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Mushroom poisoning is a deeply concerning food safety problem that affects the public in China every year. Although there are statistics on the number of poisonings and incidents, there is a lack of data on the types of toxic mushrooms, clinical manifestations and toxins. A case of wild mushroom poisoning occurred in Xiamen. Descriptive epidemiological investigation, toxins detection, and morphological and phylogenetic identification were immediately performed. The patients exhibited typical neurotoxic symptoms after consuming wild mushrooms, including chills, vertigo, drowsiness, salivation and coma. The average incubation period was 30 min. Treatments that were adopted included fluid infusion, gastric lavage, catharsis, and liver protection treatment. All patients recovered within 10 days. The species was identified as Amanita pseudosychnopyramis, and its contents of muscarine, muscimol and ibotenic acid were 170.3 ± 5.9 mg/kg, 835.4 ± 43.1 mg/kg and 637.9 ± 54.8 mg/kg in dry weight, respectively, as detected by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). To our knowledge, this is the first report of Amanita pseudosychnopyramis poisoning worldwide.

We aimed to assess the eradication efficacy and factors that influencing it of high-dose dual therapy (HDDT) in Gansu region, Northwest China.A total of 216 treatment-naive patients with Helicobacter pylori infection were randomly assigned to two groups for the 14-day eradication treatment: the HDDT group (amoxicillin 750 mg q.i.d. and esomeprazole 40 mg t.i.d.) and the amoxicillin and clarithromycin-containing bismuth quadruple therapy group (ACBQT: esomeprazole 20 mg, bismuth potassium citrate 2 g, amoxicillin 1 g, and clarithromycin 500 mg; b.i.d.). The eradication rates, adverse effects and patient compliance of these two groups were compared. Eradication efficacy was determined byThe eradication rates for the HDDT and ACBQT groups were 71.0% and 74.7% (P = .552) by per-protocol analysis, and 65.7% and 68.5% (P = .664) by intention-to-treat analysis. The overall adverse event rates in the HDDT and ACBQT groups were 2.0% and 43.4% (P .001), respectively. The resistance rates to amoxicillin, clarithromycin, tetracycline, levofloxacin and metronidazole were 15.2%, 42.0%, 5.4%, 35.7% and 83.0%, respectively. Amoxicillin resistance and delta over baseline (DOB) ofThe HDDT as first-line treatment for H. pylori was unsatisfactory in Gansu. Amoxicillin resistance and DOB of

Morphology of dispersoids in an annealed Al-Mg alloy were investigated using TEM. Five kinds of dispersoids with different structures and morphologies were observed in an annealed Al-Mg alloy. The 1st, or spherical-like one is monoclinic structured θ-Al45(Mn,Cr)7 phase with twin and orientation domain. The 2nd or plate-shaped one is η-Al5(Mn,Cr) phase with monoclinic or pesuo-tetragonal structure. The 3rd or prismatic-like one is a new hexagonal structured Al6.4Mn phase with a unit cell of a=1.72nm, c=1.27nm, and γ=120°, and the 4th or big rod-shaped one is orthorhombic structured Al6(Mn,Fe) phase which is often reported. The 5th one is E-Al18Mg3(Mn–Cr)2 phase with twin or triple twin observed occasionally in Al-Mg annealed alloy. The first two of dispersoids are in majority, followed by the middle two and a small number of the fifth. Formation mechanisms of these particles in Al-Mg alloy are discussed according to phase diagram and possible formation of the twins in the particles are described based on minimum energy.

In this study, we demonstrated a hydrogen (H2) sensor based on a guided-mode resonance (GMR) filter coated with a layer of palladium (Pd). The sensor consists of three key layers, namely the substrate (replicated grating structure on an optical adhesive), waveguiding layer of TiO2, and active-sensing layer of Pd. The sensor functions as an optical resonator. On absorption of H2, the change of the refractive index in Pd changes the optical response of the sensor. To monitor the output optical response, a transmission setup was used, and two detection modalities—the change in transmission efficiency at a specific wavelength and the shift in the resonant wavelength—were demonstrated. Upon injection of a mixture of 4% H2 and 96% argon, the resonant wavelength shifted 6.38 nm, and transmission efficiency increased by 45% in 24 s.

The current study was aimed at exploring the potential roles and possible mechanisms of miR-10a-5p in osteoarthritis (OA). We performed RT-qPCR, Western blot, CCK8, EdU Assay, and flow cytometry assay to clarify the roles of miR-10a-5p in OA. Furthermore, the whole transcriptome sequencing together with integrated bioinformatics analyses were conducted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of miR-10a-5p involving in OA. Our results demonstrated that miR-10a-5p was upregulated in OA and acted as a significant contributing factor for OA. A large number of circRNAs, lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs were identified by overexpressing miR-10a-5p. Functional enrichment analyses indicated that these differentially-expressed genes were enriched in some important terms including PPAR signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and p53 signaling pathway. A total of 42 hub genes were identified in the protein-protein interaction network including SERPINA1, TTR, APOA1, and A2M. Also, we constructed the network regulatory interactions across coding and noncoding RNAs triggered by miR-10a-5p, which revealed the powerful regulating effects of miR-10a-5p. Moreover, we found that HOXA3 acted as the targeted genes of miR-10a-5p and miR-10a-5p contributed to the progression of OA by suppressing HOXA3 expression. Our findings shed insight on regulatory mechanisms of miR-10a-5p, which might provide novel therapeutic targets for OA.

Several recent studies have reported an abnormal liver chemistry profile among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), although its clinical significance remains unknown.This systematic review and meta-analysis identified six studies of 586 patients delineating liver chemistries among patients with severe/critical illness versus mild cases of COVID-19 infection. Patients with severe/critical illness with COVID-19 infection have increased prevalence of coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as compared with mild cases. A significant association between severe/critical COVID-19 infections with elevations in aspartate aminotransferase (pooled mean difference [MD], 11.70 U/L; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.97, 20.43; P = 0.009), elevated total bilirubin (pooled MD, 0.14 mg/dL; 95% CI, 0.06, 0.22; P = 0.0005), and decreased albumin (pooled MD, -0.68 g/L; 95% CI, -0.81, -0.55; P 0.00001) was noted. There was also a trend toward elevated alanine aminotransferase levels among these severe cases (pooled MD, 8.84 U/L; 95% CI, -2.28, 19.97; P = 0.12); however, this did not reach statistical significance. More severe/critically ill cases were associated with leukocytosis, neutrophilia, lymphopenia, elevated creatinine kinase, elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and elevated prothrombin time (PT).Comorbidities, including coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, are more prevalent in hospitalized Chinese patients with severe/critical illness from COVID-19, and these patients are more likely to manifest with abnormal liver chemistries. Further prospective studies are crucial to understand the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying the hepatic manifestations of the novel COVID-19 infection and its clinical significance.

Ming-De Cao,1 Yan-Cheng Song,2 Zhong-Meng Yang,1 Da-Wei Wang,1 Yi-Ming Lin,1 Hua-Ding Lu1 1Department of Orthopaedics, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519000, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Hua-Ding LuDepartment of Orthopaedics, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519000, Guangdong, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13807918420Email johnniehuading@163.comBackground: Metastasis is the leading cause of death for patients with osteosarcoma (OS). In the present study, we explore the biomarkers for metastatic OS and provide potential therapeutic approaches.Materials and Methods: RNA-Seq data and clinical follow-up information were downloaded from TARGET and GEO databases. A Cox regression model was used to analyze metastatic events. L1000FWD, DGIdb, and CMap databases were used to identify potential drugs related to metastasis. Invasion and migration transwell assays and an adhesion assay were used to identify biological functions of genes.Results: A total of 15 metastasis-related signatures (MRSs) were associated with the prognosis based on the TARGET or GSE21257 cohorts, among which IL10RA and TLR7 genes were especially significant. In the DGIdb drug–gene interaction database, TLR7 and IFNGR1 were found to have potential interactions with drugs. After inhibiting the expression of TLR7, the migration, invasion, and adhesion ability of OS cells were significantly enhanced, which further promoted metastasis.Conclusion: We identified a set of MRS that may be related to OS metastases. Among them, TLR7 plays a vital role and may be a potential target for OS metastasis treatment.Keywords: osteosarcoma, metastatic-related signatures, drug–gene interaction, TLR7, migration, invasion

Rectal neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are low-grade malignancies, which are slow-growing and usually become symptomatic late in the course of the disease (Basuroy et al., 2016). In recent years, rectal NENs are increasingly frequently detected, with the widespread availability and accessibility of endoscopy and cross-sectional imaging modalities (Kos-Kudla et al., 2017). Multiple studies have shown that endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is an advanced endoscopic technique and is currently used in the diagnosis and preoperative assessment of NENs (Kim, 2012; Liu et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2017). However, EUS imaging of rectal NEN and differential diagnosis with other submucosal tumors (SMTs) has not been adequately reported. In this study, we reviewed and summarized the EUS imaging and pathological features of rectal NENs of 38 cases to improve preoperative diagnosis rate and reduce unreasonable treatment.

A multipoint lock is a useful lock which can provide more security and is convenient for the user. One of the aims of this article is to study how a multipoint lock is designed systematically by utilizing a mortise lock. Based on a systematic design methodology, the concepts and the atlas of designs are synthesized systematically. A feasible mechanism is further chosen for detailed design. The computer simulation is developed and the basic stress analysis is also constructed for verifying the design results. Finally, the prototype is also built. The results of this study provide a valuable reference for the design and analysis of a mortise lock’s mechanism.

BACKGROUND Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), a classic anti-inflammatory and antitumorigenic agent, was recently identified as a potential treatment for obesity and insulin resistance. However, little is known about its direct impact on the liver. AIM To investigate the effect and underlying mechanism of AITC in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (commonly referred to as NAFLD). METHODS To establish a mouse and cellular model of NAFLD, C57BL/6 mice were fed a high fat diet (HFD) for 8 wk, and AML-12 cells were treated with 200 μM palmitate acid for 24 h. For AITC treatment, mice were administered AITC (100 mg/kg/d) orally and AML-12 cells were treated with AITC (20 μmol/L). RESULTS AITC significantly ameliorated HFD-induced weight gain, hepatic lipid accumulation and inflammation in vivo. Furthermore, serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels were markedly reduced in AITC-treated mice. Mechanistically, AITC significantly downregulated the protein levels of sterol regulatory element­binding protein 1 (SREBP1) and its lipogenesis target genes and upregulated the levels of proteins involved in fatty acid β-oxidation, as well as the upstream mediators Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) and AMP-activated protein kinase α (AMPKα), in the livers of HFD-fed mice. AITC also attenuated the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway. Consistently, AITC relieved palmitate acid-induced lipid accumulation and inflammation in AML-12 cells in vitro through the Sirt1/AMPK and NF-κB signaling pathways. Importantly, further studies showed that the curative effect of AITC on lipid accumulation was abolished by siRNA-mediated knockdown of either Sirt1 or AMPKα in AML-12 cells. CONCLUSION AITC significantly ameliorates hepatic steatosis and inflammation by activating the Sirt1/AMPK pathway and inhibiting the NF-κB pathway. Therefore, AITC is a potential therapeutic agent for NAFLD.

Objectives Previous studies showed the effectiveness of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) in preventing surgical site infections (SSIs), but current guidelines do not recommend its routine use for surgical wounds. The aim was to compare the effectiveness and safety of NPWT with standard surgical dressing or conventional therapy for preventing SSIs. Methods Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched on 10 April 2019. Also, we searched clinicaltrials.gov and references of relevant studies. Eligibility criteria were randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and adult surgical patients were included. The effectiveness of NPWT versus standard surgical dressing or conventional therapy was investigated. Relative risks (RRs) and mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the pooled effect of dichotomous outcomes and continuous outcomes respectively. The primary outcome was surgical site infections. The quality of included studies and the certainty of the evidence were assessed using the risk of bias tool and the GRADE approach. Results A total of 45 RCTs with 6624 surgical patients were included. NPWT reduced SSIs (RR 0.58; 95% CI 0.49–0.69) and wound dehiscence(17 RCTs; RR 0.80; 95% CI 0.65–1.00). NPWT did not increase the risk of hematoma (9 RCTs; RR 0.91; 95% CI 0.40–2.07) and hospital readmission(9 RCTs; RR 0.77; 95% CI 0.52–1.12) or prolong length of hospital stay(15 RCTs; MD –0.38; 95% CI, –0.78 to 0.02). NPWT significantly increased the risk of all adverse event-related outcomes (10 RCTs; RR 3.21; 95% CI, 1.17–8.78). The level of certainty was identified as low for the primary outcome and very low for all the secondary outcomes. Conclusions Compared with standard wound care, NPWT may reduce the risk of SSIs. We are uncertain whether NPWT reduces or increases the risk of wound dehiscence, haematoma, hospital readmission and all adverse event-related outcomes or if it shortens or prolongs length of hospital stay.

In this study, the condensed tannins in 70% acetone extracts of leaf, twig, and stem bark of Calliandra haematocephala were purified by a Sephadex LH-20 column, and their structures were identified using MALDI-TOF-MS and thiolysis-HPLC-ESI-MS analyses. The results showed that the condensed tannin structures varied significantly among C. haematocephala organs. The condensed tannins from leaf were essentially of prodelphinidins, consisting mainly of (epi)gallocatechin and (epi)gallocatechin-3-O-gallate units; the condensed tannins from twig and stem bark were predominately of procyanidins, with catechin, epicatechin, and (epi)catechin-3-O-gallate as the main constitutive units for the former and epicatechin as the main constitutive unit for the latter, respectively. Furthermore, in vitro antioxidant activities of these condensed tannins were evaluated using the ABTS·+ and FRAP methods. All of the condensed tannins exhibited stronger antioxidant activities compared to those of synthetic antioxidant BHA. For ...

Enslaved by atmospheric turbulence and transmission power, performance of Free-space Optical Communication (FSO) fluctuates greatly. A new communication system of MIMO-CPolSK combined the MIMO system and CPolSK modulation is proposed in this paper. According to the strength of turbulence, different mathematical models of atmospheric channel are adopted. The BER calculating formula of SISO-CPolSK is proposed at first, then the BER performance of MISO-CPolSK and MIMO-CPolSK system is presented. The result of numerical simulation shows that BER performance is greatly promoted in MIMO system and compared to OOK modulation, the SNR of receiving in CPolSK modulation is reduced about 3dB when the system has the same BER performance under the same condition.

The antioxidant compounds of leaves and fruits from Averrhoa carambola were extracted with acetone:water (7:3, v/v) and distilled water. The acetone:water extracts (AWE) were separated into five different subfractions, three obtained by liquid–liquid extraction using n -hexane (HF), ethyl acetate (EAF) and water (WF), and the other two obtained by further fractionation of the WF on a Sephadex LH-20 column (WS1 and WS2). The antioxidant activities, total phenolics and total flavonoids of these extracts and fractions were investigated. Results showed that all the extracts and fractions possessed potent antioxidant activities, as measured by DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods, with the strongest for WS2 fractions accompanied with the highest total phenolics and total flavonoids. Reversed-phase HPLC, normal-phase HPLC, MALDI-TOF-MS and 13 C NMR analyses identified that the main antioxidant components present in WS2 fractions were essentially of procyanidin-type proanthocyanidins, consisting mainly of epicatechin units linked by B-type interflavan bonds. In addition, GC–MS analysis revealed that the most abundant fatty acids were α-linolenic acid (62.04 ± 1.65%) for leaves and oleic acid (55.44 ± 1.37%) for fruits. The amount of total unsaturated fatty acids in leaves and fruits comprised more than 77% of total fatty acid.

The particle size distributions and leaching characteristics of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the bottom ashes of two Taiwanese municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs A and B) were investigated to evaluate PBDE leaching into the environment through reutilization of bottom ashes. The PBDE contents in the bottom ashes of the MSWIs (29.0–243 ng/g) could be two orders higher than those in rural and urban soils. The PBDE fraction of the bottom ashes was more distributed in larger particles (> 0.25 mm). Similar trends were found for the PBDE contents in the bottom ashes and their PBDE leaching concentrations, revealing that the elevated PBDE contents in the bottom ashes may lead to a higher PBDE leaching mass. The leaching of PBDEs is attributed to diffusion driven by the concentration gradient and effective surface area. The normalized leaching ratios (NLRs) of PBDEs for the bottom ashes of the MSWIs are about four orders greater than those of PBDE-related raw materials and products, and this may be due to their porous structures having much greater effective surface area. The elevated NLRs of PBDEs thus deserve more attention when bottom ashes are recycled and reutilized as construction materials.

Although arsenic contamination of underground water in southern Taiwan is well known, few studies examine atmospheric arsenic deposition in this area, which might be the major source of such pollution to the soil, water, and even underground water. This research focused on the atmospheric arsenic concentration, dry and wet depositions, and the As distribution around Chiayi County, located in the south of Taiwan. Eight sampling sites are used, both upwind and downwind of an area with heavy industrial and human activities. All samples were collected by a PS-1 high volume sampler at each site, pretreated by a digestion process, and further analyzed with an ICP-MS. The results show that the arsenic deposition flux ranged from 65.0 to 473 μg/m 2 -month in Chiayi County. This deposition flux has no significant seasonal variation, based on the multiple trend results obtained from pooling the dry and wet deposition data. The average dry deposition flux of As ranged from 34 to 161 μg/m 2 -month during the sampling year, and had the opposite trend to the wind speed. Additionally, the correlations between atmospheric arsenic concentration and PM levels were significant, supported by the low p-value (< 0.01) at a 99% confidence level. Meanwhile, the highly linear correlation between As and PM concentrations was also evaluated. The amount of precipitation was statistically correlated to the wet deposition flux (11.3–414 μg/m 2 -month with a p-value = 2 × 10 –7 and r-value = 0.9306. Furthermore, the composition of the As mass concentrations in ambient air were dominated by As (V) in both fall (66.4%) and winter (68.9%). According to the GIS spatial analysis of the As concentration in the dry season, from October to March, the As contribution of local emissions were not significant. Consequently, this study indicates that the atmospheric As around Chiayi County might be sourced from the upwind northern area, and mainly deposited through wet scavenging.

Graphical abstractDisplay Omitted Highlights? The patterning steps of grating pattern and stop layer are separated. ? The grating patterning can be more efficient by using nanoimprint lithography. ? The imprinted SU-8 grating can function as the EUV diffraction grating directly. In this study, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) diffraction gratings were fabricated by nanoimprint lithography owing to its advantages of being low cost and high throughput. The imprinted SU-8 grating can function as the EUV diffraction grating directly without the need of the additional lift-off process. The patterning steps of grating pattern and stop layer were separated to enhance 0th order blocking capability of the stop layer. The exposure results of the one-dimensional 75 and 50nm half-pitch PMMA line/space patterns from the fabricated gratings were demonstrated.

The aim of this study was to investigate polymeric proanthocyanidin (PA) composition and free radical scavenging activity of leaf, stem bark and fine root of Grevillea robusta. The spectra obtained through MALDI-TOF MS analysis revealed that the examined PAs were built up a mixture of procyanidins and prodelphinidins. Acid-catalyzed cleavage of the PAs coupled with reversed-phase HPLC-ESI-MS showed that the main constituents of cleavage products were (epi)gallocatechin benzylthioether and (epi)catechin benzylthioether for leaf and stem bark, and was (epi)gallocatechin benzylthioether for fine root, respectively. The mean degree s of polymerization (mDP) of PAs of leaf, stem bark and fine root were 9.6, 19.0 and 10.1, respectively. The PAs extracted from leaf, stem bark and fine root exhibit ed higher antioxidant activity than those of ascorbic acid and synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) , as measured by 2,2 '-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical scavenging method.

Nutrient, water, and their interactions influence the allocation of investment by plants to resistance and tolerance traits. We used a completely crossed randomized-block design experiment to examine the independent and interactive effects of nutrients and water availability on tannin production of C. equisetifolia seedlings. The results showed that nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer have significant effects on total phenolics (TP) and extractable condensed tannins (ECT) concentrations of branchlets. TP and ECT concentrations decreased with fertilizer addition and increased in arid condition. This pattern lends to support source-sink hypothesis such as the carbon-nutrient balance (CNB) hypothesis and the growth-differentiation balance (GDB) hypothesis. Soluble sugars or starch concentrations were both inversely related to TP concentrations. However, there was no significant correlation between them and ECT concentrations. In addition, chlorophyll concentration had a positive linear correlation with TP and no significant correlation with ECT. On the contrary, chlorophyll a/b ratios were negatively correlated with TP and positively correlated with ECT. The discrepancy of relationship between carbohydrates and TP or ECT showed that the biosynthetic routes of different tannins were different. In this study, no significant correlation between TP and N, or ECT and N, did not support protein competition model (PCM). TP:N and ECT:N ratios were higher in nutrient deficiency and arid conditions, which were one of the important nutrient conservation strategies for C. equisetifolia.

This study investigated the fate of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in a thermal treatment system that was employed to recover the metals from the electric arc furnace (EAF) fly ash. After 1450°C thermal treatment, the content of PBDEs in the EAF fly ash (50128 ng/kg) was greatly reduced by 98.9%, based on the solid destruction efficiency (SDE). The sums of five PBDE contents in ingot and slag were 86.0 and 32.3 ng/kg, respectively, revealing that the residual PBDE content in slag was much lower than those in woodland (180 and 710 ng/kg) and grassland (440 ng/kg) soils (Harrad and Hunter, 2006). With this PBDE level, the slag can be either safely disposed of in landfills or utilized as construction material. After the 1450°C thermal treatment and 1200°C secondary combustion, 95.8% of the PBDEs were destroyed or removed without air pollution control devices (APCDs). The PBDE concentrations in cooling unit and filter (APCDs) were 8810 and 327 pg/Nm 3 , respectively, while that in the PUF cartridges (final emission) was 13009 pg/Nm

National Eleventh Five-Year Key Project; National Natural Science Foundation of China; Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University

National Natural Science Foundation of China[31070522]; Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University[NCET-07-0725]

National Natural Science Foundation of China [31070522]; Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University [NCET-07-0725]; Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry

In this study, we constructed an exposure platform to perform extreme ultraviolet interferometric lithography (EUVIL) exposure. This platform can be used to expose 1D and 2D gratings, simulating the line/space and contact/hole patterns, respectively. A transmission grating and an achromatic setup were utilized in the exposure. A simple and nondestructive optical characterization approach based on spectroscopic ellipsometry was proposed to characterize the structure of an EUV transmission grating. The optical behavior of a grating was analyzed by rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA). The preliminary exposure results were obtained using the constructed exposure platform.

In insects, tyrosinase plays important roles in normal developmental processes, such as cuticular tanning, scleration, wound healing, production of opsonins, encapsulation and nodule formation for defense against foreign pathogens. Thus, tyrosinase may be regarded as a potential candidate for novel bioinsecticide development. A family of alkyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoates (C₆-C₉), new tyrosinsase inhibitors, were synthesized. Their inhibitory effects on the activity of tyrosinase have been investigated. The results showed all of them could inhibit the activity of tyrosianse effectively. The order of potency was nonyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate (C₉DB)octyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate(C₈DB)heptyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate(C₇DB)hexyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate (C₆DB). The kinetic analysis of these four compounds on tyrosinase was taken to expound their inhibitory mechanism. The research of the control of insects in agriculture was taken as C₆DB for example. C₆DB could inhibit the development and molting of Plutella xylostella effectively. To clarify its insecticidal mechanism, we researched the expression of tyrosinase in the P. xylostella treated with C₆DB by real-time quantitative PCR. The results showed C₆DB could inhibit the expression of tyrosinase in the P. xylostella as expected.

Fruit stones and pericarps of Litchi chinensis, waste products of the food, were studied as a source of polymeric proanthocyanidins. The structures of the polymeric proanthocyanidins isolated from Litchi chinensis were characterized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) coupled with high performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS) analysis. The spectra obtained through MALDI-TOF MS analysis revealed that the dominant A-type procyanidin polymers occurred in each polymer length with one or more A-type linkages. The polymeric proanthocyanidins of litchi fruit stones exhibited longer polymer length than those of fruit pericarps, with polymerization degrees up to 20 and 11 for fruit stones and pericarps, respectively. After depolymerization with toluene-α-thiol, HPLC-ESI-MS analysis showed that epicatechin and A-type dimer were the major constituent units, and the mean polymerization degrees were 15.4 and 5.8 for polymeric proanthocyanidins of fruit stones and pericarps, respectively. The antioxidant properties investigated using DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods showed that the higher polymerization degree of polymeric proanthocyanidins from litchi fruit stones exhibited higher antioxidant activities than those from litchi pericarps.

Thermal treatment is often employed to recover the metals contained in electric arc furnace (EAF) fly ash, which is considered a major source of PCDD/Fs. After the present treatment, the mass and volume of untreated material (EAF fly ash + cullet) were significantly reduced by 44.2 and 89.2%, respectively; meanwhile the density increased significantly by 476%. These results indicate that the mass and volume of EAF fly ash can be effectively reduced to benefit the further disposal in landfill. Additionally, this study also investigated the fate of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) during the thermal treatment. For the EAF fly ash with an original PCDD/F content of 1414 ng I-TEQ/kg, 99.58% solid destruction efficiency (SDE) was achieved with thermal treatment at 1450℃. The total PCDD/F I-TEQ contents in ingot and slag were thus reduced to 9.83 and 6.44 ng I-TEQ/kg, respectively. The residual PCDD/F I-TEQ content in slag was far below the soil disposal limit in Taiwan (1000 ng I-TEQ/kg). After PCDD/Fs were decomposed in a secondary combustion chamber at 1200℃, the thermal treatment without air pollution control devices (APCDs) displayed an overall 91.28% destruction removal efficiency (DREW/OAPCD). Furthermore, the total PCDD/F I-TEQ concentrations in the cooling unit, filter and PUF cartridge were reduced to 1340, 131 and 383 pg I-TEQ/Nm^3, respectively. Notably, their total amount, 1736 pg I-TEQ/Nm^3, exceeded the emission limit in Taiwan (400 or 1000 pg I-TEQ/Nm^3). The cooling unit and filter used as APCDs in this study could significantly lower the PCDD/F I-TEQ. The amount of residual PCDD/Fs captured in the PUF cartridge, was low enough (＜ 400 pg I-TEQ/Nm^3) to be directly emitted into the atmosphere. Consequently, the thermal treatment with APCDs in this study was able to effectively reduce the PCDD/F contents in EAF fly ash, while the metal contents were recovered as the ingot.

The antioxidant activities of 70% acetone extract (70% AE) from the hypocotyls of the mangrove plant Kandelia candel and its fractions of petroleum ether (PF), ethyl acetate (EF), water (WF), and the LF (WF fraction further purified through a Sephadex LH‑20 column), were investigated by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. The results showed that all the extract and fractions possessed potent antioxidant activity. There was a significant linear correlation between the total phenolics concentration and the ferric reducing power or free radical scavenging activity of the extract and fractions. Among the extract and fractions, the LF fraction exhibits the best antioxidant performance. The MALDT-TOF MS and HPLC analyses revealed that the phenolic compounds associated with the antioxidant activity of the LF fraction contains a large number of procyanidins and a small amount of prodelphinidins, and the epicatechin is the main extension unit.

Structures of condensed tannins from the stem bark and fine root of Casuarina equisetifolia were identified using MALDI-TOF MS and HPLC analyses. The condensed tannins from stem bark and fine root consist predominantly of procyanidin combined with prodelphinidin and propelargonidin, and epicatechin is the main extension unit. The condensed tannins had different polymer chain lengths, varying from trimers to tridecamer for stem bark and to pentadecamer for fine root. The antioxidant activities were measured by two models: 1,1-diphenyl-2- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing/ antioxidant power (FRAP). The condensed tannins extracted from C. equisetifolia showed very good DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing/ antioxidant power, suggesting that these extracts may be considered as new sources of natural antioxidants for food and nutraceutical products.