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Analysis of volatile profiles from differently processed flaxseed oils (FSO) was performed by SPME-GC-MS, electronic nose (E-nose) and descriptive sensory analysis. A total of 61 volatiles were tentatively identified and then quantified. Among these components, 51 volatiles were obtained from the hot-pressed FSO, 47 from cold-pressed FSO, and 40 by solvent extraction. Principal component analysis (PCA) demonstrated that three FSO samples tested resulted in significant differences of three treatments ( p<0.05) and the marker compounds that contributed to discrimination of different processed FSO were hexanal, (E, E)-2, 4-pentadienal, (E, E)-2, 4-heptadienal, 6-hydroxy-2-hexanone, 1-hexanol, methyl-pyrazine, nonanal, 2,3-pentanedione, 1-butanol, acetic acid, hexanoic acid, and ethyl acetate. In addition, there was good consistency among GS-MS, sensory evaluation and E-nose analysis results. These results indicated that the process method has a significant effect on the aroma quality of FSO and may be helpful in evaluating aroma quality and the detection of frauds. Practical applications: The results showed that the major volatile components could be used as chemical markers to distinguish differently processed FSOs by the chemometric method. There was good consistency among GS-MS, sensory evaluation and E-nose analysis results, suggesting that E-nose technique combined with a PCA of the data provided by the sensor arrays has the good potential to evaluate FSO quality and the detection of frauds. Sixty-one volatiles were identified and significant differences were found in different processed flaxseed oils. Twelve major volatile compounds contributed to discrimination of different processed flaxseed oils. Flaxseed oil samples were distinguished from each other through PCA of E-nose data, suggesting that the E-nose can successfully discriminate different processed flaxseed oils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tree shrew ( Tupaia belangeri chinensis) is a squirrel-like lower primate or a close relative of primates, commonly used as an animal model in biomedical research. Despite more than three decades of usage in research, the clear relationships between body weight, fasting blood glucose concentration, sex and age among tree shrews remain unclear. Based on an investigation of 992 tree shrews (454 males and 538 females) aged between 4 months and 4 years old, we found that male tree shrews have significantly higher body weight and fasting blood glucose concentration than female tree shrews (p < 0.001). The concentration of fasting blood glucose slightly increased with body weight in males ( r = 0.152, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, in females, the body weight, concentration of fasting blood glucose and waist circumference positively increased with age (p < 0.001). Additionally, 17 tree shrews with Lee index [body weight (g)*0.33*1000/body length (cm)] above 290 had significantly higher body weight, waist circumference and glycated haemoglobin A1c ( Hb A1c) than non-obese tree shrews with a Lee index score below 290 (p < 0.001). Interestingly, 6 of 992 tree shrews (three males and three females, 2-4 years old) displayed impaired plasma triglycerides, Hb A1c, low-density lipoprotein and oral glucose tolerance test, suggestive of the early symptoms of metabolic syndrome. This study provides the first clear relationships between body weight, fasting blood glucose concentration, sex and age in tree shrews, further improving our understanding of this relationship in metabolic syndrome ( Met S). Given the similarity of tree shrews to humans and non-human primates, this finding supports their potential use as an animal model in the research of MetS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the effect of protein kinase C isoforms on tumor necrosis factor-alpha-mediated cellular damage using a human intestinal cell line. Role in decreasing the extent of intestinal cellular viability; Factors that causes changes in cellular integrity; Impact on cellular apoptosis.

One of the most common persistent organic pollutants is di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate ( DEHP), which has caused considerable pollution in the Mollisols of agricultural areas in northeast China. This research investigates the effects of different concentrations of DEHP from 0 to 35 days on microbial biomass carbon ( MBC) and structural diversity in the microbial community of Mollisols. The results indicated that contamination by DEHP of more than 20 mg kg−1 could clearly affect MBC and structural diversity of the microbial community of a Mollisol in a short time depending on the dose of DEHP. At concentrations of DEHP >20 mg kg−1, we observed that the larger was the concentration of DEHP, the greater was the effect on the MBC and diversity of the soil microbial community. The DEHP concentration or incubation time had negative correlations with MBC, and the evenness ( E H), Shannon ( H) and richness ( S) indices of the microbial community, and the DEHP concentration had a dominant effect on microbial properties. The dominant bacterium in the DEHP-contaminated soil was B acillus. Furthermore, bacterial community structure changed under different amounts of DEHP stress and with the increase in incubation time; Pseudomonas and Sphingopyxis clearly increased in number with large concentrations of DEHP. The change in the microbial population indicated that these two bacteria might have a strong resistance to change under the microbial DEHP stress. Highlights DEHP significantly changed MBC and microbial diversity of a Mollisol., The change in MBC was related to the composition of the soil microbial community structure., DEHP had a persistent effect on the microbial community in a Mollisol., Bacillus were the dominant bacteria in the DEHP-contaminated soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Pleistocene climatic fluctuations may have had a profound impact on the evolutionary history of many species. The geographical pattern of European wild boar (Sus scrofa) is clearly studied, and it was greatly influenced by ancient climatic events, especially the Last Glacial Maximum. Previous research on genetic variation has mainly focused on the origin and distribution histories of domestic pigs. However, some questions have not been answered, including those concerning the genetic diversity, geographical pattern and possible historic influence of climate on East Asian wild boar (EAWB). Employing the control region of mtDNA (511 bp), we investigated the contributions of historic climate, which possibly shaped the genetic pattern of wild boar. Given that the level of genetic diversity of wild boars is higher in East Asia than in Europe, 172 haplotypes were detected from 680 individuals. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated the complex phylogeographic structure of EAWB. Mismatch analysis, neutrality tests and the Bayesian Skyline Plot results all retrieved signals of a rapid population expansion, which might have played an important role in driving the formation of complex spatial genetic structure. Genetic data and species distribution modelling showed that the Last Glacial Maximum had weak effect on the distribution of the EAWB. We suggest that, in shaping spatial genetic structure in East Asian, long‐term gene flow and population history played more important roles than Pleistocene climate fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We unified the number-of-layer dependence of the A1g and the E12g phonon frequencies of the layered MX2 (M = Mo and W; X = S and Se) semiconductors with derivative of quantitative information on the bond relaxation dynamics and clarification of their physical origins. Theoretical reproduction of observations confirms that atomic undercoordination stems the unusual behavior of phonons of the MX2. The difference in electronegativity and ionic radius between the constituent elements resolves the bond nature index m and the relaxation extents of phonon frequencies. It is also clarified that the dimer interaction dictates the blue shift of the E12g phonon but the collective interaction of an atom with its z-neighbors governs the red shift of the A1g phonon dynamics as the number-of-layer reduces. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the alcohol-water mixtures are ubiquitously important to beverage and pharmacy industries, it remains yet puzzling how the alcohols interact with watermolecules and how the alcoholmolecules functionalize the hydrogen bond network of liquid water and body fluid. We show spectrometrically that alcohol hydration softens both the H-O bond and the O:H nonbond through hydrogen bond cooperative relaxation and associated charge polarization. Observations suggested that each of the dangling hydroxide group :Ö:H- (interacts with :Ö or -H+) and the dangling methyl group C-H+ (with -H+ or :Ö) is equally capable of interacting with H2O molecules in the form of Ö:↔:Ö point compressor, H+↔H+ point breaker, and O:H-O hydrogen bond at the alcohol-water interface without charge sharing or new bond formation. The alcohol-water O:H-O formation enables the solubility and hydrophilicity of the alcohol; the H+↔H+ breaker embrittles the hydration network; the Ö:↔:Ö compression shortens the O:H nonbond and lengthens the H-O bond. H-O softening is associated with heat emission and depression of solution melting temperature; the O:H nonbond softening (due to polarization) lowers the critical temperatures for freezing. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Albeit its chemical inertness, rare gas doping can substantially enhance the quantum size effect of nanocrystals, yet little attention has been paid on this fascination and the mechanism behind remains unclear. Here, we show that the rare gas dopant breaks bonds of its neighboring atoms, which effects the same to atomic under-coordination on the bond strain, energy quantum entrapment, and valence electron polarization of Li and Na clusters. Consistency between density functional theory calculation and the bond-order-length-strength correlation prediction revealed that the bond strain by 16.86% and 21.12% before and after He doping for Na30 clusters. Observations suggest an effective yet simple means to modulate the physical properties by doping the inert gases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solute-solvent interaction of salts has a striking impact on various biological and industrial processes but its mechanism remains yet mysterious despite intensive studies since 1888 when Franz Hofmeister established the salt series. A combination of confocal Raman spectroscopy and contact angle measurements has enabled us to resolve the hydrogen bond relaxation (O:H-O, HB) and the associated charge polarization dynamics at different molecular site because of alkali halides hydration. Results show consistently that salt hydration softens the O:H phonon but stiffens H-O phonon cooperatively. The extent of HB relaxation and polarization is proportional to the electronegativity difference and ionic radius, following the order of Hofmeister series: X (R/η) = I (2.2/2.5) > Br (1.96/2.8) > Cl (1.81/3.0) > F (1.33/4.0) ≈ 0 for anions, and Y(R/η) = Na (0.98/0.9) > K (1.33/0.8) > Rb (1.49/0.8) > Cs (1.65/0.8) for cations. Observations suggest that ions create each an electric field that aligns, stretches, and polarizes water molecules, which relaxes the O:H-O bond cooperatively, depresses the molecular dynamics, and enhances the hydration shell viscosity and the skin stress. Exercises also demonstrate that Raman spectroscopy performs as a powerful tool for probing the molecular-site-resolved HB network relaxation dynamics in terms of phonon stiffness, molecular fluctuation dynamics, and phonon abundance transition under external stimulus. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We systematically examined the effects of number-of-layer, pressure, and temperature on the bond length and energy, Debye temperature, atomic cohesive energy, and binding energy density for layered black phosphorus using bond-phonon-photon spectrometric methods. We clarified the following: (1) atomic under-coordination shortens and stiffens the PP bond, which raises the B2g and Ag2 phonon frequency and widens the bandgap, (2) bond thermal elongation and weakening soften all phonon modes, and (3) bond mechanical compression has the opposite effect of heating on phonon frequency relaxation. The phonon and photon energy depends on the bond length and energy, which determines the relevant elasticity and thermal stability of layered structure. More broadly, the approaches and findings of this work provide both insight into and efficient tools for further exploration of unusual behaviors of other two-dimensional substance. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, a number of genes that are expressed in the early stages of infection have been reported, while few genes that are expressed during the course of colonization, after the initiation of plant infection, have been studied. Plant inoculations, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), gene cloning, protein expression and bioinformatics analysis were combined to identify a novel gene, MgNIP04, in the rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe grisea. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the amino acid sequence contained a signal peptide. The wounded inoculation resulted in necrosis specks when the total expressed proteins including MBP-MgNIP04 was inoculated on the wounded rice leaves, which demonstrated the protein directly interacted with rice. The real-time PCR result of infected leaves showed that it is upregulated during late stages of infection of rice. Additionally, the copies of the gene expression absolute quantity of the gene were 7.61 × 102, 1.06 × 103, 1.31 × 103, 4.13 × 103, and 4.00 × 103, at 24, 48, 72, 96 and 168 h postinoculation (HPI), respectively. The higher copies of MgNIP04 were found at 96 and 168 HPI. The copies of MgNIP04 in mycelia of Y98-63C, Y99-16, 94-64-1b and 95-23-4a were significantly lower than those of infected leaves. Through the above bioinformatics and experimental analysis, our result suggested that the MgNIP04 was novel pathogenicity-related protein in rice blast fungus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An innovative method is presented to estimate the size effect on the ferroelectric phase transitions in the barium titanate ceramic system. The method is based on the phenomenological thermodynamic theory with additional stress led by surface bond contraction. Two symmetry-breaking factors are introduced to correct the stress. This method has enabled us to predict the changing trends in phase transitions and the critical grain size for the disappearance of ferroelectric phase, which is beyond the prediction of existing models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining bond–band–barrier (BBB), density‐functional theory (DFT) and zone‐selective electron spectroscopy (ZES) correlations, we investigate the bonding mechanisms at Na/Ta(110) and Ta/Na(110) interfaces. When the Ta metal coverage on the Na(110) surface is increased from 7/9 ML to 8/9 ML, the Ta surface distribution changed from one‐dimensional chains to two‐dimensional ring structures. Moreover, the Ta‐induced shifts in the surface binding energy (BE) on the Na(110) surface were dominated by quantum entrapment, whereas the Na‐induced shifts in the BE on the Ta(100) surface are dominated by polarization. DFT calculations reveal that the Ta atomic chain is more stable than the structure of the Ta atomic ring. The adsorption of Ta atoms on the Na(110) surface is more stable than the structure of the Na atoms adsorbing on the Ta(110) surface. The 1D chain formations and 2D ring structures on the Na(110) surface are identified and explained in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review: 514 refs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]