distribution was evaluated., Conclusion: This study cohort of male thoracic CTA provided and analysed the elaborate vascular anatomy of the NAC region. Our results favour inferior periareolar incision in regard to diminished vascular-related complications in male surgeries without pre-operative vascular evaluation. This study also suggests that super-lateral or lower-lateral-based pedicles can reserve more vasculature., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have nothing to declare., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

We aimed to develop a greener process for dry-electrospinning food-grade modified starch through the elimination of organic solvents. The rheological properties and electrospinnability of aqueous dispersions of commercial octenylsuccinylated (OS) starches with various molecular weight (Mw) were investigated, yet only nanofibers with beads or defects could be obtained from OS starch with the highest Mw, i.e., Purity Gum @ Ultra (PGU). Further improvement in the fiber morphology was achieved by adding pullulan (PUL) as a minor component in the spinning dope. Smooth, continuous, and bead-free nanofibers (147-250 nm) were obtained from the PGU-PUL dispersions. Shown on an electrospinnability map, the successful electrospinning of 12%, 15%, and 20% (w/v) aqueous PGU dispersions required a minimum addition of 6%, 5%, and 3% (w/v) of PUL, respectively. The addition of PUL contributed to establishing sufficient molecular entanglement for electrospinning. This study provides a promising green process to produce starch-based nanofibers for use in various applications, e.g., drug delivery, wound dressing, and tissue engineering., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The effect of sesamin on intestinal flora was studied by in vitro animal fecal anaerobic fermentation system, and were analyzed by 16S rDNA sequencing. Results showed that sesamin modulated the composition of intestinal microorganisms and reshaped gut microbiome. The abundance of probiotics Lactobacillaceae and Bifidobacteriaceae increased, while the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae decreased. The properties of probiotics (Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactophilus acidophilus) adhesion to epithelial colon cells (NCM460) were assessed by gram staining and plate counting methods. Results showed that sesamin increased the adhesive index of probiotics. Analysis of RT-qPCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence staining indicated that sesamin up-regulated the expression of the adhesive protein (β-cadherin and E-cadherin) of NCM460 cells. In conclusion, sesamin could promote the proliferation and adhesion of intestinal probiotics leading to modulating gut microbiota, which provided basis for sesamin as a food-borne functional factor for improving intestinal health., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

As a global public health issue with an increasing prevalence, obesity is related to several metabolic disorders, but is largely preventable. Resistant starch (RS), the indigestible portion of starch, has been studied for its potential effects on reducing obesity. This systematic review aimed to investigate the effect of dietary intake of RS on obesity development and related metabolic profiles in human, including body weight and composition, energy intake and satiety, lipid profiles, blood glucose and insulin, and other blood biomarkers. Eleven peer-reviewed articles published in English between 2000 and 2019 were identified after screening using CENTRAL, MEDLINE, and CINAHL Plus. Based on the results, RS intake had no direct effect on body weight and body composition. Evidence for its effect on reducing energy intake and increasing satiety, as well as improving lipid profiles was inconsistent. Beneficial effects of RS intake on several blood biomarkers were supported, indicating its regulatory roles in blood glucose homeostasis, insulin sensitivity, and gut hormone concentrations. Specifically, five out of the eight articles measuring blood glucose reported a decrease in either fasting or postprandial glucose levels; two out of the three articles measuring insulin sensitivity indicated a significant improvement after RS supplementation; studies measuring gut hormone concentrations including glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), and peptide YY (PYY) also showed significant improvements after RS interventions. In conclusion, the effect of dietary intake of RS on obesity and its related metabolic complications was not conclusive. Further research with larger sample sizes and longer duration is warranted.

The aim of this study is to investigate the role of early postoperative CT texture analysis in aneurysm progression. Ninety-nine patients who had undergone post-endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) infra-renal abdominal aortic aneurysm CT serial scans were enrolled from July 2014 to December 2019. The clinical and traditional imaging features were obtained. Aneurysm texture analysis was performed using three methods-the grey-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), the grey-level run length matrix (GLRLM), and the grey-level difference method (GLDM). A multilayer perceptron neural network was applied as a classifier, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and area under the curve (AUC) analysis were employed to illustrate the classification performance. No difference was found in the morphological and clinical features between the expansion (+) and (-) groups. GLCM yielded the best performance with an accuracy of 85.17% and an AUC of 0.90, followed by GLRLM with an accuracy of 87.23% and an AUC of 0.8615, and GLDM with an accuracy of 86.09% and an AUC of 0.8313. All three texture analyses showed superior predictive ability over clinical risk factors (accuracy: 69.41%; AUC: 0.6649), conventional imaging features (accuracy: 69.02%; AUC: 0.6747), and combined (accuracy: 75.29%; AUC: 0.7249). Early post-EVAR arterial phase-derived aneurysm texture analysis is a better predictor of later aneurysm expansion than clinical factors and traditional imaging evaluation combined.

Solar thermal techniques provide a promising method for the direct conversion of solar energy to thermal energy for applications, such as water desalination. To effectively realize the optimal potential of solar thermal conversion, it is desirable to construct an assembly with localized heating. Specifically, photoactive semiconducting nanoparticles, when utilized as independent light absorbers, have successfully demonstrated the ability to increase solar vapor efficiency. Additionally, bio-based fibers have shown low thermal conductive photocorrosion. In this work, cellulose acetate (CA) fibers were loaded with cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanoparticles to be employed for solar thermal conversion and then subsequently evaluated for both their resulting morphology and conversion potential and efficiency. Electrospinning was employed to fabricate the CdSe-loaded CA fibers by adjusting the CA/CdSe ratio for increased solar conversion efficiency. The microstructural and chemical composition of the CdSe-loaded CA fibers were characterized. Additionally, the optical sunlight absorption performance was evaluated, and it was demonstrated that the CdSe nanoparticles-loaded CA fibers have the potential to significantly improve solar energy absorption. The photothermal conversion under 1 sun (100 mW/cm 2 ) demonstrated that the CdSe nanoparticles could increase the temperature up to 43 °C. The CdSe-loaded CA fibers were shown as a feasible and promising hybrid material for achieving efficient solar thermal conversion.

The circulating level of vitamin A (VA; retinol) was reported to be lower in obese adults. It is unknown if maternal obesity influences the VA status of offspring. The objective of the study was to determine the VA status and deposition of neonatal and weanling rats reared by mothers consuming a normal or high-fat diet (NFD or HFD) with or without supplemented VA. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to an NFD or HFD with 2.6 mg/kg VA. Upon delivery, half of the rat mothers in the NFD or HFD cohort were switched to an NFD or HFD with supplemented VA at 129 mg/kg (NFD+VA and HFD+VA group). The other half remained on their original diet (NFD and HFD group). At postnatal day 14 (P14), P25, and P35, pups (n = 4 or 3/group/time) were euthanized. The total retinol concentration in the serum, liver, visceral white adipose tissue (WAT), and brown adipose tissue (BAT) was measured. At P14, the HFD+VA group showed a significantly lower serum VA than the NFD+VA group. At P25, both the VA concentration and total mass in the liver, WAT, and BAT were significantly higher in the HFD+VA than the NFD+VA group. At P35, the HFD group exhibited a significantly higher VA concentration and mass in the liver and BAT compared with the NFD group. In conclusion, maternal HFD consumption resulted in more VA accumulation in storage organs in neonatal and/or weanling rats, which potentially compromised the availability of VA in circulation, especially under the VA-supplemented condition., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Palygorskite (PGS) is a kind of clay minerals with the property of absorbent capacity, and ginger essential oil (GEO) is a kind of natural antibacterial substances. In the present study PGS was used as carrier of GEO, and thus, a kind of new anti-bacterial composite GEO-PGS has been obtained. Characterization, inhibitory effect of GEO-PGS on Escherichia coli (E. coli) and its function of improvement of intestinal health would be investigated. Results showed that characterization analysis of GEO-PGS (FTIR, TG-DSC, BET, Zeta potential, specific surface area, total pore volume and size, TEM observation) demonstrated combination of GEO and PGS, and GEO was absorbed on the surface of PGS, partially filled the micropores of PGS. GEO-PGS had obvious inhibitory effect on E.coli, in combination of the antibacterial activity of GEO and bacteria-absorbed capability of PGS. GEO-PGS also had ameliorating effect on enteritis and intestinal dysfunction in vivo, which might be related to the inhibition of gene expression of inflammatory cytokines (TLR2, IL-6, TNF α , and IL-8). In conclusion, the novel composite GEO-PGS has the potential usage as functional component having effect of improving intestinal health., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Starch/amylose-guest inclusion complexes, a class of supramolecular host-guest assemblies, are of critical importance in the processing, preservation, digestion, nutrients/energy uptake, and health outcomes of starch-containing foods. Particularly, the formation of inclusion complex has been suggested to lower the rate and extent of enzymatic digestion of starch and starch-containing foods. Compared with rapidly digestible starch, starch inclusion complex may fall into the category of slowly digestible starch, providing sustained glucose release and maintaining glucose homeostasis. Therefore, the ability of starch-guest inclusion complex to alter the digestive behavior of energy-dense starchy foods has been of interest to many researchers and has the potential to be developed and formulated into functional foods. In this article, we provide a comprehensive and critical review on the current knowledge of the in vitro and in vivo enzymatic digestion of starch-guest inclusion complexes, by emphasizing the structure-digestibility relationship. We examine the preparation methods employed, crystalline structures obtained, and physicochemical properties characterized in previous reports, which all have implications on the digestive behavior reported on the starch-guest inclusion complexes. In addition, we give suggestions on future research to elucidate the digestive properties of starch-guest inclusion complexes and to develop functional structures based on these complexes for use in foods and nutrition.

Purpose: We aimed to assess the effect of community-based lifestyle interventions on weight loss and cardiometabolic risk factors among obese older adults, and to explore the potential factors that impede weight loss during lifestyle interventions., Materials and Methods: A 2-arm parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted from 2013 through 2016 in the community health service centers in Nanjing, China. Four hundred and eighty obese older adults were randomly assigned to receive a 24-month lifestyle intervention (242 participants) or usual care (238 participants). The intervention group received a community-based behavioral lifestyle intervention program, which targeted weight loss through dietary changes and increased physical activity, with a combination mode of intervention delivery., Results: Weight loss was statistically significant at the end of the intervention with a mean reduction of 0.03 ± 2.51 kg in the control group and 3.22 ± 3.43 kg in the intervention group (p < .001). In the intervention group, 41.1% of participants achieved the target of 5% weight loss significantly (p < .001). Participants in the intervention group had significantly greater improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors. Multivariable logistic regression showed that female, living alone, and having more comorbidities were barriers to weight loss during the intervention., Conclusions: This study demonstrated that community-based lifestyle interventions are effective for managing weight and improving cardiometabolic risk factors in obese older adults., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI)-based noise reduction algorithm on aorta computed tomography angiography (CTA) image quality (IQ) at 80 kVp tube voltage and 40 mL contrast medium (CM)., Materials and Methods: After obtaining institutional review board approval and 8 written informed consents, 60 patients (35 men, 25 women; age range: 18 to 85 y) referred for aorta CTA examination were assigned to 2 groups at random. Group A underwent an 80 kVp protocol with 40 mL CM (320 mg I/mL). Group A reconstructed with iterative reconstruction was named as group A1 and further AI-based noise reduction was named as group A2. Group B was scanned with standard 120 kVp, 80 mL CM, and iterative reconstruction algorithm. The quantitative assessment of IQ included aorta CT attenuation, noise, signal-to-noise ratio, and contrast-to-noise ratio. A 5-point scale (5-excellent, 1-poor) was used by 2 radiologists independently for qualitative IQ analysis., Results: The image noise significantly decreased while signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio significantly increased in the order of group A1, B, and A2 (all P<0.05). Compared with group B, the subjective IQ score of group A1 was significantly lower (P<0.05), while that of group A2 had no significant difference (P>0.05). The effective dose and CM volume of group A were reduced by 79.18% and 50%, respectively, than that of group B., Conclusions: The AI-based noise reduction could improve the IQ of aorta CTA with low kV and reduced CM, which achieved the potential of radiation dose and contrast media reduction compared with conventional aorta CTA protocol.

Pasteurella multocida (P. multocida), a causative agent of fowl cholera, is an important pathogen in the poultry industry. In the present study, we found that the inactivated vaccine of P. multocida grown in an iron-restricted medium provided better protection than that grown in normal medium. Thus, we adopted a comparative proteomics approach, by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), coupled with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF MS), to profile the supernatant proteins associated with P. multocida under both conditions. Eleven upregulated proteins were identified, including aspartate ammonia-lyase (AspA), diacylglycerol kinase (DgK), 30S ribosomal protein S6 (RpsF), and eight outer membrane proteins (OMPs). To further characterize the three novel supernatant proteins identified under iron-restricted conditions, the AspA, DgK and RpsF proteins were expressed and purified, and used as immunogens to vaccinate chickens. The results showed that AspA, DgK and RpsF proteins induced 80.0%, 66.7%, and 80.0% immunity, respectively. These data indicate that the three novel proteins identified in the supernatant of the culture media might play important roles in the survival of bacteria under iron-restricted conditions, and thus protect chickens against P. multocida. These findings also suggest that the proteins identified can be used as subunit vaccines.

This study was to compare the characteristics of 21 starches isolated from chestnuts produced in different regions in China, also to investigate their potential food applications. Starches were isolated from chestnuts under the Castanea mollisima Blume variety with sub-varieties of Banli, Youli, and Maoli. Several properties of the starch samples were examined, including the moisture content, amylose content, morphological characteristics, color values, light transmittance, syneresis, swelling power, water solubility index, pasting properties, FTIR characteristics, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, and thermal properties. The results showed that starches isolated from Youli presented higher resistance to shear and swelling during heating, indicating more suitability for high-heat cooking. The FTIR spectra confirmed the polysaccharide nature of all the chestnut starches. The XRD patterns showed most chestnut starches were in C b -type, while only five were in C a -type. Overall, this comparative study would be relevant for the further exploration of the potential utilization of chestnut starch in both food and non-food industries., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The formation of high amylose corn starch (HACS)-alkylresorcinol (AR) inclusion complexes was demonstrated using HACS and a crude AR extract from rye bran, and was confirmed by complementary characterization techniques. Inclusion complex was extracted using hot 2-propanol/water (3:1), and thirteen different AR homologs were identified in the 2-propanol/water extract. However, this extraction regime was insufficient to remove all guests from the inclusion complexes, but did result in annealing of the V-type crystallinity, yielding an endotherm with higher onset and peak temperatures and dissociation enthalpy. The remaining guest compounds were recovered by disruption of the inclusion complexes with DMSO followed by liquid-liquid extraction. A total of nine AR homologs were recovered and two saturated long alkyl chain AR homologs (C21:0 and C19:0) were obviously enriched in the complexes compared to the crude AR extract. The formation of HACS-AR inclusion complexes may have the potential to inhibit staling in baked goods., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In the present study, we report a novel composition based on amylose (or starch) inclusion complex with an amphiphilic material as an effective encapsulation platform technology to incorporate guests of interest. Specifically, the encapsulation of β-carotene in amylose-surfactant and amylose/starch-ascorbyl palmitate (AscP) inclusion complexes was investigated. Surfactants of different hydrophilicity/lipophilicity were selected to cover a broad range of HLB values. The formation of the inclusion complexes was characterized by X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The ability of amylose-surfactant system to encapsulate β-carotene was dependent on the HLB value of the surfactants, instead of their ability to induce inclusion complexation. The incorporation of β-carotene hindered amylose-surfactant inclusion complex formation, whereas no significant effect was observed on structural and thermal properties of starch-AscP inclusion complex in the presence of β-carotene. The X-ray diffraction pattern of amylose-AscP-β-carotene showed that β-carotene molecules did not crystallize into a separated phase and thus were suggested to be homogeneously immobilized within the polycrystalline amylose-AscP inclusion complexes. During a storage period of six weeks at 20 and 30°C, the stability of β-carotene was improved by encapsulation in starch-AscP inclusion complexes compared with that in physical mixtures of the three components., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

N-myc downstream-regulated gene 4 ( NDRG4 ) has previously been investigated as a possible tumor suppressor. Hypermethylation of tumor suppressor genes contributes to the occurrence and development of certain types of cancer, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The current study aimed to assess the contribution of chemotherapy-induced NDRG4 changeable methylation to the development of AML. A total of 30 patients (13 males and 17 females) were involved in the present study. The DNA methylation levels of five C-phosphate-G sites of the NDRG4 gene were measured using bisulfite pyrosequencing techniques. The results indicated significantly reduced gene-body methylation levels of NDRG4 during chemotherapy (prior to chemotherapy: 9.35±4.22%; following chemotherapy: 7.54±3.11%; P=0.030). Further analysis of AML subtypes revealed the methylation reductions were principally contributed by patients with M2 subtype AML (prior to chemotherapy: 9.91±4.76%; following chemotherapy: 5.26±1.16%; P=0.038). A significant association was also observed between the patient age and the altered levels of NDRG4 gene-body methylation in patients with M2 subtype AML (r=0.761; P=0.047), suggesting that reductions in induced-methylation may be age-dependent in patients with M2 subtype AML during chemotherapy. Therefore, age may affect the induced methylation levels of NDRG4 gene-body in patients with AML (particularly patients with M2 subtype AML) during chemotherapy.

Objective To evaluate the value of third-generation dual-source CT scanner in application of high-pitch aorta CT angiography(CTA). Methods Totally 59 patients clinically indicated for whole aorta angiography were divided into 2 groups using a simple random method:in group 1 there were 28 patients who underwent the examination on a third-generation dual-source CT device,with a collimation of 2×192×0.6 mm and a rotation time of 0.25 s;in group 2 there were 31 patients who underwent the examination on a second generation dual-source CT device,with a collimation of 2×128×0.6 mm and a rotation time of 0.28 s. Both groups were given the examination operated in dual-source high-pitch ECG-gating mode with a pitch of 3.0,a tube voltage of 100 kV,and automated tube current modulation using a reference tube current of 288 mA. A contrast material bolus of 45 ml with a flow of 4.5 ml/s followed by a 50 ml saline chaser in 5.0 ml/s was used. CTA scan was automatically started using a bolus tracking technique at the level of the original part of aorta after a trigger threshold of 100 HU was reached. The start delay was set to 6 s in both groups. Effective dose(ED),signal to noise ratio (SNR),contrast to noise ratio (CNR),and subjective diagnostic quality of both groups were evaluated. Results The mean ED were 19.44% lower (t=-3.989,P=0.000) in group 1 [(3.15±0.86)mSv] than in group 2 [(3.91±0.60)mSv]. These two groups showed no significant differences in SNR or CNR (all P >0.05). The subjective diagnostic quality values also showed no significant difference between two groups [(1.39±0.50)scores vs. (1.45±0.51)scores;W=814.5,P=0.651].Conclusion Compared with the second-generation dual-source CT scanner,the third-generation dual-source CT scanner in whole aorta CTA can remarkably reduce the radiation dose without affecting image quality.