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In this paper we consider finding a second-order stationary point (SOSP) of nonconvex equality constrained optimization when a nearly feasible point is known. In particular, we first propose a new Newton-conjugate gradient (Newton-CG) method for finding an approximate SOSP of unconstrained optimization and show that it enjoys a substantially better complexity than the Newton-CG method in [C. W. Royer, M. O'Neill, and S. J. Wright, Math. Program., 180 (2020), pp. 451-488]. We then propose a Newton-CG based augmented Lagrangian (AL) method for finding an approximate SOSP of nonconvex equality constrained optimization, in which the proposed Newton-CG method is used as a subproblem solver. We show that under a generalized linear independence constraint qualification (GLICQ), our AL method enjoys a total inner iteration complexity of O(ε7/peration complexity of O(ε7/2 min\{ n, ε3/4\}) for finding an (ε, ε)-SOSP of nonconvex equality constrained optimization with high probability, which are significantly better than the ones achieved by the proximal AL method in [Y. Xie and S. J. Wright, J. Sci. Comput., 86 (2021), pp. 1-30]. In addition, we show that it has a total inner iteration complexity of O(ε11/2) and an operation complexity of O(ε11/2 min\{ n, ε5/4\}) when the GLICQ does not hold. To the best of our knowledge, all the complexity results obtained in this paper are new for finding an approximate SOSP of nonconvex equality constrained optimization with high probability. Preliminary numerical results also demonstrate the superiority of our proposed methods over the other competing algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we consider finding an approximate second-order stationary point (SOSP) of nonconvex conic optimization that minimizes a twice differentiable function over the intersection of an affine subspace and a convex cone. In particular, we propose a Newton-conjugate gradient based barrier method for finding an (ϵ,√ϵ)-SOSP of this problem. Our method not only is implementable but also achieves an iteration complexity of O(ϵ-3/2), which matches the best known iteration complexity of second-order methods for finding an (ϵ,√ϵ)-SOSP of unconstrained nonconvex optimization. The operation complexity, consisting of O(ϵ-3/2) Cholesky factorizations and Õ(ϵ-3/2min{n,ϵ-1/4}) other fundamental operations, is also established for our method, where n is the problem dimension and Õ(⋅) represents O(⋅) with logarithmic terms omitted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the characteristics of plateau photovoltaic (PV) output power, the fluctuation analysis and prediction of photovoltaic output power in one area of Tibet are performed in this paper, where the winter and summer seasons are focused, respectively. Meanwhile, the EEMD-BP model was established. Based on the fluctuation analysis and 15-day forecast of the output power of a PV power station in the examined area, six cases are categorized and evaluated. That is, the temperature is the average of the fluctuation, the irradiance is the change, the temperature is the change, the irradiance is the average of the fluctuation, the temperature is the change, and the irradiance is the change. The results show that when the temperature variation is only considered and the irradiance is the average value of the fluctuation in the winter, the PV output power is more accurate and the fluctuation is close to the original value; when the temperature variation and the irradiance variation is considered in the summer, the output power has the best prediction accuracy and smooth fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HLA‐B*51:381 differs from HLA‐B*51:01:01:01 by one nucleotide in exon 5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indeed, both the intestinal barrier and the BBB are weakened during aging, and the malfunction of these physiological barriers may lead to systemic inflammation and chronic neuro-inflammation, which is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of AD (56). Notably, TLR4/NF-kB signaling can be significantly inhibited by EA intervention in aging rats and a previous study also indicating that EA treatment at ST36 can inhibit TLR4/NF- B signaling thus alleviating LPS-induced inflammation in rats (62). Preventive electroacupuncture ameliorates D-galactose-induced Alzheimer's diseaselike inflammation and memory deficits, probably via modulating the microbiota-gut-brain axis. [Extracted from the article]

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a deadly and incurable brain tumor. Although microRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in regulating the cancer cell phenotype, the underlying mechanisms of how they regulate tumorigenesis are incompletely understood. We found that miR-1 is expressed at relatively low levels in brain cancer patients, especially GBM. Ectopic miR-1 expression in GBM cells inhibited proliferation and migration, increased sensitivity to apoptosis induced by the DNA alkylating agent temozolomide in vitro, and inhibited GBM tumorigenesis in vivo. Expression of miR-1 in GBM cell lines directly targets fibronectin. High fibronectin expression in GBM correlates with poor patient survival and fibronectin expression is inversely correlated with miR-1 expression. Knockout of fibronectin expression in GBM cell lines inhibited proliferation and migration, increased sensitivity to apoptosis induced by temozolomide in vitro, and markedly suppressed GBM tumor growth and promoted animal survival. In contrast, restoring fibronectin levels in GBM cells ectopically expressing miR-1 increased tumorigenicity and decreased animal survival. Therefore, these results confirm that miR-1 has tumor suppressive activity in GBM by targeting fibronectin, and that the miR-1/fibronectin pathway may be a potential drug target in this devastating cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Soy proteins as an important food ingredient have been widely applied in food formulations, due to their good nutritional value, high functionalities, and health-benefiting effects. Evidences have been fast accumulating to indicate that soy proteins are a kind of excellent building materials to be fabricated into a variety of nanostructured delivery systems for food bioactive ingredients. This review mainly presents the state-of-the-art knowledge about the fabrication of different kinds of nanostructures of soy proteins, as well as their applications to perform as nanocarriers for bioactives, achieved during the past decade. The composition, structure and physicochemical properties of soy proteins (including glycinin, β -conglycinin, and soy protein isolate) are first summarized. Then, the main strategies and techniques to fabricate a variety of nanostructured soy proteins are reviewed, including heat-induced aggregation, complexation with polysaccharides, emulsification-evaporatioin, desolvation/solvent displacement, crosslinking, self-assembly, electrospraying, nanoemulsions and interfacially nanostructured emulsions. Lastly, the feasibility of these nanostructured soy proteins (especially nanoparticles) to peroform as effective nanocarriers or delivery systems for bioactives are discussed. Due to the fast increasing interest of the food industry and consumer health awareness for the incorporation of soy proteins in functional food formulations, this review is of importance for guiding the development of novel 'dual-function' nanostructured soy protein-bioactive formulations. Graphical abstract Nanostructured Soy Proteins: Fabrication and Applications as Delivery Systems for Bioactives. Image 1016 Highlights • Soy proteins exhibit a great potential to be fabricated into a variety of nanostructures. • Soy protein nanoparticles can be fabricated via a number of strategies. • Nanostructured soy proteins can perform as effective delivery systems for bioactives. • Novel 'dual-function' nanostructured soy protein-bioactive formulations can be produced. • More efforts are still needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of these delivery systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease in childhood. The present study aims to assess the association between rhinovirus (RV) infection and acute wheezing in the occurrence of recurrent wheezing in 5-year old and younger children. A total of 109 children with recurrent wheezing and 70 children without wheezing (controls) were recruited from October 2013 to March 2015. Nasopharyngeal aspirate samples were obtained from all children. RV, human metapneumovirus (hMPV), and bocavirus (BoV) were tested by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza virus (PIV), influenza virus (IV), and adenoviruses (ADV) were confirmed by detection of viral antigens via fluoroimmunoassay. Viral infection was more commonly detected in children with recurrent wheezing than in controls (odds ratio (OR): 6.10; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.89–12.87). RV and RSV were found in both wheezing children and controls. However, RV was detected more in wheezing children than in controls (OR: 3.07; 95% CI: 1.37–6.90), followed by RSV (OR: 5.33; 95% CI: 1.53–18.62). Furthermore, RV more tended to infect wheezing children after infancy. Compared with children infected with other viruses, higher levels of eosinophil were found in wheezing children with RV infection (P < 0.05). RV was the main pathogen that induced exacerbation in young children with recurrent wheezing. Furthermore, the rate of RV infection was higher in children above 1 year old. RV infection might be associated with high levels of eosinophil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Ethylene is usually used to induce floral transition in pineapple. However, its successful induction in plants categorized as Cayenne is difficult or completely ineffective, and information concerned is limited. The present study was undertaken to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this obstacle. Methods: Transcriptome and proteome comparative analyses were performed to explore the important regulation and pathway variations after ethephon induction in the induction-easy 'Comte de Paris' (CP) and induction-hard 'Smooth Cayenne' (SC) cultivars via RNA-seq (RNA-sequencing) and iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification). Results: CP and SC exhibited basic differences at the transcriptomic and proteomic levels before ethephon treatment, including the expression of genes and proteins related to ethylene signal transduction. After ethephon induction, the expression of genes and proteins involved in plant ethylene signal transduction and carbohydrate metabolism responded more strongly in CP than in SC. The expression of the floral meristem identity (FMI) genes AG, TFL and FT exhibited greater changes in CP, and more transcription factors responded in SC. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses revealed that many differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in CP were annotated to terms and pathways involved in photoperiodism and shared components involved in carbohydrate metabolism and plant hormone signal transduction. Conclusion: These findings contribute to the understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the variation between CP and SC in response to ethephon-mediated floral induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To describe the critical role of endovascular treatment and safety for the patients who presented with intraventricular hemorrhage owing to rupture of the distal lenticulostriate artery aneurysms. Methods Three patients who underwent endovascular treatment for distal lenticulostriate artery aneurysms related to intraventricular hemorrhage were selected and retrospectively reviewed. Results Patients were treated successfully using endovascular embolization without any complications. Conclusions Endovascular therapy is available and safe as a treatment option for distal lateral lenticulostriate artery aneurysms. Highlights • LSA aneurysms are rare and manifest with intraventricular and basal ganglia hemorrhage. • Aneurysms should be treated promptly in the case of rebleed. • Aneurysms should be examined using high-resolution MRI. • Endovascular therapy is an available and safe treatment option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design: A retrospective review of prospectively collected data.Objective: To confirm the feasibility of using anterior to dorsal root entry zone myelotomy (ADREZotomy), a new surgical approach, for the treatment of ventrolateral deep intramedullary spinal cord cavernous malformation (ISCCMs).Summary Of Background Data: Surgical removal of ventrolateral deep ISCCMs is highly risky and remains problematic.Methods: The authors performed a retrospective study exploring the surgical removal of ventrolateral intrinsic ISCCMs using ADREZotomy in 10 patients. The Frankel grading system was used to evaluate the patients' neurological function at the preoperative, postoperative and follow-up stages. American Spinal Injury Association Scale scores at the preoperative and postoperative were also obtained. The patient characteristics and surgical outcomes were analyzed. The indication, operative steps, complications, and anatomical basis of the myelotomies were described and discussed.Results: In total, nine (90%) patients presented with mild symptoms before surgery. Gross total resections were performed in all 10 patients. Immediately after surgery, the neurological function of eight (80.0%) patients remained the same. One patient improved and one (10%) patient worsened. There were no other immediate or delayed complications related to the surgical procedure. No decrease of total American Spinal Injury Association sensory scores was observed. The follow-up neurological function evaluation showed that two (20%) patients improved from a Frankel grade of D to E and eight (80.0%) patients were stable. No recurrences or other additional neurological deterioration was observed.Conclusion: Surgical removal of ventrolateral deep ISCCMs can be feasible using proper surgical techniques. ADREZotomy is a minimally invasive technique for the removal of cervical and thoracic ventrolateral deep ISCCMs, without disrupting the important spinal cord tracts or the need to broadly expose bone.Level Of Evidence: 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: MicroRNA-142-3p (miR-142-3p) is dysregulated in many malignancies and may function as a tumor suppressor or oncogene in tumorigenesis and tumor development. However, few studies have investigated the clinical significance and biological function of miR-142-3p in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: The expression levels of taurine upregulated gene 1 (TUG1), miR-142-3p, and zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) were evaluated in HCC tissues and cell lines by quantitative real-time PCR. MTT and colony formation assays were used to detect cell proliferation ability, transwell assays were used to assess cell migration and invasion, and luciferase reporter assays were used to examine the interaction between the long noncoding RNA TUG1 and miR-142-3p. Tumor formation was evaluated through in vivo experiments. Results: miR-142-3p was significantly downregulated in HCC tissues, but TUG1 was upregulated in HCC tissues. Knockdown of TUG1 and upregulation of miR-142-3p inhibited cell proliferation, cell migration, cell invasion, and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). miR-142-3p was found to be a prognostic factor of HCC, and the mechanism by which TUG1 upregulated ZEB1 was via direct binding to miR-142-3p. In vivo assays showed that TUG1 knockdown suppressed cell proliferation and the EMT in nude mice. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the TUG1/miR-142-3p/ZEB1 axis contributes to the formation of malignant behaviors in HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Turbidity kinetics successfully measured the CSC (200 mM NaCl) of SPI/LYS complexes. • The activity of LYS completely retained during the electrostatic assembly. • The protein distribution in solid complexes were less homogeneous than coacervates. • Immobilized water in SPI/LYS heteroprotein complex was detected. Heteroprotein complexes are formed by electrostatic interactions of oppositely charged proteins in a purely aqueous environment. Understanding the relationship between their structural and functional properties will contribute to their tailor-made applications. Therefore, this study investigated the protein conformation, assembling structure, and enzyme activity of soy protein isolate/lysozyme (SPI/LYS) complexes at mass ratios of 2:1 (soluble complex) and 1:1.3 (stoichiometric ratio). Electrostatic complexation increased the surface hydrophobicity of complexes. Their surface hydrophobicity decreased with increasing NaCl concentrations and reached the theoretical values at the critical salt concentration of 200 mM NaCl. Electrostatic complexation did not decrease the LYS activity (∼43,000 units/mg). SPI/LYS complexes exhibited flocculated structures in which the two proteins were unevenly distributed; these were typical amorphous complexes. High dilution disassembled these complexes over 5 μm into particles of ∼100 nm, and NaCl reduced the size of these particles. Immobilized water was detected in the complexes formed by particle flocculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It's very significant that the capacity of distributed photovoltaic power station accessing to power distribution network, during the designing, should meet the relevant requirements and take into the consideration the effect on the power flow of power distribution network and voltage deviation. According to the characteristics of the power distribution network grid structure in central Tibet, this paper builds the typical simulation model of the power distribution network and analyzes the effect on the power flow of distribution network and voltage deviation when the distributed photovoltaic power station accesses to 10KV power distribution network with adopting three plans respectively. The analysis reveals that (1) when adopting dedicated access with the installed capacity of 5.2MWp, the distributed photovoltaic power station has no effect on the power flow of distribution network and voltage deviation, (2) when adopting T access with the installed capacity of 1.5MWp, the power flow of distribution network changes and voltage deviation meet the related requirements, (3) when adopting the consumers side access with the installed capacity lower than 0.2MWp, has no effect on the power flow of distribution network and voltage deviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology facilitates bidirectional energy exchange between electric vehicle batteries and an electric power grid. This is an important component of smart grid technology, which not only can alleviate the problem of power grid fluctuations owing to the use of intermittent energy sources like wind and solar power, but also can benefit users of electric vehicles. In recent years, the development of wireless power transmission has provided a new route for electric vehicle charging and discharging. The absence of physical contact offers numerous advantages such as flexible mobility and safety, and is therefore more suitable for application to V2G technology. This paper proposes a bidirectional wireless energy transmission topology appropriate for V2G based on the characteristics of wireless energy transmission, and discusses the feasibility of applying wireless power transmission to V2G charging and discharging energy interactive systems. A power flow control strategy is also given according to the constant current source characteristics of this topology. Finally, the effectiveness of this topology and related control strategy is verified by simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Biodegradable food packaging promises a more sustainable future. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is a promising alternative for petroleum‐derived polymers. However, PLA films suffer from poor barrier properties compared with petroleum‐derived ones. To address this issue, we designed bilayer and sandwich‐architectured trilayer films based on PLA and gliadin. We reported firstly the direct formation of PLA–gliadin bilayer/trilayer films without surface modification on PLA film. The films were compact and uniform, and double/triple layers were combined firmly, preventing delamination. This strategy enhanced mechanical resistance, ductility and moisture barrier of gliadin films and concomitantly enhanced the oxygen barrier for PLA films. Thymol loadings endowed bilayer/trilayer films with antimicrobial activity and antioxidant activity. The antimicrobial activity of the films depended on film types, and gliadin layer presented larger inhibition zone than PLA layer, hinting that the films possessed directional releasing role. This study opens a promising route to fabricate bilayer/trilayer architecture helping to create synergism of the biopolymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodegradable food packaging is sustainable and has a great application prospect. PLA is a promising alternative for petroleum-derived polymers. However, PLA packaging suffers from poor barrier properties compared with petroleum-derived ones. To address this issue, we designed bilayer films based on PLA and Pickering emulsions. The formed bilayer films were compact and uniform and double layers were combined firmly. This strategy enhanced mechanical resistance, ductility and moisture barrier of Pickering emulsion films, and concomitantly enhanced the oxygen barrier for PLA films. Thymol loadings in Pickering emulsion layer endowed them with antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. The release profile of thymol was well fitted with Fick’s second law. The antimicrobial activity of the films depended on film types, and Pickering emulsion layer presented larger inhibition zone than PLA layer, hinting that the films possessed directional releasing role. This study opens a promising route to fabricate bilayer architecture creating synergism of each layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soy proteins as important food ingredients exhibit a great potential to be widely applied in food formulations, due to their good nutrition, functional properties and health effects. The knowledge about the structure–function relationships of these proteins is crucial for their applications, but still very scant, especially that on their molecular mechanism of emulsification. The purpose of this review is to present a comprehensive summary of the knowledge about emulsifying and interfacial properties of soy proteins, achieved during the past decades, and particularly to provide an insight in understanding the role of conformational flexibility in their emulsifying properties. The interplays between the emulsifying and interfacial properties are also elucidated. For these proteins, the conformational flexibility rather than the surface hydrophobicity is the crucial parameter determining their emulsification performance. On the other hand, evidence is fast growing to indicate that because of the insoluble nature, soy proteins are a kind of unique materials to perform as food-grade Pickering stabilizers. The knowledge about the Pickering emulsion stabilization is distinctly different from that for conventional emulsions stabilized by soy proteins. Thus, different strategies should be employed to develop soy proteins into a kind of effective emulsifiers, depending on the preference of emulsification performance or emulsion stability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this work was to investigate the influences of elevated postharvest temperature (EPT) for 1 d and 2 d on the physicochemical quality of pineapple fruit and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) underlying this process by RNA-seq. The results suggested that EPT increased the L * , a * , b * of pineapple fruit skin. EPT decreased the L * and increased the a * and b * of pineapple pulp. EPT increased the total soluble solid (TSS), sucrose content and TSS/titratable acidity (TA) ratio and decreased the TA. EPT decreased the firmness of pineapple fruit. At 1 d, EPT improved the production of aromatic alkenes. At 2 d, EPT improved the production of aromatic esters and decreased the alkenes. A differential gene expression analysis suggested that a total of 6725 and 5845 DEGs were identified by comparing EPT and control at 1 d and 2 d, respectively. A number of DEGs were screened for their involvement in the EPT process effects on pineapple fruit, including those associated with coloration, sugar/acid metabolism, texture softening and aroma biosynthesis. A subset of these DEGs was validated by qPCR, which was consistent with the corresponding Reads Per Kilo bases per Million reads (RPKM values) from RNA-seq. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of how EPT regulates the quality of pineapple fruit over different durations and the molecular mechanisms underlying this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Schistosomiasis japonica is a common zoonosis. Domestic animals are the primary source of infection and play an important role in disease transmission. The prevalence and infectivity of this disease in domestic animals in China have significantly decreased and, for this reason, diagnostics with a higher sensitivity have become increasingly necessary. It was reported that polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based methods could be used to detect schistosome infection in humans and animals and presented a high sensitivity and specificity. The present study aimed to develop a PCR-based method for detection of Schistosoma japonicum infection in domestic animals. Methods: A specific nested-PCR assay was developed to detect S. japonicum infection in domestic animals via amplification of a 231-bp DNA fragment of retrotransposon SjR2. The developed assay was first used in sera and dry blood filter paper (DBFP) from goats and buffaloes at different time points of infection. Then, 78 DBFPs from 39 artificially-infected bovines at 14 and 28 days post-infection and 42 DBFPs from schistosome-negative bovines from the city of Huangshan in the Anhui province were used to evaluate the diagnostic validity. Furthermore, this assay was used to detect S. japonicum infection in domestic animals in Dongzhi and Wangjiang counties. Results: The expected PCR product was detected in eggs and adult worms of S. japonicum and blood samples from S. japonicum-infected goats and water buffaloes, but not from Fasciola and Haemonchus contortus worms. The nested-PCR assay could detect the target S. japonicum DNA in DBFPs from goats and buffaloes after day 3 postinfection. The sensitivity in buffaloes at 14 and 28 days post-infection was 92.30% (36/39) and 100% (39/39), respectively. The specificity was 97.60% (41/42). The positivity rates in Dongzhi and Wangjiang counties were 6.00% and 8.00% in bovines and 22.00% and 16.67% in goats, respectively. The positivity rates in goats in both counties were higher than those in bovines with a significant difference in Dongzhi County but not in Wangjiang County (P < 0.05 and P = 0.23, respectively). Conclusions: Our results suggest that the developed nested-PCR assay may be used for the diagnosis of S. japonicum infection in domestic animals, and the control of S. japonicum infection in goats should be paid more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hypoxia plays an important role in the development of various cancers. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) act as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression and modulate the tumorigenesis, including gastric cancer. However, the roles and molecular mechanism of miR-224 in gastric cancer under hypoxia remain poorly understood. Method: Real-time PCR and Northern blot assay were used to examine the effects of hypoxia and HIF-1α on miR-224 expression. Luciferase and ChIP assays were performed to determine whether miR-224 was a transcriptional target of HIF-1α. Then MTT, colony formation, in vitro scratch and invasion assays were used to detect the effects of miR-224 on cell growth, migration and invasion under hypoxia, as well as the in vivo animal study. Luciferase assay andWestern blot were performed to validate the targets of miR-224. Functional studies were performed to determine the roles of RASSF8 as that of miR-224 under hypoxia. The effects of RASSF8 knockdown on the transcriptional activity and translocation of NF-κB were investigated using Luciferase assay and Western blot, respectively. Finally, the expression levels of miR-224 and RASSF8 were detected using real-time PCR in gastric cancer tissues as well as lymph node metastasis tissues. Results: We demonstrated that miR-224 was upregulated by hypoxia and HIF-1α. HIF-1α affected miR-224 expression at the transcriptional level. MiR-224 inhibition suppressed cell growth, migration and invasion induced by hypoxia, while miR-224 overexpression resulted in opposite effects. MiR-224 inhibition also suppressed tumor growth in vivo. We then validated that RASSF8 was a direct target of miR-224. RASSF8 overexpression inhibited cell growth and invasion, while RASSF8 knockdown ameliorated the inhibitory effects of miR-224 inhibition on cell growth and invasion. Furthermore, we found that RASSF8 knockdown enhanced the transcriptional activity of NF-κB and p65 translocation, while RASSF8 overexpression resulted in opposite effects. Inhibition of NF-κB activity by PDTC attenuated the effects of RASSF8 knockdown on cell proliferation and invasion. Finally, miR-224 was upregulated in both gastric cancer tissues and lymph node metastasis positive tissues, while RASSF8 expression was opposite to that of miR-224. Conclusion: These results indicate that hypoxia-inducible miR-224 promotes gastric cancer cell growth, migration and invasion by downregulating RASSF8 and acts as an oncogene, implying that inhibition of miR-224 may have potential as a therapeutic target for patients with hypoxic gastric tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing interest in developing food-grade coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ 10 ) ingredients for functional food formulations. This paper reported a spray-drying microencapsulation of CoQ 10 (in olive oil) using different food-grade biopolymers [soy protein isolate (SPI), pea protein isolate (PPI), defatted milk powder and octenylsuccinic anhydride-modified starch (OSA)] as the emulsifiers and wall materials, with the aim to improve its water solubility, stability and bioaccessibility. To improve the microencapsulation, maltodextrin (with a dextrose equivalent value of 16) was blended with the emulsifiers to produce the spray-dried microencapsulates. The type of proteins affected their physicochemical characteristics, including particle size, surface hydrophobicity and ξ -potential, which accordingly led to the differences in characteristics of the formed emulsions, e.g. droplet size and distribution profile, flocculated state of droplets, stability against coalescence and creaming, as well as interfacial protein concentration. All the microencapsulate preparations exhibited high encapsulation efficiency and good redispersion and/or dissolution behavior, though the encapsulation efficiency and dissolution behavior varied with the type of applied emulsifiers. The better encapsulation efficiency and dissolution behavior were largely related to the higher interfacial emulsifier concentration of the corresponding original emulsions. Furthermore, the microencapsulation remarkably improved the UV- or heat- stability, as well as the in vitro bioaccessibility of CoQ 10 . The improvement also distinctly varied with the type of applied emulsifiers. The results suggest that the spray-drying microencapsulation is an effective technique to improve the low water solubility and bioavailability of CoQ 10 , however, the choice of emulsifiers or wall materials is important for the optimization of the CoQ 10 encapsulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Native potato starch (PS) granules were separated into three size fractions: larger than 30 μm (P-L), 15–30 μm (P-M), and smaller than 15 μm (P-S). The morphological and crystalline structure of fractionated potato starches were investigated by light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The P-L fraction showed ellipsoidal shape and B-type X-ray pattern, whereas the P-S fraction had spherical shape and A-type pattern. The fluorophore-assisted capillary electrophoresis data showed that the P-L fraction had more B 2 chains and less short A and B 1 chains than the P-S counterparts. Smaller granules with larger specific surface area had higher degree of substitution when reacted with octenylsuccinic anhydride (OSA), and showed more uniform distribution of octenylsuccinate substituents. Both OSA modified and unmodified P-S samples showed higher flowability compared with the P-L counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of food-grade Pickering stabilizers has recently attracted growing interests, due to their potential applications in food and pharmaceutical formulations. We report that glycinin (SG), one of major globulins in soy proteins, exhibits a very promising potential to perform as a kind of novel food-grade Pickering stabilizers for oil-in-water emulsions. The unheated SG at pH 7.0 was mainly present in the nanoparticle form (with a z-average diameter of 57 nm), and the heating at 90 or 100 °C considerably increased the particle size and surface hydrophobicity (by 5–6 fold) of the nanoparticles. The heating also remarkably changed the pattern of intra-particle interactive forces, and for the heated SG nanoparticles, their internal structure was mainly maintained by both hydrophobic interactions and disulfide bonds. The heating greatly improved the emulsification performance of the nanoparticles, especially at high concentrations (e.g. > 0.5%, w/v), as well as the stability of the corresponding emulsions against coalescence and creaming. As compared with the SG preparation heated at 90 °C, that at 100 °C exhibited a higher effectiveness to pack at the interface. The better emulsification performance for the heated SG preparations was closely associated with their more efficient packing and higher diffusion (or initial adsorption) at the interface. The results indicated that SG nanoparticles, unheated or heated, could be applied as a kind of Pickering stabilizers for oil-in-water emulsions; as compared to the unheated SG, the heated SG nanoparticles exhibited much better interfacial and emulsifying properties, thus imparting a better Pickering stabilization for the emulsions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of food-grade particles as Pickering stabilizers has recently attracted increasing attention, and for protein-based particles, the role of surface charge in their emulsifying and interfacial properties is still little understood. The work reported that for the nanoparticles of heated (at 100 °C) soy glycinin (SG), the electrostatic screening by addition of increasing concentrations (0–500 mM) of NaCl was remarkably favorable for their emulsification performance and interfacial packing at oil-water interface. The influence of increasing ionic strength ( μ ) on the ability of these nanoparticles to form a gel-like emulsion was also investigated. In general, increasing the μ resulted in a progressive decrease in emulsion size and surface coverage at the interface, indicating improvement of the emulsification performance and interfacial packing. The improvement of emulsification and interfacial packing was largely associated with the enhanced diffusion and/or adsorption at the interface. If a high energy input of emulsification (microfluidization) was applied, a kind of gel-like Pickering emulsions stabilized by these nanoparticles would be produced. At protein concentrations of 0.5–2.0% (w/v), increasing the μ progressively increased the stiffness of the resultant gel-like emulsions. The results confirmed the importance of surface charge to the emulsification and interfacial behavior of protein-based (nano)particles, as well as formulation of Pickering emulsions stabilized by charged particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formulation of food-grade Pickering emulsions has attracted growing attention in the food and drug fields, due to their promising potential as novel delivery systems for lipophilic bioactive ingredients. The present work reported that a kind of gel-like Pickering emulsions stabilized by heat (at 100 °C)-treated soy glycinin (SG; a major globulin in soy proteins), fabricated by modulating protein concentration ( c ) and/or oil fraction ( ϕ ), can perform as sustained release delivery systems for β -carotene. Rheological measurements and microstructural observations indicated that increasing c and/or ϕ resulted in a progressive strengthening of gel-like network in the emulsions stabilized by heated SG, which was closely related to a high percentage of proteins adsorbed at the interface, or entrapped within the network. In contrast, no distinct gel formation was observed for the emulsions stabilized by unheated SG. In vitro intestinal digestion experiments showed that for the emulsions (stabilized by unheated or heated SG) without distinct gel formation, the release behavior of β -carotene was mainly determined by droplet size, while in the case of gel-like emulsions by heated SG, the gel-like network formation greatly slowed down the β -carotene release (irrespective of the applied c and/or ϕ ). All the test emulsions did not suffer a distinct degradation of β -carotene over the whole digestion process. The findings are of great interest for the development of novel sustained delivery systems for lipophilic components, based on Pickering emulsions stabilized by a kind of protein-based particle stabilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formulation of food-grade Pickering emulsions has attracted growing attention in the food and drug fields, due to their promising potential as novel delivery systems for lipophilic bioactive ingredients. The present work reported that a kind of gel-like Pickering emulsions stabilized by heat (at 100 °C)-treated soy glycinin (SG; a major globulin in soy proteins), fabricated by modulating protein concentration ( c ) and/or oil fraction ( ϕ ), can perform as sustained release delivery systems for β -carotene. Rheological measurements and microstructural observations indicated that increasing c and/or ϕ resulted in a progressive strengthening of gel-like network in the emulsions stabilized by heated SG, which was closely related to a high percentage of proteins adsorbed at the interface, or entrapped within the network. In contrast, no distinct gel formation was observed for the emulsions stabilized by unheated SG. In vitro intestinal digestion experiments showed that for the emulsions (stabilized by unheated or heated SG) without distinct gel formation, the release behavior of β -carotene was mainly determined by droplet size, while in the case of gel-like emulsions by heated SG, the gel-like network formation greatly slowed down the β -carotene release (irrespective of the applied c and/or ϕ ). All the test emulsions did not suffer a distinct degradation of β -carotene over the whole digestion process. The findings are of great interest for the development of novel sustained delivery systems for lipophilic components, based on Pickering emulsions stabilized by a kind of protein-based particle stabilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microstructure heterogeneity of emulsion films impaired their physical performances. This work attempted to fabricate novel high-barrier chitosan (CH) emulsion films by manipulating emulsion's interface architecture via Pickering stabilization approach. Some selected physical properties, including tensile property, water vapor permeability (WVP), and oxygen permeability (OP) as well as the microstructure of the films were evaluated. Film-forming emulsions (FFEs) based on zein/chitosan colloid particles-stabilized Pickering emulsions (ZCCPEs) were extremely stable, evidenced by the similar droplets size and size distribution in the FFEs and film matrix, endowing the films with homogeneous distributions of lipid droplets over their 3D network matrix. Interestingly, emulsion films exhibited excellent oxygen-barrier efficiency, and the OP of the films was decreased by 1−4 orders of magnitude when compared with CH films. This phenomenon may be associated with the novel interfacial architecture of ZCCPEs as well as film microstructure morphology based on ordered assembles of CH matrix and ZCCPEs. A schematic diagram for the formation pathway of ZCCPEs-loaded CH emulsion films was proposed to establish structure-function relationships of the films. This study opens a promising pathway for producing emulsion films with excellent oxygen-barrier capability via Pickering stabilization principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there is increasing interest in the development of food-grade Pickering emulsions as promising delivery systems for bioactive compounds. Our previous work reported that most of the proteins in pea protein isolate (PPI) at pH 3.0, present in the nanoparticle form, can effectively perform as a kind of food-grade Pickering stabilizers for oil-in-water emulsions (LWT, 2014). The purpose of this study was to further report that PPI-stabilized emulsions at pH 3.0 exhibited great potential to act as intestine-targeted and sustained-release delivery systems for β -carotene. The emulsions were produced by microfluidization at a specific protein concentration of 6.0% (w/v) and varying oil fractions ( ϕ ) of 0.2–0.6. The results indicated that increasing ϕ was favorable for the gel-like network strengthening of these emulsions. The gel formation was largely related to the droplet flocculation as well as inter-floc attractive interactions. The in vitro simulated digestion results showed that the release of β -carotene during the intestinal digestion of these emulsions could be well modulated by altering ϕ . The gel-like emulsion at ϕ = 0.6 exhibited much lower release of β -carotene, but higher stability towards degradation during the digestion, than that at ϕ = 0.3. The findings provide important information not only for the design of novel delivery systems for lipophilic bioactive components, but also for the development of plant protein-based formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interferon (IFN) family of cytokines not only has antiviral properties at various steps in the viral replication cycle, but also anticancer activity through multiple pathways that include inhibiting cell proliferation, regulating cellular responses to inducers of apoptosis and modulating angiogenesis and the immune system. IFNs are known to induce their biological activity through the induction of protein encoding IFN-stimulated genes. However, recent studies have established that IFNs also induce the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs), which are small endogenous non-coding RNAs that suppress gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. MiRNAs play critical roles in tumorigenesis and have been implicated to act as either oncogenes or tumor suppressors in various human cancers. Therefore, IFN-induced miRNAs play an important role, not only in the host response to innate immune response to cancer, but also in the tumorigenic process itself. Furthermore, IFN-induced miRNAs may participate in and/or orchestrate antiviral defense in certain viral infections. In this review, we describe our recent studies on the induction of miR-21 by type I IFN, the role of the STAT3 and NFκB signaling pathways in IFN-induced miR-21 expression, the role of miR-21 in different cancers and the role of miR-21 in regulating the antiviral response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confined longitudinal coherent acoustic phonon modes are excited and detected in a sub-μm-thick free-standing cubic GaN membrane by femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. After fs laser excitation, Brillouin oscillation and thickness oscillation with frequencies up to 100 GHz are observed and studied in the time domain. We found an initial expansion of the membrane upon optical excitation at 400 nm. Our experimental results confirmed earlier existing theoretical predictions and experimental observations that the hydrostatic deformation potential of cubic GaN is positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of recently developednovel electrostatic probes tomonitor particle charge density and hydrodynamics in freely bubblingtwo- and three-dimensional fluidized beds of glass beads and polyethyleneparticles is demonstrated. Particle charge density and bubble propertiesin the beds were altered by abruptly changing superficial gas velocityor by impulsively adding antistatic agent to the bed. The probes werethen utilized to quantitatively monitor the particle charge densityand bubble rise velocity. The current signals from the probes respondedquickly and significantly to abrupt changes in the superficial gasvelocity. By analyzing time-series signals from the probes, the particlecharge density and the bubble rise velocity deduced from the probeswere found to be of similar order of magnitudes and changed consistentlywith those obtained from Faraday cup and video measurements. Chargedensities from the Faraday cup decreased when an antistatic agentwas added, as registered by the probe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective(s): To examine the effect and potential mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment in spatial learning, memory, gut microbiota, and JNK signaling in D-galactose-induced AD-like rats. Materials and Methods: The AD-like rat model was generated by intraperitoneal injection of D-galactose. Morris water maze was used to determine spatial learning and memory ability, Real-time PCR to determine intestinal flora levels, ELISA to determine tryptophan (Trp) and 5-HT levels in the colon and hippocampal tissues, immunofluorescence to determine 5-HT levels in enterochromaffin cells (ECs), and immunoblotting to determine JNK signaling protein levels in hippocampal tissues. Results: Electroacupuncture pretreatment significantly reduced escape latency and prolonged exploration time in the target quadrant, and significantly increased the relative DNA abundance of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Meanwhile, electroacupuncture pretreatment also reduced colonic 5-HT levels and increased hippocampal 5-HT levels. Moreover, electroacupuncture pretreatment significantly inhibited hippocampal JNK pathway-related protein expression, including 5-HT6R, JNK, p-JUNK, c-JUN, and p-c-Jun. And the combination of GV20 and ST36 was more effective than single acupoints. Conclusion: Electroacupuncture pretreatment improved the learning and memory ability of D-galactose-induced AD-like model rats, changed the gut microbiota composition, and the mechanism may be related to the gut-brain axis and the JNK signaling pathway. In addition, the combination of GV20 and ST36 could further enhance the efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of protein concentration ( c ) and/or disulfide bond (S–S) cleavage with β -mercaptoethanol (2-ME) on interfacial adsorption dynamics, including diffusion, penetration and structural rearrangement at the interface, as well as dynamic dilatational properties of bovine serum albumin (BSA) was systematically investigated using drop shape analysis. The results indicated that for native BSA increasing the c from 0.01 to 0.5% (w/v) progressively improved the rate of diffusion and the ‘equilibrium’ surface pressure ( π ), while a further increase in c (to 1.0%, w/v) contrarily impaired these characteristics; increasing the c progressively improved the penetration and structural rearrangement at the interface. In contrast, the surface dilatational modulus ( E ) development was less dependent on the c than that for the π . On the other hand, the S–S cleavage with 2-ME at any test c value progressively improved the diffusion and penetration, as well as ‘equilibrium’ π , while the structural rearrangement was highly dependent on the c . At c < 0.5% (w/v), increasing the 2-ME concentration progressively improved the rearrangement, while at c values of 0.5% or above, a contrary trend was observed. The S–S cleavage generally improved the E or its elasticity development over the whole adsorption, regardless of the c . The E - π plots indicated that besides the adsorption, the lateral macromolecular interactions at the interface could be affected by variation in c and/or 2-ME concentration. The relationships between the conformational flexibility and interfacial characteristics of BSA, as well as between its interfacial and emulsifying properties have been well established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we reported that pea protein isolate (PPI) at pH 3.0 exhibits a novel Pickering stabilization for oil-in-water emulsions. At pH 3.0, most of the proteins in PPI were present in the nanoparticle form, with the hydrodynamic diameter of 134–165 nm depending on the concentration (c; 0.25–3.0 g/100 mL). For the emulsions formed at a specific oil fraction of 0.2, increasing the c from 0.25 to 3.0 g/100 mL resulted in a considerable reduction in the emulsion size, while their creaming stability progressively increased, and especially at c values higher than 2 g/100 mL, no creaming occurred even after storage of 20 days. Confocal laser scanning microscopy observations showed that increasing the c resulted in a progressive increase in extent of droplet flocculation, and at higher c values, a network consisting of flocculated droplets could be formed. The emulsions formed at c values above 1.0 g/100 mL exhibited extraordinary stability against coalescence. The flocculated droplet network formation was closely associated with the increased amount of adsorbed proteins at the interface. The results suggest that pea proteins exhibit a good potential to act as a kind of Pickering stabilizers for oil-in-water emulsions at acidic pHs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite advances in surgery, imaging, chemotherapy, and radiation, patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common histological subtype of glioma, have an especially dismal prognosis; >70% of GBM patients die within 2 years of diagnosis. In many human cancers, the microRNA miR-21 is overexpressed, and accumulating evidence indicates that it functions as an oncogene. Here,wereport that miR-21 is over expressed in human GBM cell lines and tumor tissue. Moreover, miR-21 expression in GBM patient samples is inversely correlated with patient survival. Knockdown of miR-21 in GBM cells inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and markedly inhibited tumor formation in vivo. A number of known miR-21 targets have been identified previously.Bymicroarray analysis, we identified and validated insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein-3 (IGFBP3) as a novel miR-21 target gene. Overexpression of IGFBP3 in glioma cells inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and inhibited tumor formation of glioma xenografts in vivo. The critical role that IGFBP3 plays in miR-21-mediated actions was demonstrated by a rescue experiment, in which IGFBP3 knockdown in miR-21KD glioblastoma cells restored tumorigenesis. Examination of tumors from GBM patients showed that there was aninverse relationship between IGFBP3 and miR-21 expression and that increased IGFBP3 expression correlated with better patient survival. Our results identify IGFBP3 as a novel miR-21 target gene in glioblastoma and suggest that the oncogenic miRNA miR-21 down-regulates the expression of IGFBP3, which acts as a tumor suppressor in human glioblastoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have reported an association between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and Parkinson's disease (PD), but the results were controversial. To explore whether VDR gene polymorphisms have an effect on PD risk, we performed this meta-analysis to evaluate the association between three VDR gene polymorphisms (Bsml, Apal, Taql) and PD susceptibility. We performed a systematic literature search for articles published up to February 2014 in multiple databases and selected seven eligible studies. Four studies were included for each polymorphism. Odds ratios (ORs) as well as their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the association between VDR gene polymorphisms and PD risk in four phenotype models. Subgroup analysis and publication bias were also performed. Heterogeneity analysis and sensitivity analysis were performed if necessary. We failed to detect any association between Apal, Bsml, Taql polymorphisms and PD susceptibility in all four genetic models. In subgroup analysis grouped by ethnicity, no significant association was detected. The present meta-analysis indicates that the VDR genetic polymorphisms Bsml, Apal and Taql are not associated with susceptibility to PD. Because of the limited number of included studies, the results should be cautiously interpreted. More carefully designed studies are needed to verify our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic information flows from DNA to protein through RNA in the central dogma. Different RNA species are known to accomplish essential tasks of protein encoding (mRNAs), amino acid loading (tRNAs), and translation machinery assembly (rRNAs). However, on top of these well-known roles, RNAs are central to various cellular regulatory pathways. Here we summarize newly emerging regulatory functions of RNA, specifically focusing on regulations through RNA modifications, RNP granules, and chromatin-associated regulatory RNA. In addition to being an essential building block of the central dogma, RNA can be critical to the regulation of many cellular processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the cholesterol-lowering benefits of soy proteins have been well recognized for a long time, the importance of protein structural characteristics to their cholesterol-lowering activities is little understood. In the work, we reported that a mild preheating at 95 °C for 20 min could remarkably improve the cholesterol-lowering activities of soy protein isolate (SPI) after an in vitro simulated pepsin-pancreatin digestion, including cholesterol and bile acids binding capacities (CBC and BBC), and inhibition of micellar cholesterol solubility (MCI), while an extensive preheating at 121 °C contrarily impaired its potential. The improvement of the cholesterol-lowering activities of the pepsin-pancreatin digest by the mild preheating was largely associated with the facilitated formation of digestion-induced peptide aggregates with high surface hydrophobicity (H o) in the digest. The final pepsin-pancreatin digest of the mildly preheated SPI could be fractionated using a gradient ethanol precipitation technique at ethanol concentrations of 20–80% (v/v). The H o and cholesterol-lowering activities of peptides in the resultant precipitate or supernatant fractions considerably varied. The ethanol-precipitated fractions at ethanol concentrations of 40–80%, with high H o but low solubility (in water), largely contributed to the CBC of the digest, while all the precipitates obtained at ethanol concentrations of 20–80% dominated the BBC of the digest. In contrast, the soluble peptides in 80% ethanol were mainly responsible for the high potential of the digest to inhibit micellar cholesterol solubilization. In general, a good positive relationship between the CBC (or BBC) and H o could be well observed for the pepsin-pancreatin digests of SPI, or their fractions. The MCI of the mildly preheated SPI digest was largely ascribed to the action of soluble peptides in 80% ethanol. The results demonstrated that the choice of preheating conditions (especially temperature) is of vital importance for optimal cholesterol-lowering benefits of soy proteins. The findings are also of interest for understanding the molecular mechanisms of the cholesterol-lowering activities of soy proteins. [Display omitted] • The cholesterol-lowering potential of soy protein isolate (SPI) was evaluated after an in vitro pepsin-pancreatin digestion. • A mild preheating (at 95 °C) remarkably improved the cholesterol-lowering activities of SPI. • The improvement by the mild preheating was largely related to the facilitated formation of hydrophobic aggregates. • The cholesterol or bile acid binding capacities of SPI were largely determined by the aggregates in its digests. • The inhibition of micellar cholesterol solubility was mainly due to the reaction of small hydrophobic peptides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of innovative Ce-Mn/Ti-pillared-clay (Ce-Mn/Ti-PILC) catalysts combining the advantages of PILCs and Ce-Mn were investigated for elemental mercury (Hg0) capture at 100-350 °C in the absence of HCl in the flue gas. The fresh and used catalysts were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The catalyst characterization indicated that the 6%Ce-6%MnOx/Ti-PILC catalyst possessed a large specific surface area and high dispersion of Ce and Mn on the surface. The experimental results indicated that the 6%Ce-6%MnOx/Ti-PILC catalyst exhibited high Hg0 capture (>90%) at 100-350 °C. During the first stage of the reaction, the main Hg0 capture mechanism for the catalyst was adsorption. As the reaction proceeded, the Hg0 oxidation ability was substantially enhanced. Both the hydroxyl oxygen and the lattice oxygen on the surface of the catalysts participated in Hg0 oxidation. At a low temperature (150 °C), the hydroxyl oxygen and lattice oxygen from Ce4+ → Ce3+ and Mn3+ → Mn2+ on the surface contributed to Hg0 oxidation. However, at a high temperature (250 °C), the hydroxyl oxygen and lattice oxygen from Mn4+ → Mn3+ contributed to Hg0 oxidation. Hg0 oxidation was preferred at a high temperature. The 6%Ce-6%MnOx/Ti-PILC catalyst was demonstrated to a good Hg0 adsorbent and catalytic oxidant in the absence of HCl in the flue gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Some physicochemical characteristics, microstructure and stability of native and preheated (95 °C, 15 min) soy protein isolate (SPI)-stabilized emulsions, formed at varying protein concentrations (c; 0.5–4.0%, w/v) in the absence or presence of 300 mM NaCl, were characterized. The emulsifying ability, flocculated state of droplets, microstructure, interfacial protein concentration (Γ) of the fresh emulsions, as well as stability of these emulsions against coalescence, flocculation, creaming and even lipid oxidation upon storage up to 2 weeks were evaluated. In general, increasing c was favorable for the emulsification efficiency, but the flocculated state of oil droplets or size of the flocs in the fresh emulsions was more affected by the presence of salt, and/or the heat pretreatment. Increasing ionic strength or application of a heat pretreatment resulted in remarkable increases in extents of droplet flocculation in the fresh emulsions, as well as amount and concentrat,ion of adsorbed proteins at the interface. All the emulsions exhibited an extraordinary stability against coalescence and/or flocculation. Increasing c led to a progressive increase in stability against creaming, especially for the preheated SPI emulsions with 300 mM NaCl. All the emulsions at c = 1% or above exhibited a similarly high oxidative stability upon storage up to 9 days. Even at c = 0.5%, the oxidative stability of the formed emulsions could be greatly improved by increasing ionic strength, and/or application of a heat pretreatment. The findings have important implications for the development of an important kind of protein-stabilized emulsions with industrial relevance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The emulsifying and interfacial properties of vicilins from three selected Phaseolus legumes (kidney, red and mung beans; denoted as KV, RV and MV, respectively) at protein concentrations (c) of 0.25–2.5% (w/v) were investigated. The results indicated that the emulsifying ability and emulsion stability (against flocculation, coalescence and even creaming) of vicilins considerably varied with their type and c. In general, KV exhibited much better emulsifying ability than RV or MV. Increasing c basically facilitated formation of the fresh emulsions with less flocculated oil droplets, and enhanced their stability against coalescence. Increasing c progressively decreased the stability of KV and RV emulsions against flocculation and creaming, while in the MV case, least stability was observed at c = 1.0%. Besides the differences in conformational characteristics, the differences in emulsifying properties of these vicilins could be to a certain extent attributed to the differences in their interfacial properties, including ζ-potential and interfacial protein concentration, as well as unfolding, penetration and structural rearrangement at the interface. The findings are of great importance for extending the current knowledge about the emulsifying properties of vicilins, thus providing valuable information for the development of vegetable protein-stabilized emulsion products. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Skutterudites are considered as interesting material for thermoelectric applications. Filling foreign atoms into the cagelike structure of a CoSb3 skutterudite is beneficial to its thermoelectric properties by increasing phonon scattering while maintaining the electrical conductivity. In this paper we demonstrate the generation and detection of coherent acoustic phonons in thin films of CoSb3 and partially filled YbxCo4Sb12 skutterudites using femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. By using a pulse-echo method, the longitudinal sound velocity of amorphous and polycrystalline CoSb3 thin films is obtained. For partially filled YbxCo4Sb12 thin films, an obvious decrease of the longitudinal sound velocity is observed at high filling fraction. Concomitantly, the high frequency acoustic phonon modes are strongly damped as the Yb filling fraction increases, which gives direct evidence for acoustic phonon scattering processes. It is shown that the reduction of lattice thermal conductivity after Yb filling is mainly achieved by the strong scattering of acoustic phonons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total-variation (TV) regularization has been widely used in image restoration domain, due to its attractive edge preservation ability. However, the estimation of the regularization parameter, which balances the TV regularization term and the data-fidelity term, is a difficult problem. In this paper, based on the classical split Bregman method, a new fast algorithm is derived to simultaneously estimate the regularization parameter and to restore the blurred image. In each iteration, the regularization parameter is refreshed conveniently in a closed form according to Morozov's discrepancy principle. Numerical experiments in image deconvolution show that the proposed algorithm outperforms some state-of-the-art methods both in accuracy and in speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an adaptive total generalized variation (TGV) based model, aiming at achieving a balance between edge preservation and region smoothness for image denoising. The variable splitting (VS) and the classical augmented Lagrangian method (ALM) are used to solve the proposed model. With the proposed adaptive model and ALM, the regularization parameter, which balances the data fidelity and the regularizer, is refreshed with a closed form in each iterate, and the image denoising can be accomplished without manual interference. Numerical results indicate that our method is effective in staircasing effect suppression and holds superiority over some other state-of-the-art methods both in quantitative and in qualitative assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Emulsifying properties of two partially purified legumin and vicilin (PL and PV) and protein isolate (PPI) from dry pea seeds at various pH values (3.0, 5.0, 7.0 and 9.0) were investigated. The tested emulsion characteristics included droplet size, flocculation and coalescence indices (FI and CI), creaming index, as well as interfacial protein adsorption. Some physicochemical properties of these proteins, e.g., free sulfhydryl and disulfide bond contents, protein solubility (PS), surface hydrophobicity (H o) and thermal stability (and denaturation), were also characterized. The results indicated that emulsifying ability and emulsion stability of various pea proteins considerably varied with the preparation process, protein composition and pH. Overall, all the pea proteins exhibited least emulsifying ability at pH 5.0 (around isoelectric point), and concomitantly, the resultant emulsions were most unstable against coalescence and creaming. The emulsifying ability of these proteins at pH 3.0 was generally better than that at neutral or alkali pH values, and among all the three proteins, PL exhibited highest emulsifying ability at this pH. The flocculated state and size of droplets in fresh emulsions did not directly affect stability of these emulsions against flocculation and coalescence (upon 24 h of storage), and even creaming (up to 7 days). Interestingly, the PL and PV exhibited much better creaming stability than PPI, at pH deviating from the pI. The emulsifying properties of these proteins were not only related to their PS and H o, but also associated with the protein adsorption and nature (e.g., viscoelasticity) of interfacial protein films. These results can greatly extend the knowledge for understanding the emulsifying properties of pea proteins, especially the pH dependence of emulsion characteristics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A novel process to efficiently form soy protein isolate (SPI)-stabilized emulsion gels, induced by microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) was reported, with the enzyme added before the emulsification (instead of after the emulsification in the conventional case). The rheological behavior and microstructure of the formed emulsion gels (at a constant protein concentration of 6 g/100 mL and oil fractions (ø) of 0.2–0.6) were characterized using dynamic oscillatory measurement and confocal laser scanning microscope. The gel stiffness of the formed gels with the novel process progressively increased with increasing enzyme concentration (1.0–5.0 U/g), or with the ø increasing from 0.2 to 0.6. Interestingly, the gel stiffness at a given ø with the novel process was considerably greater than that with the conventional process, though the enzyme concentration was less (e.g., 1.0 vs 20 U/g). Furthermore, a pre-incubation (15–60 min) of the proteins with the enzyme (before the emulsification) greatly improved the gelation. The analyses of droplet size and amount of entrapped proteins within the gel matrix indicated that during the initial gel network, the bridging flocculation of oil droplets played a prominent role, but the full development of the gel stiffness mainly depended on the inter-droplet covalent cross-linking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]