Search

In traditional food industry, the assessment of mushy materials plays an important role in high‐quality food production, which still relies heavily on human tactile perception. In this work, to address this issue for enhancing food production efficiency, a flexible electret tactile sensor that can mimic expert touch is developed. The sensor consists of a pair of electrodes, a microstructural spacer, and a pre‐charged electret. Benefiting from the electrostatic induction‐based working mechanism, the sensor attains high sensitivity and is ideal for precise sensing in actions similar to those of skilled Baijiu distillers. Due to its hermetic and electromagnetic interference‐resistant encapsulation with polypropylene/aluminum/parylene films, the sensor remained durable in vinasse in the real distillery, with its high water and alcohol content, for over 21 days. This demonstrates its long‐term stability in harsh environment. Based on the proposed flexible electret tactile sensor, an automated and intelligent vinasse identification system is built, mimicking the actions of Baijiu distillers in vinasse assessment. Combining tactile sensing data with machine learning, the system can distinguish 8 kinds of vinasses with different ingredient ratios, achieving an accuracy of 98%. This work significantly demonstrates the practical potential of the sensor in the food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution has gained negative attention in recent years. The pesticides and heavy metals are top list of environmental toxicants directly endangering the survival and development of Apis cerana cerana. Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are heteromeric serine/threonine kinases that participate in cell cycle regulation and have a vital role in pesticide and heavy metal stress in Apis cerana cerana. In this experiment, we filtered out CDK8 gene from Apis cerana cerana (AccCDK8) and investigated its functions of pesticide and heavy metals resistance. Sequence analysis indicated that AccCDK8 is highly homologous to multiple CDK8s and contains a highly conserved CDK active site sequence. Phylogenetic analysis showed that AmCDK8 and AccCDK8 were closely related evolutionarily in Apis mellifera. Transcriptome analysis revealed that AccCDK8 expression was differentially affected after exposure to pesticide and heavy metal stresses. This indicates that AccCDK8 has a significant role in the resistance of Apis cerana cerana to pesticide and heavy metal stresses. It has implications for studying the function of CDK in other insects in response to stress. [Display omitted] • Pesticides and heavy metals affect the survival of Apis cerana cerana. • CDK8 takes part in the oxidative stress response of Apis cerana cerana. • CDK8 is involved in the growth and reproduction of Apis cerana cerana. • AccCDK8 plays an important role in pesticide and heavy metals stresses. • We highlight the effects of some pesticides on the health of Apis cerana cerana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Environmental stress can induce oxidative stress in Apis cerana cerana, leading to cellular oxidative damage, reduced vitality, and even death. Currently, owing to an incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which A. cerana cerana resists oxidative damage, there is no available method to mitigate the risk of this type of damage. Cyclin plays an important role in cell stress resistance. The aim of this study was to explore the in vivo protection of cyclin H against oxidative damage induced by abiotic stress in A. cerana cerana and clarify the mechanism of action. We isolated and identified the AccCyclin H gene in A. cerana cerana and analysed its responses to different exogenous stresses. RESULTS: The results showed that different oxidative stressors can induce or inhibit the expression of AccCyclin H. After RNA‐interference‐mediated AccCyclin H silencing, the activity of antioxidant‐related genes and related enzymes was inhibited, and trehalose metabolism was reduced. AccCyclin H gene silencing reduced A. cerana cerana high‐temperature tolerance. Exogenous trehalose supplementation enhanced the total antioxidant capacity of A. cerana cerana, reduced the accumulation of oxidants, and improved the viability of A. cerana cerana under high‐temperature stress. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that trehalose can alleviate adverse stress and that AccCyclin H may participate in oxidative stress reactions by regulating trehalose metabolism. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]