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The present research employed sodium alginate (SA) and pea protein isolate (PPI) as primary materials to explore the impact of pre-gelation time on the rheological properties, 3D printability, and swallowing properties of SA-PPI composite gel. Additionally, in vitro release capabilities of 3D printed products carrying curcumin (Cur) were studied. The results illustrated that adjusting the pre-gelation time could enhance the rheological properties, 3D printability, swallowing ability, encapsulation efficiency, and slow-release capabilities of the composite gel. Specifically, the SA-PPI composite gel (SA-PPI22) with pre-gelled for 22 min, displayed the optimal viscosity and recovery, which facilitated extrusion and shape retention during the 3D printing process. Moreover, SA-PPI22 exhibited a smooth surface quality in its 3D printed structures, along with exceptional self-supporting ability and swallowing performance meeting grade 5 fine filling food standards. Furthermore, SA-PPI22 delayed its release rate in vitro. This study could contribute to the advancement of hydrogel applications in the field of 3D printing and offer the theoretical groundwork for the development of SA-PPI composite gels in dysphagia-friendly food products.

A simple, sensitive, and reliable high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was first developed for simultaneous determination of Ephedrine alkaloids and 2,3,5,6-tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) in Ephedra sinica Stapf. The HPLC separation was performed on a reversed phase C18 column (Nova-Pak® C18, 150 mm × 3.9 mm I.D.) with a duplicate gradient composed of methanol and phosphate buffer solution (PBS, 0.03 mol/L KH2PO4-acetic acid-triethyl amine = 400:0.25:0.1, v:v:v, pH = 6.0) to elute the solutes with a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 210 nm. Regression equations revealed linear relationships (correlation coefficients: 0.991 ∼ 0.998) between the peak area of each constituent (E, PE, NE, NPE, TMP) and its concentration. The detection limits for E, PE, NE, NPE, and TMP were 0.4, 0.1, 0.03, 0.02, 0.03 μg/mL, respectively at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1, and the recoveries ranged between 96.0–104.5%. The contents of E, PE, NE, NPE, and TMP in Ephedra sinica Stapf extracts were measured 0.480 g/100 g (2.5%, RSD), 0.090 g/100 g (3.0%, RSD), 0.090 g/100 g (2.4%, RSD), 0.060 g/100 g (2.2%, RSD), and 0.022 g/100 g (1.5%, RSD), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the relationship between heavy metals exposure and neurobehavioral function impairment in welders., Methods: The metals exposure in 82 welders and 51 operators were investigated with blood Pb, Cd and Mn via AAS, and the nervous impairment was evaluated with neurobehavioral core test battery (NCTB)., Results: Pb [(115.49 +/- 79.22) microg/L] and Cd [(3.67 +/- 3.19) microg/L] in welders were significantly higher than operators [(69.32 +/- 50.79) and (0.83 +/- 0.76) microg/L respectively] (P < 0.05). Welders had worse standard scores of NCTB 13 items such as depression-dejection than non-welders (P < 0.05). Significant difference of confusion-bewilderment and forward digit span in welders only existed in different groups of Pb and Mn, respectively. A dose-effect relationship was found between forward digit span and serum Mn level in welders. General linear regression analysis indicated that Pb exposure, Mn exposure and alcohol consume had negative relation with the loss of nervous system function., Conclusion: The nervous impairment in welders is attributed to occupational exposure to Pb and Mn, concomitantly.

A new method using microwave digestion technique was developed for the determination of lead in Astragalus by CTAB enhancing-continual flow hydride generation-inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (HG-ICP-AES). The experimental conditions of microwave digestion and hydride generation were optimized. This method shows a linear range of 0.23-800 microg x L(-1) and the correlation coefficient is 0.999 9. It is satisfactory to apply the microwave digestion procedure to the determination of Pb under the optimized conditions. The detection limit of the method is 0.23 microg x L(-1) and the RSD is 1.02%. The recovery obtained is 98.8%-100.1%. The results show that this method is rapid and simple with low environmental contamination and complete digestion of samples.

An ion-exclusion chromatographic (IEC) method with evaporative light-scattering detector (ELSD) was established for the simultaneous analysis of the aspartic acid and sorbitol in Potassium Magnesium Aspartate and Sorbitol Injection. This procedure eliminates the need for complex derivatization schemes since ELSD can detect aspartic acid and sorbitol directly. An ion exclusion column (TSKgel OApak-A column, 7.8 mm i.d. x 300 mm, 5 microns, Tosho, Japan) was used for separation. The mobile phase was a mixture of aqueous solution (containing 0.1% (volume fraction) trifluoroacetic acid)-methanol (9:1, volume ratio). Under the above conditions aspartic acid and sorbitol were separated to baseline in 12 min. Regression equations revealed linear relationship (correlation coefficient: 0.999) between the concentrations of the analytes injected and the peak areas of the analytes detected by ELSD. The detection limits of ELSD (S/N = 3) were about 30 mg/L and 20 mg/L for aspartic acid and sorbitol, respectively.