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In this study, beef was marinated with different low-sodium salt substitutes and heated and aged by employing superheated steam roasting and traditional roasting to investigate the effects of the various substitutes on the physicochemical properties, texture profile, sensory properties, volatile compounds, microstructural characteristics, and safety of cured and aged beef. Twenty kilograms of beef were arbitrarily divided into five treatments and pickled with different low-sodium salt substitutes. The results revealed no significant differences in saltiness, physicochemical characteristics, texture profile, or volatile compounds between the T2 and T3 and T1 (100% NaCl, T1; 75% KCl + 25% NaCl, T2; 50% KCl + 50% NaCl, T3) samples. Furthermore, the T4 and T5 (50% NaCl + 25% KCl + 20% MgCl2 + 5% CaCl2, T4; 100% yeast extract, T5) samples had lower saltiness than the T1 sample. The plasmolysis percentage and osmotic pressure of the T2 and T3 samples were lower than those of the T1 sample. Therefore, reducing sodium by substituting NaCl with 50% KCl or 75% KCl maintained an acceptable sensory and safety profile for beef consumption.

Dry eye disease (DED) is a prevalent chronic eye disease characterized by an aberrant inflammatory response in ocular surface mucosa. The immunological alterations underlying DED remain largely unknown. In this study, we employed single-cell transcriptome sequencing of conjunctival tissue from environment-induced DED mice to investigate multicellular ecosystem and functional changes at different DED stages. Our results revealed an epithelial subtype with fibroblastic characteristics and pro-inflammatory effects emerging in the acute phase of DED. We also found that T helper (Th)1, Th17, and regulatory T cells (Treg) were the dominant clusters of differentiation (CD)4 + T-cell types involved in regulating immune responses and identified three distinct macrophage subtypes, with the CD72 + CD11c + subtype enhancing chronic inflammation. Furthermore, bulk transcriptome analysis of video display terminal-induced DED consistently suggested the presence of the pro-inflammatory epithelial subtype in human conjunctiva. Our findings have uncovered a DED-associated pro-inflammatory microenvironment in the conjunctiva, centered around epithelial cells, involving interactions with macrophages and CD4 + T cells, which deepens our understanding of ocular surface mucosal immune responses during DED progression., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Spodoptera frugiperda, a major invasive pest, causes severe damage to various economically important crops. Previous comparative genomics studies have revealed a close association between the invasiveness of S. frugiperda and its genome. In recent years, a vast amount of genome from lepidopteran species has become available, offering an opportunity for a more detailed and comprehensive understanding of the biological characteristics of S. frugiperda. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive comparative genomics analysis of S. frugiperda using genome from 46 lepidopteran species. We found the highest number of gene family expansion events in S. frugiperda, indicating that gene family expansion is a crucial mechanism in its adaptive evolution. The expanded gene families are enriched in various biological processes, including nutrient metabolism, development, stress response, reproduction, and immune processes, suggesting that the expansion of these gene families likely contributes to the strong environmental adaptability of S. frugiperda. Furthermore, we identified the expansion of histone gene families in S. frugiperda which resulted from chromosome segmental duplications after the divergence from closely related species. Expression analysis of histone genes indicated that certain members might exert an influence on the growth and reproduction processes of S. frugiperda. Overall, our study deepens our understanding of the biological characteristics of S. frugiperda, providing a theoretical basis for the comprehensive management and sustained control of S. frugiperda and other lepidopteran pests in the future., 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. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Spodoptera litura is a highly destructive omnivorous pest, and they caused serious damage to various crops. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate dozens of physiological processes including reproduction, development, life span and behaviors, but the information of these receptors has been lacking in S. litura. Here, we methodically identified 122 GPCRs in S. litura and made an assay of their expression patterns in different tissues. Comparing the identified GPCRs with homologous genes of other insects, it is obvious that the subfamily A2 (biogenic amine receptors) and the subfamily A3 (neuropeptide and protein hormone receptors) of S. litura have expanded to a certain extent, which may be related to the omnivorous nature and drought environment resistance of S. litura. Besides, the large Methuselah (Mth)/Methuselah-like (Mthl) subfamily of S. litura may be involved in many physiological functions such as longevity and stress response. Apart from duplicate receptors, the loss of parathyroid hormone receptor (PTHR) and the bride of sevenless (Boss) receptor in the lepidopteran insects may imply a new pattern of wing formation and energy metabolism in lepidopteran insects. In addition, the high expression level of GPCRs in different tissues reflects the functional diversity of GPCRs regulating. Systemic identification and initial characterization of GPCRs in S. litura provide a basis for further studies to reveal the functions of these receptors in regulating physiology and behavior., 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 Inc. All rights reserved.)

In the present study, two pH-sensitive bilayer films were developed and compared. Agar matrix incorporated with ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) or TiO 2 NPs were combined with the infrastructure of a κ-carrageenan-Clitoria ternatea Linn anthocyanin (CA-CTLA) layer, denoted as AG-ZnO/CA-CTLA film and AG-TiO 2 /CA-CTLA film, respectively. The CA-CTLA layer was defined as the sensing layer, whereas the AG-TiO 2 (or AG-ZnO) layer was the protective layer that enhanced the mechanical properties and colour stability. The AG-TiO 2 /CA-CTLA film displayed superior UV-vis light barrier property, pH sensitivity, and physical properties. The film's elongation at break and water vapour permeability were 57.08%, and 2.72 × 10 -6  g.m -1 .h -1 .pa -1 , respectively. Notably, the AG-TiO 2 /CA-CTLA film possessed the highest UV-vis light barrier properties, and the transmittance was close to 0 in the UV region. Furthermore, these films exhibited visual colour changes in the buffer solution (pH 2.0-12.0), ammonia vapour (80 M), and pork spoilage trials. Therefore, the bilayer films have promising properties for food packaging, especially the AG-TiO 2 NPs/CA-CTLA film., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The modern civil aircrafts use air ventilation pressurized cabins subject to the limited space. In order to monitor multiple contaminants and overcome the hypersensitivity of the single sensor, the paper constructs an output correction integrated sensor configuration using sensors with different measurement theories after comparing to other two different configurations. This proposed configuration works as a node in the contaminant distributed wireless sensor monitoring network. The corresponding measurement error models of integrated sensors are also proposed by using the Kalman consensus filter to estimate states and conduct data fusion in order to regulate the single sensor measurement results. The paper develops the sufficient proof of the Kalman consensus filter stability when considering the system and the observation noises and compares the mean estimation and the mean consensus errors between Kalman consensus filter and local Kalman filter. The numerical example analyses show the effectiveness of the algorithm., (Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper reported a diamine ligand and its Re(I) complex for potential application in oxygen sensing. The novelty of this diamine ligand localized at its increased conjugation chain which had a typical electron-withdrawing group of 1,3,4-oxadiazole. Electronic distribution of excited electrons and their lifetime were supposed to be increased, favoring oxygen sensing collision. This hypothesis was confirmed by single crystal analysis, theoretical calculation and photophysical measurement. It was found that this Re(I) complex had a long-lived emission peaking at 545 nm, favoring sensing application. By doping this complex into a silica matrix MCM-41, oxygen sensing performance and mechanism of the resulting composites were discussed in detail. Non-linear Stern-Volmer working curves were observed with maximum sensitivity of 5.54 and short response time of ~6 s., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A thermostable xylanase (McXyn10) from the thermophilic fungus Malbranchea cinnamomea strain S168 was purified and biochemically characterized. The enzyme was purified to homogeneity with a molecular mass of 43.5 kDa on SDS-PAGE. The optimal pH and temperature of the purified enzyme were pH 6.5 and 80°C, respectively. The enzyme showed a broad range of pH stability (pH 4.0-10.5), and was stable up to 70°C with a thermal denaturing half life of 76.0 min. The enzyme exhibited strict specificity for various xylans as substrates, but displayed no activity toward other tested polysaccharides. McXyn10 hydrolyzed birchwood xylan, beechwood xylan and oat-spelt xylan, yielded mainly xylobiose, xylotriose and xylooligosaccharides with degree of polymerization (DP) above 5, while yielded xylobiose from xylotriose and xylotetraose. The xylanase gene was further cloned. It had an open reading frame of 1191 bp with two introns. The deduced amino acid sequence of the gene showed highest identity (58%) with a glycoside hydrolase family 10 xylanase from Aureobasidium pullulans., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Design and fabrication of an ammonia sensor operating at room temperature based on pigment-sensitized TiO2 films was described. TiO2 was prepared by sol-gel method and deposited on glass slides containing gold electrodes. Then, the film immersed in a 2.5×10(-4)M ethanol solution of cyanidin to absorb the pigment. The hybrid organic-inorganic formed film here can detect ammonia reversibly at room temperature. The relative change resistance of the films at a potential difference of 1.5V is determined when the films are exposed to atmospheres containing ammonia vapors with concentrations over the range 10-50 ppm. The relative change resistance, S, of the films increased almost linearly with increasing concentrations of ammonia (r=0.92). The response time to increasing concentrations of the ammonia is about 180-220 s, and the corresponding values for decreasing concentrations 240-270 s. At low humidity, ammonia could be ionized by the cyanidin on the TiO2 film and thereby decrease in the proton concentration at the surface. Consequently, more positively charged holes at the surface of the TiO2 have to be extracted to neutralize the adsorbed cyanidin and water film. The resistance response to ammonia of the sensors was nearly independent on temperature from 10 to 50°C. These results are not actually as good as those reported in the literature, but this preliminary work proposes simpler and cheaper processes to realize NH3 sensor for room temperature applications., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The objective of this study was to investigate the spectral behavior of the relationship between reflectance and chlorophyll content and to develop a technique for non-destructive chlorophyll estimation and distribution in leaves using hyperspectral imaging. The hyperspectral imaging data cube of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) leaves in the range of 450-850 nm was investigated and preprocessed. Sixty optical signatures or indices as a function of the associated reflectance (R(λ)) at the special wavelength (λ) nm which proposed in the literatures were used to predict the total chlorophyll content in cucumber leaves. Finally, R(710)/R(760), (R(780)-R(710))/(R(780)-R(680)), (R(750)-R(705))/(R(750)+R(705)), (R(680)-R(430))/(R(680)+R(430)), R(860)/(R(550)×R(708)), (R(695-705))(-1)-(R(750-800))(-1), and REP-LEM (a index based on red edge position and estimated with a linear extrapolation method) were identified as optimum indices. Red-edge waveband (680-780 nm) appeared in all these optimum indices, indicating the importance of REP (red edge position) in chlorophyll estimation. When (R(695-705))(-1)-(R(750-800))(-1), the best index was applied to an independent validation set, chlorophyll content (r=0.8286) were reasonably well predicted, indicating model robustness. Depending on the sample, this technique enables to identify and characterize the relative content of various chlorophyll that distribution in the cucumber leaves. The map shows a relatively low level of chlorophyll at margins. Higher level can be noticed in the regions along the main veins and in some areas exhibiting dark green tissue. Our results indicate that hyperspectral imaging has considerable promise for predicting pigments in leaves and, the pigments can be detected in situ in living plant samples non-destructively., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)