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Exosomes, as nanoscale biological vesicles, have been shown to have great potential for biomedical applications. However, the low yield of exosomes limits their application. In this review, we focus on methods to increase exosome yield. Two main strategies are used to increase exosome production, one is based on genetic manipulation of the exosome biogenesis and release pathway, and the other is by pretreating parent cells, changing the culture method or adding different components to the medium. By applying these strategies, exosomes can be produced on a large scale to facilitate their practical application in the clinic.

As whole grain foods, fresh brown rice noodles have unique advantages in taste, nutrition, and health. However, the quality of fresh brown rice noodles is poor and the shelf life is short because of the rice bran. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of rice bran with extrusion cooking on the quality and starch retrogradation of fresh brown rice noodles during storage at –18°C, 4°C, 25°C, and 37°C. In this study, fresh brown rice noodles prepared from rice bran with extrusion cooking (FBRN‐ERB) were prepared to improve storage quality compared to fresh brown rice noodles with unextruded rice bran (FBRN) (data of FBRN were shown in our previous study). The pH, hardness, iodine blue value, moisture content and migration, and starch retrogradation of FBRN‐ERB were studied. The rice bran with extrusion cooking prevented the decrease of pH and moisture content, decreased the iodine blue value and cooking loss rate, and enhanced the percentage of free and weakly bound water of fresh brown rice noodles during storage processes at –18°C, 4°C, 25°C, and 37°C. The microstructure of FBRN‐ERB exhibited a complete and regular porous structure. The results of differential scanning calorimetry and X‐ray diffraction showed that the starch retrogradation of FBRN‐ERB was inhibited or delayed during storage at different temperatures, especially storage at 4°C. The results showed that the storage quality of fresh brown rice noodles prepared from rice bran with extrusion cooking could be enhanced, and the starch retrogradation of FBRN‐ERB during storage was inhibited, which was beneficial for the quality improvement of FBRN‐ERB during storage at different temperatures. The rice bran with extrusion cooking is very helpful for enhancing the storage quality of fresh brown rice noodles, and this may be useful for the development and consumption of fresh brown rice noodles as functional food products.

Wholegrain foods have gained great attention due to their benefits on health. However, the texture, taste, and cooking quality of wholegrain foods are not good because of the bran in wholegrain. The objectives of this study were to improve the quality of brown rice noodles with rice bran that was treated by extrusion cooking. In this study, brown rice noodles with extruded rice bran (BRN‐ERB) were prepared to improve their quality compared to white rice noodles (WRN) and brown rice noodles with un‐extruded rice bran (BRN). The total phenolic, flavonoid, anthocyanin, and dietary fiber contents in BRN‐ERB were 44.87 mg GAE, 36.15 mg RE, 0.11 mg Cy‐3‐O‐G, and 4.48 g per 100 g, respectively, significantly higher than those in BRN and WRN. The BRN‐ERB had the highest antioxidant activities of DPPH, ABTS, and T‐AOC, the highest resistant starch content, and the lowest starch hydrolysis rate among the three types of rice noodles. Seven phenolics, six flavonoids, and three anthocyanins were individually detected in these rice noodles, and BRN‐ERB exhibited higher contents of protocatechuic acid, p‐coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and daidzein than BRN and WRN did. The cooking and textural qualities of BRN‐ERB were improved with lower optimum cooking time and cooking loss, and higher hardness, tensile strength, and elasticity compared to BRN. The brown rice noodles with extruded rice bran had higher contents of nutritional components than brown rice noodles with un‐extruded rice bran and white rice noodles, and better cooking and textural properties than brown rice noodles with un‐extruded rice bran. The results provided the evidences that brown rice noodles prepared with extruded rice bran might become functional foods from the sources of staple rice products.

Pearling is an effective method for evaluating the distribution of chemical components in wheat grain. Five pearling fractions (representing approximately 20% of the original sample weight) of wheat grain were obtained using the JNMJ3 rice polisher for two cultivars with different methods of Zinc (Zn) application; the residual portion (approximately 80%) was ground as flour. Results showed that foliar or soil+foliar Zn application methods effectively increased Zn concentrations and bioavailability in whole grain and pearling fractions, but soil Zn application was ineffective in field conditions. In addition, the concentrations of Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu within wheat grain showed a diminishing trend from the outer layer to the inner portions of the wheat grain as the pearling level increased. These results clearly showed the distribution of minerals in wheat grain, especially in the outer part of the grain (bran). The results also suggest that precise milling techniques combined with foliar Zn application could improve the Zn and Fe nutritional qualities of consumed flour and mitigate human Zn and Fe deficiencies.

The effect of extruded brown rice flour (EBR) contents (0–50%) on antioxidant activity, phenolics, in vitro digestibility, color, and cooking quality of noodles containing mixtures of wheat and EBR was investigated. The antioxidant activity and phenolic content increased, especially ferulic and coumaric acids in bound forms, whereas the in vitro glycemic index, optimal cooking time, water absorption, hardness, and color were diminished in noodles with the addition of EBR; cooking loss increased as a function of the EBR percentage. The partial replacement of wheat flour with EBR can be favorably used in the wheat noodle formulation. The results provide the basis for the development of staple foods with nutritional characteristics for today's functional food markets.

The incorporation of straw in cultivated fields can potentially improve soil quality and crop yield. However, the presence of recalcitrant carbon compounds in straw slow its decomposition rate. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different nitrogen sources, with and without the application of zinc, on straw decomposition and soil quality. Soils were treated with three different nitrogen sources, with and without zinc: urea (CO(NH2)2), ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4), and ammonium chloride (NH4Cl). The combined treatments were as follows: maize (M) and wheat (W) straw incorporated into urea-, ammonium sulfate-, or ammonium chloride-treated soil (U, S, and C, respectively) with and without zinc (Z) (MU, MUZ, WU, WUZ; MS, MSZ, WS, WSZ; MC, MCZ, WC, WCZ, respectively); straw with zinc only (MZ, WZ); straw with untreated soil (MS, WS); and soil-only or control conditions (NT). The experiment consisted of 17 treatments with four replications. Each pot contained 150 g soil and 1.125 g straw, had a moisture content of 80% of the field capacity, and was incubated for 53 days at 25°C. The rates of CO2-C emission, cumulative CO2-C evolution, total CO2production in the soils of different treatments were measured to infer decomposition rates. The total organic carbon (TOC), labile organic carbon (LOC), and soil microbial biomass in the soils of different treatments were measured to infer soil quality. All results were significantly different (P<0.05) with the exception of the labile organic carbon (LOC). The maize and wheat straw showed different patterns in CO2evolution rates. For both straw types, Zn had a synergic effect with U, but an antagonistic effect with the other N sources as determined by the total CO2produced. The MUZ treatment showed the highest decomposition rate and cumulative CO2concentration (1120.29 mg/pot), whereas the WACZ treatment had the lowest cumulative CO2concentration (1040.57 mg/pot). The addition of NH4Cl resulted in the highest total organic carbon (TOC) concentration (11.59 mg kg−1). The incorporation of wheat straw resulted in higher microbial biomass accumulation in soils relative to that of the maize straw application. The results demonstrate that mineral N sources can affect the ability of microorganisms to decompose straw, as well as the soil carbon concentrations.

Introduction:Tanshinone IIA (TSIIA), cryptotanshinone and tanshinone I are major bioactive constituents of Danshen, a Chinese herbal medicine. Sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) is a water-soluble derivative of TSIIA and it is currently used for treating cardiovascular diseases in China.Areas covered:The article presents a review of the anti-atherosclerosis, cardioprotective effects, neuroprotection and anti-tumor activities of TSIIA and a review of patents on tanshinone derivatives from January 2006 to September 2012.Expert opinion:Mechanistic studies have discovered that TSIIA modulates ion channels, kinases, hormone receptors, apoptosis proteins, growth factors, cytokines, microRNA, tumor suppressor and many other targets, revealing an intricate biological network modulated by TSIIA. Many patents have attempted to overcome the low water solubility of TSIIA and tanshinone I by attaching a polar substituent or by a prodrug strategy. However, biological activities of these tanshinone derivatives need to be further evaluated. Given the extensive in vitroand in vivobiological activities of TSIIA, this compound is a promising candidate to be further developed as a novel therapeutics for treating atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.

Box-taking mechanism is an important part of automatic cartoner, it also is a “bottleneck” in automatic cartoner. After analyzing the process of box-taking and the key movements for automatic cartoner, designed a new kind of box-taking mechanism with double cam five-bar combined mechanism. Combining five-bar mechanism and cam advantages, the mechanism can be realized the trajectory with the demand of velocity and gesture. The detailed and interchangeable gas circuit also be designed, which reduced the complexity of replacing the seal rings. Practical result shows that the mechanism could execute the box-taking gesture quickly and smoothly.

Researches and analyzes an advanced cigarettes in this paper, with the help of 3d modeling software pro/E image intuitively emulation produce its motion curves, and obtain the displacement, velocity and acceleration curve, Using the mechanism motion and kinematics analysis diagram, the mechanism kinematical process is analyzed which is laid a certain foundation for the further improved cigarette pusher device.

Two pairs of novel triptycene‐derived calix[6]arenes 4 a,band 5 a,bhave been efficiently synthesized through both one‐pot and two‐step fragment‐coupling strategies starting from 2,7‐bis(hydroxymethyl)‐1,8‐dimethoxytriptycene 1. Subsequent demethylation of 4 a,band 5 a,bwith BBr3in dry dichloromethane gave the macrocyclic compounds 6 a,band 7 a,b. Treatment of either 4 aor 6 awith AlCl3resulted in the same debutylated product 8, while 9was similarly obtained from either 5 aor 7 a. Structural studies revealed that all of the macrocycles have well‐defined structures with fixed conformations both in solution and in the solid state owing to the introduction of the triptycene moiety with a rigid three‐dimensional (3D) structure, making them very different from their classical calix[6]arene counterparts. As a consequence, it was found that all of these the triptycene‐derived calix[6]arenes could encapsulate small neutral molecules in their cavities in the solid state. Moreover, it was also found that the macrocycles 4 band 5 bshowed highly efficient complexation abilities toward fullerenes C60and C70, forming 1:1 complexes with association constants ranging from (5.22±0.20)×104to (8.68±0.30)×104M−1.

The bronzeguiin the picture is an ancient ritual vessel for food offerings; it was excavated from Luoyang, Henan Province of China. In the Full Paper on page 8072 ff.,X.‐H. Tian, C.‐F. Chen describe the efficient synthesis of novel triptycene‐derived calix[6]arenes, and their well‐defined structures with fixed conformations.