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Carrot processors produce approximately 175,000 tons of waste annually in the United State of America. Carrot waste conversion is important to the carrot processing industry as this waste is rich in bioactive compounds and dietary fiber. We evaluated the effects of hydraulic press and expeller press on liquid and bioactive compound extractions. Mechanical separation of carrot mash by expeller pressing improved liquid extraction over the hydraulic press while simultaneously increasing the total solid, carotenoid, and polyphenol contents. Compared to untreated control mash, mechanically treated mash had higher fat-binding capacity. Our study indicates that further conversion of carrot mash could lead to better value streams for this byproduct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects an estimated 257 million people worldwide and can lead to liver diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Viral replication is generally considered not to be cytopathic, and although some HBV proteins may have direct carcinogenic effects, the majority of HBV infection-related disease is related to chronic inflammation resulting from disrupted antiviral responses and aberrant innate immune reactions. Like all cells, healthy and HBV-infected cells communicate with each other, as well as with other cell types, such as innate and adaptive immune cells. They do so by both interacting directly and by secreting factors into their environment. Such factors may be small molecules, such as metabolites, single viral proteins or host proteins, but can also be more complex, such as virions, protein complexes, and extracellular vesicles. The latter are small, membrane-enclosed vesicles that are exchanged between cells, and have recently gained a lot of attention for their potential to mediate complex communication and their potential for therapeutic repurposing. Here, we review how HBV infection affects the communication between HBV-infected cells and cells in their environment. We discuss the impact of these interactions on viral persistence in chronic infection, as well as their relation to HBV infection-related pathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the impact of conduit geometry on the chromatographic performance of typical particulate microchip packings. For this purpose, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/UV-microchips with separation channels of quadratic, trapezoidal, or Gaussian cross section were fabricated by direct laser ablation and lamination of multiple polyimide layers and then slurry-packed with either 3 or 5 [micro]m spherical porous C8--silica particles under optimized packing conditions. Experimentally determined plate height curves for the empty microchannels are compared with dispersion coefficients from theoretical calculations. Packing densities and plate height curves for the various microchip packings are presented and conclusively explained. The 3 [micro]m packings display a high packing density irrespective of their conduit geometries, and their performance reflects the dispersion behavior of the empty channels. Dispersion in 5 [micro]m packings correlates with the achieved packing densities, which are limited by the number and accessibility of corners in a given conduit shape. 10.1021/ac902069x