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Plant essential oils, which can effectively extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, possess antioxidant, antibacterial and insect repellent properties, demonstrating them as promising natural preservatives for fruits and vegetables. However, the applications of plant essential oils in fruit and vegetable preservation are limited due to their disadvantages such as high volatility, poor stability and weak hydrophilicity, as well as strong aroma. Stable plant essential oil delivery systems that can form a barrier to the external environment provide new methods and approaches to overcome these limitations. In addition, the delivery systems can improve biocompatibility and have controllable release function, thus enhancing the utilization rate of plant essential oils. In the present paper, we review the composition, antioxidant, antibacterial and insect repellent activity and mechanisms of action of plant essential oils, and summarize various delivery systems including nano-emulsions, microemulsions, microcapsules, and liposomes and their preparation methods, and discuss the major factors affecting the encapsulation efficiency, particle size and physical stability of plant essential oils such as preparation methods, emulsifiers, the type and concentration of wall material. Finally, we summarize the applications and prospects of delivery systems for plant essential oils in fruit and vegetable preservation with the aim of providing a theoretical foundation for the development of new, effective fruit and vegetable preservatives.

The present prospective, double blind, randomized clinical study was designed to evaluate whether dexmedetomidine (Dex) combined with ropivacaine for tranversus abdominis plane (TAP) block could improve analgesic quality and duration, and promote recovery following laparoscopic colectomy. Following induction of anesthesia, ultrasound-guided bilateral TAP block was performed in 60 patients scheduled for elective laparoscopic colectomy with either 20 ml of 0.375% ropivacaine plus 2 ml normal saline 0.9% (R group), or 20 ml of 0.375% ropivacaine plus 2 ml Dex (0.5 µg/kg) (RD group). Visual analogue scale (VAS) score for pain, sedation level, length of hospital stay (LOS), and bowel function recovery time and associated complications were recorded. Overall patient satisfaction with postoperative pain management was also assessed. The hemodynamic variables were not significantly different between the two groups during the surgery. However, the duration of analgesia was significantly longer in the RD group compared with the R group (P

Parents and siblings play a vital role in promoting and inhibiting the development of comforting behaviour -- a typical prosocial behaviour. This study aims to explore the dual mediating model of positive and negative sibling relationships between parental self-efficacy (PSE) and firstborn children's comforting behaviours. We enrolled 163 firstborn children aged 4-6 years. The firstborn children scored significantly higher in comforting behaviour in a 'toy damage' task than that in a 'physical harm' task. Moreover, PSE promoted the development of children's comforting behaviour through a positive sibling relationship and weakened the development of children's comforting behaviour through a negative sibling relationship, revealing the internal mechanism of sibling relationship's two-way influence on firstborn children's comforting behaviour. Comparatively, no significant difference was noted in the mediating effect between positive and negative sibling relationships, providing clues for future intervention studies.

Objective To investigate the effect of α2A -adrenergic receptor ( ADRA2A) gene polymorphism on the sedative effect of dexmedetomidine, and to preliminarily explore the genetic mechanism of individual differences in the sedative effect of dexmedetomidine. Methods One hundred and five patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists ( ASA) physical status I and II, undergoing lower extremity surgery under epidural anesthesia were selected. Venous blood was drawn before the operation, the genotypes of ADRA2A C1291 G (rs1800544) in the promoter region of the candidate gene were done by PCR-RFLP. We selected the L2/L3 gap for epidural catheterization and controlled the anesthesia plane below T10. Dexmedetomidine infusion was initiated after epidural catheterization, a loading dose of 1 µg/kg dexmedetomidine was pumped intravenously with a constant speed for 10 min, the pumping was stopped after a maintenance rate of 0. 5 µg/(kg·h) for 1 hour. From the beginning of infusion until 1 hour later, EEG bispectral index (BIS), modified Observers Assessment of Alertness/Sedation scale ( OAA/S scale), BP, HR, SpO2 and RR were recorded every 5 minutes, and intraoperative hypotension, bradycardia, respiratory depression and other adverse events were also recorded. Results Among 105 patients, there were 16 cases of type CC for ADRA2A gene rs1800544 allele, 52 cases of CG type and 37 cases of GG type. There was no significant difference in age, BMI or ASA status between the patients with three allele types. The BIS values of all patients began to decrease after 5 minutes of the infusion of dexmedetomidine; after 15-40 minutes, the values of BIS in patients with CG and GG were higher than those in patients with CC (all P < 0. 05). The modified OAA/S score of all patients began to increase after 30 minutes of the infusion of dexmedetomidine, in 35 to 50 minutes, the modified OAA/S scores in patients with CG and GG were lower than those in patients with CC (P < 0. 05) . There was no significant difference in BIS or modified OAA/S between the CG and GG patients at different time points. There was no significant difference in the incidence of BP, HR, and adverse events among patients with different alleles. Conclusion Compared with individuals with ADRA2A gene rsl800544 allele CC genotype, patients with CG and GG genotypes have a slow sedative response to dexmedetomomidine and are not easy to fall asleep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Serine/threonine kinase 1 (PIM1) plays a crucial role in cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. However, its role in the pathogenesis of concanavalin A (ConA)-induced acute hepatitis is not well understood. PIM1 kinase inhibitor can reduce the expression of PIM1. This study aims to investigate the effects of PIM1 kinase inhibitor and its protective mechanism in ConA-induced acute hepatitis., Methods: C57/BL six mice were injected with ConA (20, 15, and 12 mg/kg) to induce acute hepatitis, and PIM1 kinase inhibitor SMI-4a (60 mg/kg) was administered orally 24 h before ConA injection. The survival rate of the mice was observed after ConA injection. The levels of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were measured. Serum inflammatory factors were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was performed on liver tissue collected at different time points. The major cytokines expression in liver tissue was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The number of macrophages, T-cell and neutrophils in liver tissue were detected by flow cytometry (FCM). PIM1 in liver tissue was detected by western blot (WB) and qRT-PCR. SMI-4a (80 µM) was pretreated for 24 h and ConA (400 µg/mL) was stimulated for 12 h in RAW264.7 cell model. Phosphorylated p65 (p-p65) and cleaved caspase-3 (c-caspase-3) in liver tissue and macrophages were detected by WB., Results: Different concentrations of ConA caused different acute hepatitis mortality, 12 mg/kg concentration within 24 h of the mortality showed a gradient increase. The levels of AST and ALT increased significantly at 12 h after ConA injection. PIM1 expression was upregulated at 12 h. SMI-4a can suppress the PIM1 expression. SMI-4a suppressed cytokines production, AST, and ALT in ConA-treated serum. SMI-4a suppressed the major cytokines in liver tissue. Tests in liver tissue showed that SMI-4a reduced the number of T cells, neutrophils, and macrophages. SMI-4a inhibited the inflammatory response by downregulating the expression of p-p65. Meanwhile, apoptosis was decreased by decreasing the expression of c-caspase-3., Conclusions: In conclusion, the protective effect of SMI-4a against acute hepatitis is by reducing the inflammatory response and apoptosis. These findings suggest that SMI-4a may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of autoimmune hepatitis., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tgh.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tgh-23-93/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Translational Gastroenterology and Hepatology. All rights reserved.)

Dexmedetomidine (DEX) induces a dose dependent sedation and has been widely used as an adjuvant sedative during regional anesthesia recently. We aimed to investigate the effective dose of intravenous single-dose DEX to induce consciousness inhibition in patients of different ages undergoing lower limb surgery with epidural anesthesia. Ninety-two patients were divided into three groups according to their ages. Patients aged 18-45 years, 46-64 years and 65-85 years in group Y, group M and group O, respectively. With the accomplishment of epidural anesthesia, a pre-calculated dose of DEX was infused for more than 10 minutes and the sedative state was assessed by Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation (OAA/S) scale 30 minutes after the infusion. A modified Dixon's up-and-down method was applied to decided the dose of DEX for each sequential patient. The 50% effective dose (ED50) of DEX in the three groups were 0.40, 0.76 and 1.03 μg/kg, respectively. The 95% effective dose (ED95) in group O (0.54 μg/kg) was 45% of group Y (1.21μg/kg) and 64% of group M (0.84μg/kg). Besides, the incidence of bradycardia was more frequent with the increase of age. The present study indicated that the appropriate single-dose of DEX to induce consciousness inhibition should reduce with the increase of age in patients undering lower limb surgery with epidural anesthesia, especially in patients over 64 years old. This result may protect the old patients from excessive sedation and dose-dependent adverse reactions.