A Novelty Method for Identifying Risk Factors of Sudden Food Safety Event

Food is the basic material basis for human survival. Sudden food safety event risks mainly derive from accidental or natural food safety risks, poor food storage environments, and inefficient government regulation policies. The factor identification of sudden food safety risks is the key to controlling such risks. Therefore, the efficient and scientific identification of risk sources and types will be very important in managing sudden food safety risks. In this study, 16 sudden food safety event risk factors were identified through a literature review, and their interactive relationships were clarified using an interpretive structural model (ISM). Then, the weights of influencing factors were calculated through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and the combined weight of indices was determined. Results show that the 16 sudden food safety event risk factors can be divided into four levels. The quality standard for food safety (S5) and food storage (S14) is at the bottom layer of risks of sudden food safety events (the first-layer index weight is 36.899%). The judgment matrices at the four levels passed the consistency check. The influence weight of the factor "whether it contains transgenic raw materials" (S9) ranks second (the total weight is 18.151%). This index system for sudden food safety event risk factors is highly effective, with good operability for managing sudden food safety event risks. The obtained conclusions are important reference values for identifying the factors influencing food safety risk management, determining the emphasis of food safety supervision, realizing food risk prevention and control, and strengthening and guaranteeing the food safety level

Retracted: Safranal induces autophagy by AMPK activation and protects neurons against amyloid beta in Alzheimer’s disease

This article has been retracted by the authors

Constructivist Perspective on Developing a Multidimensional Blended Teaching Model Fostering Deep Learning

To promote high-quality development of higher education, it is imperative to facilitate students’ transition from surface learning to deep learning. Compared with surface learning that focuses on rote memorization, deep learning emphasizes meaningful learning based on understanding and transfer. It involves three progressively advanced cognitive stages of knowing: "learning for understanding," "learning for application," and "learning for innovation," which ultimately enable the internalization, transfer, and creative application of knowledge. How to foster deep learning in students has been an urgent issue of higher education. This study, grounded in constructivist learning theory, explores a multidimensional blended teaching model fostering deep learning. It also develops an evaluation system assessing learning outcomes from the perspectives of ideological, political and moral education, knowledge, and competencies. We conducted an empirical study to test the effectiveness of this multidimensional blended teaching model. Findings will provide theoretical and practical implications for teaching reforms of similar courses

Research on the Application of Online and Offline Mixed Teaching Mode of Marketing Course Based on the BOPPPS Model

BOPPPS teaching fully integrates the advantages of online self-study and offline courses. This kind of teaching has been widely used in college education, and has proved to have a positive effect on improving students’ ability to solve problems. It also has a significant effect on improving students’ sense of self-efficacy, stimulating learning interest and improving their ability to learn independently in practice. During the implementation of the research, the team explored and practiced the online and offline mixed teaching mode of marketing course with the wisdom tree teaching platform, and built teaching resources for students to learn and discuss on their own, which is a reference for future online mixed teaching

Needleless eletrospinning of polystyrene fibers with an oriented surface line texture

We have demonstrated that polystyrene (PS) nanofibers having an ordered surface line texture can be produced on a large scale from a PS solution of acetone and N,N&prime;-dimethylformamide (2/1, vol/vol) by a needleless electrospinning technique using a disc as fiber generator. The formation of the unusual surface feature was investigated and attributed to the voids formed on the surface of jets due to the fast evaporation of acetone at the early stage of electrospinning, and subsequent elongation and solidification turning the voids into ordered lines on fiber surface. In comparison with the nanofibers electrospun by a conventional needle electrospinning using the same solution, the disc electrospun fibers were finer with similar diameter distribution. The fiber production rate for the disc electrospinning was 62 times higher than that of the conventional electrospinning. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements indicated that the PS nanofibers produced from the two electrospinning techniques showed no significant difference in chemical component, albeit slightly higher crystallinity in the disc spun nanofibers.<br /

NQO1 targeting prodrug triggers innate sensing to overcome checkpoint blockade resistance

Lack of proper innate sensing inside tumor microenvironment (TME) limits T cell-targeted immunotherapy. NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) is highly enriched in multiple tumor types and has emerged as a promising target for direct tumor-killing. Here, we demonstrate that NQO1-targeting prodrug β-lapachone triggers tumor-selective innate sensing leading to T cell-dependent tumor control. β-Lapachone is catalyzed and bioactivated by NQO1 to generate ROS in NQO1high tumor cells triggering oxidative stress and release of the damage signals for innate sensing. β-Lapachone-induced high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) release activates the host TLR4/MyD88/type I interferon pathway and Batf3 dendritic cell-dependent cross-priming to bridge innate and adaptive immune responses against the tumor. Furthermore, targeting NQO1 is very potent to trigger innate sensing for T cell re-activation to overcome checkpoint blockade resistance in well-established tumors. Our study reveals that targeting NQO1 potently triggers innate sensing within TME that synergizes with immunotherapy to overcome adaptive resistance

Plasma n-3 and n-6 fatty acids and inflammatory markers in Chinese vegetarians

Background: Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake favorably affects chronic inflammatory-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease; however, the relationship between the PUFA and inflammatory factors in the healthy vegetarians were not clear. We aimed to investigate the plasma fatty acids status, and its association with plasma inflammatory factors in Chinese vegetarians and omnivores. Methods: A total of 89 male vegetarians and 106 male omnivores were participated the study. Plasma concentrations of inflammatory factors were detected by ELISA, and as standard methods fatty acids were extracted and determined by chromatography. Results: Compared with omnivores, vegetarians have significant higher interleukin-6 (IL-6), plasma n-6 PUFA, n-6/n-3, and 18:3n-3; while they have significant lower leukotriene B4 (LTB4), cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX2) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), 20:5n-3, 22:5n-3, 22:6n-3, and n-3 PUFA. In vegetarians, plasma 20:4n-6 was significant positively related to TNF-α. LTB4 was significantly positively related to plasma 22:6n-3, and negatively associated with n-6 PUFA. Conclusion: Vegetarians have higher plasma n-6 PUFA and IL-6, but lower LTB4, n-3 PUFA, 22:6n-3, COX2 and PGE2 levels. It would seem appropriate for vegetarians to increase their dietary n-3 PUFA, while reduce dietary n-6 PUFA and thus reduce the risk of chronic inflammatory-related diseases

Electrospinning of nanofibres with parallel line surface texture for improvement of nerve cell growth

Nanofibres having a parallel line surface texture were electrospun from cellulose acetate butyrate solutions using a solvent mixture of acetone and N,N\u27-dimethylacetamide. The formation mechanism of the unusual surface feature was explored and attributed to the formation of voids on the jet surface at the early stage of electrospinning and subsequent elongation and solidification of the voids into a line surface structure. The fast evaporation of a highly volatile solvent, acetone, from the polymer solution was found to play a key role in the formation of surface voids, while the high viscosity of the residual solution after the solvent evaporation ensured the line surface to be maintained after the solidification. Based on this principle, nanofibres having a similar surface texture were also electrospun successfully from other polymers, such as cellulose acetate, polyvinylidene fluoride, poly(methyl methacrylate), polystyrene and poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene), either from the same or from different solvent systems. Polarized Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to measure the polymer molecular orientation within nanofibres. Schwann cells were grown on both aligned and randomly oriented nanofibre mats. The parallel line surface texture assisted in the growth of Schwann cells especially at the early stage of cell culture regardless of the fibre orientation. In contrast, the molecular orientation within nanofibres showed little impact on the cell growth.<br /

Abound Hepatic Mitosis: Unusual Morphology in the Intrahepatic Cholelithiasis Patient

To explore the clinicopathological features of abound mitosis of the hepatocytes in intrahepatic cholelithiasis. The clinicopathological data of one case diagnosed as intrahepatic cholelithiasis was collected from Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital and the clinicopathological characters were discussed. A 68-year-old man suffered from the pain in the right upper quadrant and radiology showed multiple stones in the gallbladder and left liver. The images suggested intrahepatic cholelithiasis. The patient received gallbladder and partial hepatectomy. A large number of mitosis was observed and twelve nuclear fissions were found under high magnification, even in some area pathological nuclear fission could be observed in morphology. On the basis of detection in laboratory, the diagnosis of intrahepatic cholelithiasis was made. The patient did not receive any therapy after surgery. The patient was in a good condition after 18 months follow-up. Increased number of hepatic mitosis might be due to the stimulation from stones, hepatic biliary or secondary inflammatory. High index of proliferation should be prevented from the potential misdiagnosis of hepatic tumor

Evaluation of the competence of an artificial intelligence-assisted colonoscopy system in clinical practice: A post hoc analysis

BackgroundArtificial intelligence-assisted colonoscopy (AIAC) has been proposed and validated in recent years, but the effectiveness of clinic application remains unclear since it was only validated in some clinical trials rather than normal conditions. In addition, previous clinical trials were mostly concerned with colorectal polyp identification, while fewer studies are focusing on adenoma identification and polyps size measurement. In this study, we validated the effectiveness of AIAC in the clinical environment and further investigated its capacity for adenoma identification and polyps size measurement.MethodsThe information of 174 continued patients who went for coloscopy in Chongqing Rongchang District People’s hospital with detected colon polyps was retrospectively collected, and their coloscopy images were divided into three validation datasets, polyps dataset, polyps/adenomas dataset (all containing narrow band image, NBI images), and polyp size measurement dataset (images with biopsy forceps and polyps) to assess the competence of the artificial intelligence system, and compare its diagnostic ability with endoscopists with different experiences.ResultsA total of 174 patients were included, and the sensitivity of the colorectal polyp recognition model was 99.40%, the accuracy of the colorectal adenoma diagnostic model was 93.06%, which was higher than that of endoscopists, and the mean absolute error of the polyp size measurement model was 0.62 mm and the mean relative error was 10.89%, which was lower than that of endoscopists.ConclusionArtificial intelligence-assisted model demonstrated higher competence compared with endoscopists and stable diagnosis ability in clinical use