Anthocyanins are natural colorants receiving increasing interests from food industry due to their variety of colors and health benefits. However, the instability of anthocyanins against environmental ...stress may limit their applications, which could be improved by the encapsulation systems built by various biopolymers including proteins, polysaccharides, and the composite formulations. In this review, the main biopolymers utilized as encapsulant materials for anthocyanins’ protection and delivery have been introduced; the geometry of these encapsulation systems, their properties and the technologies involved in the fabrications have also been discussed. The information present in this review is useful to guide the encapsulation of anthocyanins for food applications.
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The application of fertilizer to ensure the steady improvement of crop yield has become the main means of agricultural production. However, it remains to be determined whether fertilization practices ...with different combinations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and organic (O) fertilizers play a positive role in the sustainability of maize yield and the soil in which it is grown. Therefore,this meta-analysis extracted 2663 data points from 76 studies to systematically analyze and explore the effects of different fertilization measures on maize yield, soil nutrients, water content and water use efficiency (WUE) in northern China. Articles addressing this topic showed that fertilization effectively increased the soil nutrient content and maize yield. The soil organic matter (SOM) increased by 2.36 (N)-55.38% (NPO), total nitrogen content increased by 6.10 (N)-56.39% (NPO), available phosphorus content increased by 17.12 (N)-474.74% (NPO), and available potassium content changed by - 2.90 (NP)-64.40% (NPO). Soil moisture increased by 3.59% under a single organic fertilizer application and decreased by 4.27-13.40% under the other treatments. Compared with no fertilization, the yield increase of fertilized maize reached 11.65-220.42%. NP, NPK and NPKO contributed the most to increased yield in lithological, black and fluvo-aquic soils, respectively. The effects of different fertilization practices on maize yield varied in response to the same meteorological factors. The WUE increased from 9.51 to 160.72%. In conclusion, rational fertilization can improve the soil nutrient content and increase maize yield. The combined application of chemical and organic fertilizer showed the greatest increase in yield and WUE. Organic fertilizer application alone increased soil moisture. Our results provide a theoretical basis for fertilizer application and for improving the soil structure for maize cultivation in northern China.
The effects of thermal-assisted high hydrostatic pressure (TAHHP), high hydrostatic pressure (HHP), and thermal pasteurization (TP) treatments on the quality of aronia juice were evaluated in this ...study. The results showed that TAHHP and HHP significantly decreased the aerobic plate counts of aronia juice. No significant differences in terms of physicochemical properties, such as pH and total soluble solids, were observed between aronia juice treated with high pressure or thermal pasteurization treatment after 28 days of storage. TAHHP and HHP affected the colour and antioxidant characteristics of aronia juice, though to a significantly lower extent than TP. This result demonstrates that TAHHP and HHP can better maintain the original quality of aronia juice than TP. In summary, both TAHHP and HHP can maintain the microbiological safety and original quality characteristics of aronia juice. TAHHP can effectively increase the safety and duration of cold storage of aronia juice, and hence is highly useful for the juice industry.
This paper presents an innovative image block encryption algorithm adopting fractional Fourier transform (FRFT), hyperchaotic system, improved logistic map and Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) encoding. ...Initially, the plaintext image is performed FRFT twice, and the processed image is decomposed into three components according to the RGB channels. Then, three components and the matrix created by logistic map are divided into several sub-blocks. The sub-blocks are performed DNA encoding. Furthermore, perform DNA operation between the three components sub-blocks and the corresponding sub-blocks of the logistic matrix, and then decode and merge the sub-blocks into one image. Finally, chaotic sequences are used to scramble the merged images to gain the ciphertext image. The DNA encoding, decoding and operation rules of each sub-block are randomly determined by the chaotic sequences, which can effectively improve the complexity of DNA encoding, decoding and calculation rules. The algorithm possesses huge key space, high key sensitivity, extreme complexity and security demonstrated from simulation results and security performance analysis.
A Co-based tool was employed to weld TA5 alloy to investigate the effects of tool wear on the microstructure evolution and mechanical properties. Results showed that both dense diffusion and loose ...cracked layers were detected near the surface of as-worn tool, indicating the occurrences of both diffusional wear and abrasive wear. The stir zone (SZ) was divided into the contaminated zone (CZ) and non-contaminated zone (NCZ) according to whether tool constituents were introduced during welding. Continuous and discontinuous recrystallization occurred simultaneously in NCZ, resulting in refined equiaxed α grains. The microstructure in CZ was determined by both thermo-mechanical effects and the content of β-stable tool elements, which reduced α-β transus temperature. As the proportion of tool elements increased, untransformed equiaxed α grains with boundaries rich in foreign elements, transformed acicular α, and retained β emerged successively. The width of transformed needle-like α was decreased to ~ 100 μm, and basket weave structures were obtained when the transition point was reduced to much lower than welding peak temperature. The CZ was provided with extremely high microhardness due to the presences of retained β and needle-like α phases. The SZ tensile specimen was fractured at 824 MPa, 9.1% higher than the BM. Considering periodic tool wear behavior and resultant unique microstructure, the results in this study provide references for the research on material flow and fabrication of high-strength titanium alloy using friction stir processing.
W/O/W double emulsion systems offer the ability to co-deliver water-soluble and oil-soluble bioactives, making them a promising choice for multifunctional delivery applications. This study focused on ...the development of a whey protein isolate-based W/O/W emulsion encapsulating fish oil and anthocyanins, with the addition of sodium alginate (SA) into the external aqueous phase. The physicochemical properties, emulsion stability, anthocyanins encapsulation efficiency (EE), and anthocyanins release during simulated gastrointestinal digestion were studied. The results indicated that the physical stability of W/O/W emulsions improved with increasing SA, attributed to the higher viscosity and the protective coating of SA on the WPI-stabilized interface. However, the EE of anthocyanins in SA-reinforced W/O/W emulsions was found to be lower. Excessive SA concentration, such as 1.0 %, was observed to be unfavorable to maintaining the internal W1/O interface integrity. Overall, the double emulsion structure effectively regulated the release of anthocyanins throughout the digestion process. The study concluded that W/O/W emulsions containing 0.75 % SA achieved optimal stability and controlled-release characteristics. These findings offer valuable insights into fabricating double emulsions for multifunctional delivery purposes, showcasing their potential applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries.
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•W/O/W emulsions were prepared to protect and deliver fish oil and anthocyanins spontaneously.•Sodium alginate was used to improve the physical stability of W/O/W emulsions.•W/O/W emulsions containing 0.75 % SA achieved optimal stability and control release characteristics.
Using prolamins to prepare delivery systems is promising for pharmaceutical and food industries. It is very necessary to find a reliable strategy to probe the assembly-release mechanisms of ...prolamin-based delivery systems, which could accelerate the screening of fabrication conditions. In this study, interactions of zein and gliadin with curcumin at different temperatures and ethanol concentrations was investigated by fluorescence quenching and other spectroscopic methods. It was found that the binding affinity between curcumin and gliadin gradually decreased with increasing ethanol concentration, but that of curcumin-zein gradually increased with increasing ethanol concentration. Zein and gliadin showed highest binding constant values (Ka) of 2.29 × 105 L mol−1 at 80% ethanol and 293K, 2.0 × 105 L mol−1 at 60% ethanol and 293 K, respectively. The temperature-dependent thermodynamic parameters were calculated. And the main driven forces were determined to be electrostatic interactions for gliadin-curcumin complexation, while van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonding were also involved in the binding of zein with curcumin in low ethanol conditions (60–70%). The curcumin-encapsulated zein/gliadin nanoparticles were prepared at various conditions, and their physicochemical properties were compared. The highest EE and LC values of zein nanoparticles were observed at 80% ethanol (95.8% and 19.2 μg/mg), while those of gliadin were observed at 60% ethanol (95.7% and 19.1 μg/mg). The change of encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity of nanoparticles was basically consistent with the binding affinity tendency between curcumin and zein/gliadin, confirming that the fluorescence quenching method is applicable to guide the screening of encapsulants and fabrication conditions.
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•The binding affinities of zein and gliadin with curcumin were studied.•Zein/gliadin nanoparticles were prepared and their curcumin-encapsulation properties were compared.•Fluorescence quenching is reliable for the screening of encapsulants and the optimization of fabrication conditions.
With the recent ongoing autumn/winter 2022 COVID-19 wave and the adjustment of public health control measures, there have been widespread SARS-CoV-2 infections in Chinese mainland. Here we have ...analyzed 369 viral genomes from recently diagnosed COVID-19 patients in Shanghai, identifying a large number of sublineages of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron family. Phylogenetic analysis, coupled with contact history tracing, revealed simultaneous community transmission of two Omicron sublineages dominating the infections in some areas of China (BA.5.2 mainly in Guangzhou and Shanghai, and BF.7 mainly in Beijing) and two highly infectious sublineages recently imported from abroad (XBB and BQ.1). Publicly available data from August 31 to November 29, 2022 indicated an overall severe/critical case rate of 0.035% nationwide, while analysis of 5706 symptomatic patients treated at the Shanghai Public Health Center between September 1 and December 26, 2022 showed that 20 cases (0.35%) without comorbidities progressed into severe/critical conditions and 153 cases (2.68 %) with COVID-19-exacerbated comorbidities progressed into severe/critical conditions. These observations shall alert healthcare providers to place more resources for the treatment of severe/critical cases. Furthermore, mathematical modeling predicts this autumn/winter wave might pass through major cities in China by the end of the year, whereas some middle and western provinces and rural areas would be hit by the upcoming infection wave in mid-to-late January 2023, and the duration and magnitude of upcoming outbreak could be dramatically enhanced by the extensive travels during the Spring Festival (January 21, 2023). Altogether, these preliminary data highlight the needs to allocate resources to early diagnosis and effective treatment of severe cases and the protection of vulnerable population, especially in the rural areas, to ensure the country's smooth exit from the ongoing pandemic and accelerate socio-economic recovery.
Enhanced herbicide metabolism mediated by cytochrome P450s has been proposed as one of the major mechanisms of resistance to fenoxaprop-
-ethyl in a metabolic-herbicide-resistant biotype of Asia ...minor bluegrass (
Nees ex Steud.). Upon pre-treatment with the P450 inhibitor piperonyl butoxide, a remarkable reduction in metabolic rates of the phytotoxic fenoxaprop-
has been observed in the resistant plants, implying that constitutive and/or fenoxaprop-
-ethyl-induced up-regulation of specific P450 isoforms are involved in the fenoxaprop-
-ethyl resistance. However, which P450 gene(s) were responsible for the metabolic resistance is still unknown. In this present study, based on the abundant gene resources of
established previously, a total of 48 putative P450 genes were isolated from the metabolic-herbicide-resistant plants and used for gene expression analysis. The most suitable reference genes for accurate normalization of real-time quantitative PCR data were first identified in
and recognized as actin (
), 18S rRNA (
), and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (
) under fenoxaprop-
-ethyl stress, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (
) and elongation factor 1α (
) under mesosulfuron-methyl stress, and
,
, eukaryotic initiation factor 4a (
), and 25S rRNA (
) at different growth stages. Expression analysis of the putative P450 genes revealed that six genes, respectively, annotated as
,
,
,
,
, and
were up-regulated more than 10-fold in the resistant plants by fenoxaprop-
-ethyl treatment, and all of them exhibited constitutively and/or herbicide-induced higher transcript levels in the fenoxaprop-
-ethyl-resistant than in the susceptible plants. Three genes, respectively, annotated as
,
, and
constantly up-regulated in the resistant than in the susceptible plants after fenoxaprop-
-ethyl treatment. Up-regulated expressions of these specific P450 genes were consistent with the higher P450 contents determined in the resistant plants. These results will help to elucidate the mechanisms for P450-mediated metabolic-herbicide resistance in
as well as other grass weed species.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder that affects the joint synovium. Anserine is a functional dipeptide containing methylhistidine and β-alanine, and is present in the brain and ...skeletal muscle of birds and mammals. Glucosamine is an amino sugar used in the synthesis of glycosylated proteins and lipids. We evaluated the effects of anserine and glucosamine on RA. Rats were assigned into the control group, RA group, anserine group (1 mg/kg), glucosamine group (200 mg/kg), or anserine plus glucosamine group (anserine, 1 mg/kg + glucosamine, 200 mg/kg). Treatment was continued for 45 consecutive days and was administered orally. The serum levels of catalase, glutathione peroxidase (Gpx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), lipid peroxidation, uric acid, nitric oxide, ceruloplasmin, zinc, copper, prostaglandin E
2
(PGE
2
), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 were assayed. The mRNA and protein levels of nuclear factor (NF)-κB and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in synovial tissue were also determined. Anserine plus glucosamine significantly increased the catalase, SOD, Gpx, GSH, and zinc levels compared to the control, anserine, and glucosamine groups. Also, anserine plus glucosamine significantly reduced the PGE
2
, MMP-3, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 levels compared to the control, anserine, and glucosamine groups. Furthermore, anserine plus glucosamine significantly reduced the mRNA and protein levels of NF-κB and iNOS compared to the control, anserine, and glucosamine groups. Therefore, supplementation of anserine plus glucosamine shows therapeutic potential for RA.
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