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This general non-systematic review aimed to gather information on reported statistical models examing the effects of meteorological factors on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and compare these models. PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched for studies on "meteorological factors and COVID-19" published between January 1, 2020, and October 1, 2022. The most commonly used approaches for analyzing the association between meteorological factors and COVID-19 were the linear regression model (LRM), generalized linear model (GLM), generalized additive model (GAM), and distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM). In addition to these classical models commonly applied in environmental epidemiology, machine learning techniques are increasingly being used to select risk factors for the outcome of interest and establishing robust prediction models. Selecting an appropriate model is essential before conducting research. To ensure the reliability of analysis results, it is important to consider including non-meteorological factors (e.g., government policies on physical distancing, vaccination, and hygiene practices) along with meteorological factors in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encapsulation is an efficient protection method for oil in both liquid (e.g., emulsion) and solid (e.g., capsule) forms. In this work, we mainly explored the effect of different Span surfactants (Span 20, Span 40, Span 60, and Span 80) on the properties of fish oil-loaded sodium alginate/Span-stabilized emulsions and calcium alginate/Span capsules. For emulsions, different Span surfactants induced different initial droplet sizes and emulsion creaming stability. The emulsifying stability of Span surfactants for sodium alginate/Span-stabilized emulsions was: Span 40 < Span 20 < Span 80 < Span 60. For capsules, a Span addition could decrease the water content and change the particle morphologies. Compared with the calcium alginate capsule (12.2 %), the Span 60 addition increased the fish oil loading ratio (20.2 %). Moreover, the addition of Span 20, Span 60, and Span 80 decreased the production of primary lipid hydroperoxides of the capsules. Span surfactants had different effects on the free fatty acid release of calcium alginate capsules in the gastrointestinal digestion process, such that: Span 40 > Span 80 > control > Span 20 > Span 60. This work suggests that Span surfactants are capable of adjusting and optimizing the properties of emulsions and capsules for potential food applications. [Display omitted] • Emulsifying stability of Span chemicals were: Span 40 < Span 20 < Span 80 < Span 60. • Alginate capsule water contents: Span 20 < Span 40 < Span 60 < Span 80 < control • Span 60 increased oil loading ratio of capsule from 12.2 % ± 1.8 % to 20.2 % ± 1.4 %. • Span 20, Span 60, and Span 80 decreased the peroxide values of capsules. • Fatty acid release from capsules: Span 40 > Span 80 > control > Span 20 > Span 60 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to load fish oil for potential encapsulation of fat-soluble functional active substances, fish oil-loaded multicore submillimeter-sized capsules were prepared with a combination method of three strategies (monoaxial electrospraying, chitosan-tripolyphosphate ionotropic gelation, and Tween blending). The chitosan-tripolyphosphate/Tween (20, 40, 60, and 80) capsules had smaller and evener fish oil cores than the chitosan-tripolyphosphate capsules, which resulted from that Tween addition induced smaller and evener fish oil droplets in the emulsions. Tween addition decreased the water contents from 56.6 % to 35.0 %–43.4 %, increased the loading capacities from 10.4 % to 12.7 %–17.2 %, and increased encapsulation efficiencies from 97.4 % to 97.8 %–99.1 %. In addition, Tween addition also decreased the highest peroxide values from 417 meq/kg oil to 173–262 meq/kg oil. These properties' changes might result from the structural differences between the chitosan-tripolyphosphate and chitosan-tripolyphosphate/Tween capsules. All the results suggested that the obtained chitosan-tripolyphosphate/Tween capsules are promising carriers for fish oil encapsulation. This work also provided useful knowledge to understand the preparation, structural, and physicochemical properties of the chitosan-tripolyphosphate capsules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively adapt to changing environments, plants must maintain a delicate balance between growth and resistance or tolerance to various stresses. Nitrate, a significant inorganic nitrogen source in soils, not only acts as an essential nutrient but also functions as a critical signaling molecule that regulates multiple aspects of plant growth and development. In recent years, substantial advancements have been made in understanding nitrate sensing, calcium-dependent nitrate signal transmission, and nitrate-induced transcriptional cascades. Mounting evidence suggests that the primary response to nitrate is influenced by environmental conditions, while nitrate availability plays a pivotal role in stress tolerance responses. Therefore, this review aims to provide an overview of the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of key components in the nitrate signaling pathway, namely, NRT1.1, NLP7, and CIPK23, under abiotic stresses. Additionally, we discuss the specificity of nitrate sensing and signaling as well as the involvement of epigenetic regulators. A comprehensive understanding of the integration between nitrate signaling transduction and abiotic stress responses is crucial for developing future crops with enhanced nitrogen-use efficiency and heightened resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1) has both independent functions of phosphorylating histones as a kinase and directly binding the promoter regions of genes to regulate gene expression as a transcription factor. Previous studies have identified elevated expression of MAPK1 in human gastric cancer, which is associated with its role as a kinase, facilitating the migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells. However, how MAPK1 binds to its target genes as a transcription factor and whether it modulates related gene expressions in gastric cancer remains unclear. Results: Here, we integrated biochemical assays (protein interactions and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)), cellular analysis assays (cell proliferation and migration), RNA sequencing, ChIP sequencing, and clinical analysis to investigate the potential genomic recognition patterns of MAPK1 in a human gastric adenocarcinoma cell-line (AGS) and to uncover its regulatory effect on gastric cancer progression. We confirmed that MAPK1 promotes AGS cells invasion and migration by regulating the target genes in different directions, up-regulating seven target genes (KRT13, KRT6A, KRT81, MYH15, STARD4, SYTL4, and TMEM267) and down-regulating one gene (FGG). Among them, five genes (FGG, MYH15, STARD4, SYTL4, and TMEM267) were first associated with cancer procession, while the other three (KRT81, KRT6A, and KRT13) have previously been confirmed to be related to cancer metastasis and migration. Conclusion: Our data showed that MAPK1 can bind to the promoter regions of these target genes to control their transcription as a bidirectional transcription factor, promoting AGS cell motility and invasion. Our research has expanded the understanding of the regulatory roles of MAPK1, enriched our knowledge of transcription factors, and provided novel candidates for cancer therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Arterial stiffness, glycemic control and blood pressure are risk factors of macrovascular complications in type 2 diabetes. This study aimed to investigate the combined association of arterial stiffness, glycemic control and hypertension status with the occurrence of diabetic macrovascular complication. Methods: A total of 1870 patients of diabetes were enrolled from Beijing Health Management Cohort between 2008 and 2018 as baseline, and then followed for macrovascular complication onset. We proposed a composite risk score (0–4) by arterial stiffness severity, pool glycemic control and hypertension status. Cox model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: The mean age (SD) of this population was 59.90 (12.29) years. During a median follow-up of 4.0 years, 359 (19.2%) patients developed macrovascular complication. Compared to the normal arterial stiffness and good glycemic control group, patients with severe arterial stiffness and pool glycemic control had the highest risk of macrovascular complications (HR: 2.73; 95% CI: 1.42–5.25). Similarly, those of severe arterial stiffness and hypertension had the highest risk (HR: 2.69; 95% CI: 1.61–4.50). Patients of the composite score > 2 had a significantly increased risk of macrovascular complication. Conclusion: This study suggested the clinical importance of combined evaluation of arterial stiffness, glycemic control and hypertension status for the risk stratification and management of macrovascular complication of type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three types of tilapia scale gelatins (hot water-pretreated gelatin, HWG; acetic acid-pretreated gelatin, AAG; and pepsin enzyme-pretreated gelatin, PEG) were extracted and their gel strength, foaming properties, and emulsifying properties were analyzed. They had different gel strength values: AAG (370 ± 10 g Bloom) > HWG (320 ± 10 g Bloom) > PEG (280 ± 10 g Bloom). The creaming index values of tilapia scale gelatin-stabilized fish oil-loaded emulsions were dependent on gelatin type (HWG ≈ AAG > PEG) at low gelatin concentration (2 mg/mL), whereas they were similar and low (8–10 %) at high gelatin concentration (10 mg/mL). Extraction methods had no consistently significant effects on the gelatin foaming properties. In summary, tilapia scale gelatins had better gel strength and foaming properties and similar or even better emulsifying properties than mammalian gelatins. Therefore, tilapia scales could be a potential source of gelatins to replace mammalian gelatins. • Tilapia scale gelatins were extracted using three different pretreatment methods. • Hot water- and pepsin-pretreated gels were the finest and coarsest, respectively. • These gelatins had better or comparable gel strength than commercial mammalian ones. • These gelatins had better foaming properties than some reported mammalian ones. • These gelatins had comparable emulsifying properties to some reported mammalian ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, the effects of anionic xanthan gum (XG), neutral guar gum (GG), and neutral konjac glucomannan (KGM) on the dissolution, physicochemical properties, and emulsion stabilization ability of soy protein isolate (SPI)-polysaccharide conjugates were studied. The SPI-polysaccharide conjugates had better water dissolution than the insoluble SPI. Compared with SPI, SPI-polysaccharide conjugates had lower β-sheet (39.6 %–56.4 % vs. 47.3 %) and α-helix (13.0 %–13.2 % vs. 22.6 %) percentages, and higher β-turn (23.8 %–26.5 % vs. 11.0 %) percentages. The creaming stability of SPI-polysaccharide conjugate-stabilized fish oil-loaded emulsions mainly depended on polysaccharide type: SPI-XG (Creaming index: 0) > SPI-GG (Creaming index: 8.1 %–21.2 %) > SPI-KGM (18.1 %–40.4 %). In addition, it also depended on the SPI preparation concentrations, glycation times, and glycation pH. The modification by anionic XG induced no obvious emulsion creaming even after 14-day storage, which suggested that anionic polysaccharide might be the best polysaccharide to modify SPI for emulsion stabilization. This work provided useful information to modify insoluble proteins by polysaccharides for potential application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extensive studies put forward the association between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and psychiatric disorders; however, it remains unclear whether these associations are causal.Objective: We aimed to assess the potential causal relationship between major psychiatric disorders and AD.Methods: A bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) was applied to evaluate potential causality between five psychiatric disorders and AD by selecting the single-nucleotide polymorphisms from the genome-wide association studies as instrumental variables. Inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method was used as the main analyzing approach to estimate possible causal effects, alternative methods including MR-Egger, the MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier, and leave-one-out analysis method were implemented as sensitivity analyzing approaches to ensure the robustness of results.Results: All forward and reverse MR analyses consistently suggested absent causal relations between psychiatric disorders and AD risk [forward IVW: ORADHD, 1.030, 95% CI, 0.908-1.168, p = 0.674; ORanxiety disorders, 0.904, 95% CI, 0.722-1.131, p = 0.377; ORASD, 0.973, 95% CI, 0.746-1.272, p = 0.846; ORBIP, 1.033, 95% CI, 0.925-1.153, p = 0.564; and ORschizophrenia, 1.039, 95% CI, 0.986-1.095, p = 0.156; reverse IVW: ORADHD, 0.993, 95% CI, 0.954-1.034, p = 0.746; ORanxiety disorders, 1.000, 95% CI, 0.999-1.000, p = 0.898; ORASD, 1.001, 95% CI, 0.962-1.042, p = 0.949; ORBIP, 0.997, 95% CI, 0.966-1.028, p = 0.831; and ORschizophrenia, 1.013, 95% CI, 0.978-1.051, p = 0.466].Conclusion: There is no significant evidence supporting the causal association between the five major psychiatric disorders and AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a case of COVID-19 pneumonia associated with spontaneous pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein nanofibril-stabilized Pickering emulsion is a promising emulsion in the field of food emulsion. However, no microscale protein fibrils have been applied as emulsifiers for the stabilization of food emulsions. In this work, regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) was prepared and applied to stabilize fish oil-loaded Pickering emulsions. RSF could form a microfiber-microfiber-nanofilm interconnection network at the oil/water interfaces to stabilize the emulsions. Fish oil-loaded RSF-stabilized Pickering emulsions showed low creaming (0% ≤ creaming index < 10%) during the 31-day storage at room temperature, which was lower than the creaming index values (10–47%) of the emulsions in previous report. Moreover, RSF is an excellent emulsifier to prepare semigel and gel of fish oil-loaded RSF-stabilized Pickering emulsions. For the RSF-stabilized Pickering emulsions, a lower oil/water volume ratio might induce lower initial droplet size, slower droplet coalescence, slower liquid-gel transition, and lower creaming stability. In addition, higher homogenization energy input (speed and time) and RSF concentration might induce lower initial droplet size, slower droplet coalescence, faster liquid-gel transition, and higher creaming stability for Pickering emulsions. Therefore, RSF could have good emulsion stabilization ability by adjusting preparation parameters and is a promising emulsifier to prepare emulsion semigel and gel in the field of food emulsions. This work provided useful information to understand the effects of preparation parameters on the formation and stability of RSF-stabilized emulsions. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a common complex trait arising from interactions among multiple environmental, genomic, and postgenomic factors. We report here the first attempt to investigate the association between immunoglobulin G (IgG) N-glycan patterns, T2DM, and their clinical risk factors in an Australian population. N-glycosylation of proteins is one of the most frequently observed co- and post-translational modifications, reflecting, importantly, the real-time status of the interplay between the genomic and postgenomic factors. In a community-based case–control study, 849 participants (217 cases and 632 controls) were recruited from an urban community in Busselton, Western Australia. We applied the ultraperformance liquid chromatography method to analyze the composition of IgG N-glycans. We then conducted Spearman's correlation analyses to explore the association between glycan biomarker candidates and clinical risk factors. We performed area under the curve (AUC) analysis of the receiver operating characteristic curves by fivefold cross-validation for clinical risk factors, IgG glycans, and their combination. Two directly measured and four derived glycan peaks were significantly associated with T2DM, after correction for extensive clinical confounders and false discovery rate, thus suggesting that IgG N-glycan traits are highly correlated with T2DM clinical risk factors. Moreover, adding the IgG glycan profiles to fasting blood glucose in the logistic regression model increased the AUC from 0.799 to 0.859. The AUC for IgG glycans alone was 0.623 with a 95% confidence interval 0.580–0.666. In addition, our study provided new evidence of diversity in T2DM complex trait by IgG N-glycan stratification. Six IgG glycan traits were firmly associated with T2DM, which reflects an increased proinflammatory and biological aging status. In summary, our study reports novel associations between the IgG N-glycome and T2DM in an Australian population and the putative role of proinflammatory mechanisms. Furthermore, IgG N-glycomic alterations offer future prospects as inflammatory biomarker candidates for T2DM diagnosis, and monitoring of T2DM progression to cardiovascular disease or renal failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular disease is a common complex trait that calls for next-generation biomarkers for precision diagnostics and therapeutics. The most common type of post-translational protein modification involves glycosylation. Glycans participate in key intercellular and intracellular functions, such as protein quality control, cell adhesion, cell–cell recognition, signal transduction, cell proliferation, and cell differentiation. In this context, immunoglobulin G (IgG) N-glycans affect the anti-inflammatory and proinflammatory responses of IgG, and are associated with cardiometabolic risk factors such as aging, central obesity, dyslipidemia, and hyperglycemia. Yet, the role of such glycomic biomarkers requires evaluation in diverse world populations. We report here original observations on association of IgG N-glycan biosignatures with 15 cardiometabolic risk factors in a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in 701 Chinese Han participants. After controlling for age and sex, we found that the 16, 21, and 18 IgG N-glycan traits were significantly different in participants with and without metabolic syndrome, hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype, or abdominal obesity, respectively. The canonical correlation analysis showed that IgG N-glycan profiles were significantly associated with cardiometabolic risk factors (r = 0.469, p < 0.001). Classification models based on IgG N-glycan traits were able to differentiate participants with (1) metabolic syndrome, (2) hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype, or (3) abdominal obesity from controls, with an area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) of 0.632 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.574–0.691, p < 0.001), 0.659 (95% CI, 0.587–0.730, p < 0.001), and 0.610 (95% CI, 0.565–0.656, p < 0.001), respectively. These new data suggest that IgG N-glycans may play an important role in cardiometabolic disease pathogenesis by regulating the proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory responses of IgG. Looking into the future, IgG N-glycan biosignatures warrant further research in other world population samples with a view to applications in clinical cardiology and public health practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Gelatin is a versatile encapsulating material for various emerging nanocarriers. • Formation, property, structure, and stability of nanocarriers are discussed. • Gelatin is often combined with other biomaterials for synergistic efficiency. • Gelatin nanocarriers can deliver bioactives for functional food applications. Gelatin has long been used as an encapsulant agent in the pharmaceutical and biomedical industries because of its low cost, wide availability, biocompatibility, and degradability. However, the exploitation of gelatin for nanodelivery application is not fully achieved in the functional food filed. In this review article, we highlight the latest work being performed for gelatin-based nanocarriers, including polyelectrolyte complexes, nanoemulsions, nanoliposomes, nanogels, and nanofibers. Specifically, we discuss the applications and challenges of these nanocarriers for stabilization and controlled release of bioactive compounds. To achieve better efficacy, gelatin is frequently used in combination with other biomaterials such as polysaccharides. The fabrication and synergistic effects of the newly developed gelatin composite nanocarriers are also present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, the effects of polysaccharide types (xanthan gum, XG; guar gum, GG; and konjac glucomannan, KGM), reaction time (0–24 h), and reaction pH (5–9) on the fish gelatin (FG)-polysaccharide Maillard products for the stabilization of fish oil-loaded emulsions were studied. FG-polysaccharide complexes also showed better emulsifying properties than pure fish gelatin and pure polysaccharides. Further, the formation, physicochemical properties, and emulsifying properties of FG-polysaccharide Maillard products were dependent on polysaccharide type, reaction time, and reaction pH. Maillard conjugates had the best emulsifying properties (FG-GG: 0% of creaming index (CI); FG-KGM: 21.1% ± 0.7% of CI) among the FG-GG and FG-KGM Millard products, whereas the intermediate products (intermediates and fish gelatin) had the best emulsifying properties (0% of CI) among the FG-XG Maillard products. This work provided useful information to apply FP-polysaccharide Maillard products for the stabilization of fish oil-loaded emulsions in the field of food science. • Maillard products of fish gelatin (FG) with three polysaccharides were obtained. • FG-polysaccharide complexes induced better emulsion creaming stability than FG. • Polysaccharide type, reaction time, and reaction pH affected Maillard products. • Maillard conjugates of FG-guar gum induced the best emulsion creaming stability. • Intermediate products of FG-xanthan gum induced the best emulsion creaming stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipid oxidation is a major challenge in the development and storage of lipid-containing food products. In this work, we extracted aquatic gelatin from silver carp scales and studied the effects of antioxidant types (water-soluble and lipid-soluble types) on the stabilization, lipid oxidation, and in vitro digestion behaviors of silver carp scale gelatin-stabilized fish oil-loaded emulsions. Vitamin C (VC), a water-soluble antioxidant, and vitamin E (VE), a lipid-soluble antioxidant, had no obvious effects on the appearance, droplet size distribution, and droplet stability of the emulsion. VC slowed the liquid-gel transition of the emulsions at room temperature. The emulsion creaming stability decreased with the increase of VC concentration, whereas it increased with the increase of VE concentration. Lipid oxidation hierarchy of emulsion groups at room temperature were VC