Progress Analysis of International Food Safety Culture Construction and Its Enlightenment to China

In order to explore the construction of a food safety culture suitable for China's national conditions, this paper collects and collates the information of the food safety culture construction work carried out by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the European Union, Australia and New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom and other organizations and countries. And the analysis of the definition, policies, improtance, evaluation principles, effective measures and evaluation tools about food safety culture is also conducted. Based on the accumulation and inheritance of Chinese traditional culture and the current situation of urban and rural food safety, suggestions on building a food safety culture with Chinese characteristics are put forward, hoping to provide reference and reference for building a food safety culture in line with China's national conditions

Microvascular Endothelial Cells-Derived Microvesicles Imply in Ischemic Stroke by Modulating Astrocyte and Blood Brain Barrier Function and Cerebral Blood Flow

Background Endothelial cell (EC) released microvesicles (EMVs) can affect various target cells by transferring carried genetic information. Astrocytes are the main components of the blood brain barrier (BBB) structure in the brain and participate in regulating BBB integrity and blood flow. The interactions between ECs and astrocytes are essential for BBB integrity in homeostasis and pathological conditions. Here, we studied the effects of human brain microvascular ECs released EMVs on astrocyte functions. Additionally, we investigated the effects of EMVs treated astrocytes on regulating BBB function and cerebral ischemic damage. Results EMVs prepared from ECs cultured in normal condition (n-EMVs) or oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD-EMVs) condition had diverse effects on astrocytes. The n-EMVs promoted, while the OGD-EMVs inhibited the proliferation of astrocytes via regulating PI3K/Akt pathway. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression (marker of astrocyte activation) was up-regulated by n-EMVs, while down-regulated by OGD-EMVs. Meanwhile, n-EMVs inhibited but OGD-EMVs promoted the apoptosis of astrocytes accompanied by up/down-regulating the expression of Caspase-9 and Bcl-2. In the BBB model of ECs-astrocytes co-culture, the n-EMVs, conversely to OGD-EMVs, decreased the permeability of BBB accompanied with up-regulation of zonula occudens-1(ZO-1) and Claudin-5. In a transient cerebral ischemia mouse model, n-EMVs ameliorated, while OGD-EMVs aggravated, BBB disruption, local cerebral blood flow (CBF) reduction, infarct volume and neurological deficit score. Conclusions Our data suggest that EMVs diversely modulate astrocyte functions, BBB integrity and CBF, and could serve as a novel therapeutic target for ischemic stroke

IMPACT OF INCREASED DROUGHT INTENSITY IN CALIFORNIA ON SUPPLY CHAIN CONFIGURATION: BROCCOLI IN THE EASTERN UNITED STATES

47 pagesCalifornia leads the U.S. as the largest producer of fresh vegetable products. Due to the geographic concentration of production, the increased severe droughts in California could threaten the availability of certain high-value vegetables nationwide. Given California’s central role in the U.S. fresh produce market, the food supply disruptions caused by such droughts are pressing the fresh produce industry and policymakers to decentralize production and distribution networks. In this paper, we develop a production-transportation model of the U.S. broccoli industry to analyze the effects of increased drought intensity scenarios in broccoli production areas of California on production patterns, product flows, supply-chain costs, and food miles. We find that the reallocation of production to the east coast in response to the increased drought intensity in California would only modestly increase the total supply-chain costs in the eastern markets. The decentralized supply chains would also reduce food miles and alter product flows seasonally

Unraveling Crystalline Structure of High-Pressure Phase of Silicon Carbonate

Although CO2 and SiO2 both belong to group-IV oxides, they exhibit remarkably different bonding characteristics and phase behavior at ambient conditions. At room temperature, CO2 is a gas, whereas SiO2 is a covalent solid with rich polymorphs. A recent successful synthesis of the silicon-carbonate solid from the reaction between CO2 and SiO2 under high pressure [M. Santoro et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108, 7689 (2011)] has resolved a long-standing puzzle regarding whether a SixC1−xO2 compound between CO2 and SiO2 exists in nature. Nevertheless, the detailed atomic structure of the SixC1−xO2 crystal is still unknown. Here, we report an extensive search for the high-pressure crystalline structures of the SixC1−xO2 compound with various stoichiometric ratios (SiO2∶CO2) using an evolutionary algorithm. Based on the low-enthalpy structures obtained for each given stoichiometric ratio, several generic structural features and bonding characteristics of Si and C in the high-pressure phases are identified. The computed formation enthalpies show that the SiC2O6 compound with a multislab three-dimensional (3D) structure is energetically the most favorable at 20 GPa. Hence, a stable crystalline structure of the elusive SixC1−xO2 compound under high pressure is predicted and awaiting future experimental confirmation. The SiC2O6 crystal is an insulator with elastic constants comparable to typical hard solids, and it possesses nearly isotropic tensile strength as well as extremely low shear strength in the 2D plane, suggesting that the multislab 3D crystal is a promising solid lubricant. These valuable mechanical and electronic properties endow the SiC2O6 crystal for potential applications in tribology and nanoelectronic devices, or as a stable solid-state form for CO2 sequestration

Composition and diversity analysis of the TCR CDR3 repertoire in patients with idiopathic orbital inflammation using high-throughput sequencing

Abstract Background Idiopathic orbital inflammation (IOI) is a nonspecific orbital inflammatory disease with the third highest prevalence among orbital diseases, and its pathogenesis is associated with T-cell-mediated immune responses. This study aimed to investigate the differences in T-cell receptor (TCR) expression between IOI patients and healthy subjects by high-throughput sequencing and to characterize TCR expression in patients with IOI and with respect to glucocorticoid response. Methods A total of 19 subjects were enrolled in this study and were divided into the idiopathic orbital inflammation group (IOI group, n = 13) and the healthy control group (HC group, n = 6), and within the IOI group were further divided into the glucocorticoid therapy sensitive group (IOI(EF) group, n = 6) and the glucocorticoid therapy ineffective group (IOI(IN) group, n = 7) based on the degree of effectiveness to glucocorticoid therapy. High-throughput TCR sequencing was performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells of IOI patients and healthy control individuals using 5’ RACE technology combined with Unique Identifier (UID) digital tag correction technology. The TCR CDR3 region diversity, sharing patterns, and differential sequences between the IOI and HC groups, and between the IOI(EF) and IOI(IN) groups were analyzed. Results It was found that the diversity of TCR CDR3 in the IOI group was significantly lower than that in the HC group, and the frequency of V gene use was significantly different between groups. The diversity of TCR CDR3 in patients in the IOI(EF) group was significantly lower than that in patients in the IOI(IN) group, and the frequency of V and J gene use was significantly different between the IOI(EF) group and the IOI(IN) group. Additionally, we found 133 nucleotide sequences shared in all IOI samples and screened two sequences with higher expression from them. Conclusions Our results suggested that abnormal clonal expansion of specific T-cells exists in IOI patients and that TCR diversity may had an impact on the prognosis of glucocorticoid-treated IOI. This study may contribute to a better understanding of the immune status of IOI and provide new insights for T-cell -associated IOI pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment prediction