Production of distilled spirits using grain sorghum through liquid fermentation

The objectives of this research were to investigate the fermentation performance of US sorghum varieties for the production of distilled spirits as well as their associated coproducts and to study the formation of volatile compounds that are related to the flavor quality of the spirits. Three US sorghum varieties (red, white, and waxy sorghums) and four yeast strains (DADY, Ethanol Red, GR-2, and 71B) were used for distilled spirit production. Both sorghum variety and type of yeast strains had effects on alcohol concentration and alcohol yield. The alcohol concentration varied from 10.26 to 11.34% (v/v) while alcohol yield varied from 80.93 to 90.33%. Using Ethanol Red yeast achieved consistently the highest average alcohol concentration (11.10%, v/v) and yield (87.33%) regardless of variation in sorghum variety. Waxy sorghum demonstrated significantly higher average alcohol concentration (11.20%, v/v) and yield (89.65%) than white sorghum (10.74% for concentration and 84.7% for yield) and red sorghum (10.28% for concentration and 82.27% for yield). Alcohol fermentation also produces other metabolites as byproducts. Glycerol and lactic acid are the two major byproducts found from sorghum spirit fermentation. DADY produced the highest level of glycerol (∼1.4–1.5%, v/v) during fermentation, while GR-2 produced the lowest level of glycerol (0.9–1.1%, v/v). For all conditions, the lactic acid level was less than 1.2% (v/v). Eight volatile compounds were identified in sorghum spirits which mainly relate to fruity, sour, sweet, floral, buttery, and creamy flavors of the spirits

AVNP2 protects against cognitive impairments induced by C6 glioma by suppressing tumour associated inflammation in rats

© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).Glioblastoma is a kind of malignant tumour and originates from the central nervous system. In the last century, some researchers and clinician have noticed that the psychosocial and neurocognitive functioning of patients with malignant gliomas can be impaired. Many clinical studies have demonstrated that part of patients, adults or children, diagnosed with glioblastoma will suffer from cognitive deficiency during their clinical course, especially in long-term survivors. Many nanoparticles (NPs) can inhibit the biological functions of tumours by modulating tumour-associated inflammation, which provokes angiogenesis and tumour growth. As one of the best antiviral nanoparticles (AVNPs), AVNP2 is the 2nd generation of AVNP2 that have been conjugated to graphite-graphene for improving physiochemical performance and reducing toxicity. AVNP2 inactivates viruses, such as the H1N1 and H5N1influenza viruses and even the SARS coronavirus, while it inhibits bacteria, such as MRSA and E. coli. As antimicrobials, nanoparticles are considered to be one of the vectors for the administration of therapeutic compounds. Yet, little is known about their potential functionalities and toxicities to the neurotoxic effects of cancer. Herein, we explored the functionality of AVNP2 on inhibiting C6 in glioma-bearing rats. The novel object-recognition test and open-field test showed that AVNP2 significantly improved the neuro-behaviour affected by C6 glioma. AVNP2 also alleviated the decline of long-term potentiation (LTP) and the decreased density of dendritic spines in the CA1 region induced by C6. Western blot assay and immunofluorescence staining showed that the expressions of synaptic-related proteins (PSD-95 and SYP) were increased, and these findings were in accordance with the results mentioned above. It revealed that the sizes of tumours in C6 glioma-bearing rats were smaller after treatment with AVNP2. The decreased expression of inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) by Western blotting assay and ELISA, angiogenesis protein (VEGF) by Western blotting assay and other related proteins (BDNF, NF-ĸB, iNOS and COX-2) by Western blotting assay in peri-tumour tissue indicated that AVNP2 could control tumour-associated inflammation, thus efficiently ameliorating the local inflammatory condition and, to some extent, inhibiting angiogenesis in C6-bearing rats. In conclusion, our results suggested that AVNP2 could have an effect on the peri-tumor environment, obviously restraining the growth progress of gliomas, and eventually improving cognitive levels in C6-bearing rats.Peer reviewedProo

The growth response of Campylobacter jejuni to stress catecholamines

Campylobacter jejuni is the leading food-borne bacterial pathogen, which causes campylobacteriosis in human. The bacterium is usually carried asymptomatically in the intestinal tract of food-producing animals such as chicken, cattle, and porcine, which contributes to its transmission in the environment. Interventions in the colonization of this bacterium in food-producing animals is one of the promising ways to control for food-borne illness in humans. However, up to date, there has not been an effective measures developed that can successfully reduce the colonization level of this bacterium in food-producing animals. Microbial endocrinology is an interdisciplinary field of research that studies the interaction between gut microbiota and host through neurotransmitters. Studies in this field have provided novel understandings on the pathogenesis of many other food-borne bacteria such as pathogenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Vibrio spp. Compared to them, little is known of C. jejuni, and the response of this bacteria to a major intestinal neurotransmitter, dopamine (DA), has not, to our knowledge been previously examined. The results of this study demonstrated that intestinal catecholamine neurotransmitters norepinephrine (NE) and DA can significantly enhance the growth of 3 strains of C. jejuni in a strain-dependent manner. Furthermore, the study identified a key factor, pyruvate, which involves in the DA-mediated but not NE-mediated growth stimulation in C. jejuni.</p

Data Efficient Reinforcement Learning for Integrated Lateral Planning and Control in Automated Parking System

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a promising direction in automated parking systems (APSs), as integrating planning and tracking control using RL can potentially maximize the overall performance. However, commonly used model-free RL requires many interactions to achieve acceptable performance, and model-based RL in APS cannot continuously learn. In this paper, a data-efficient RL method is constructed to learn from data by use of a model-based method. The proposed method uses a truncated Monte Carlo tree search to evaluate parking states and select moves. Two artificial neural networks are trained to provide the search probability of each tree branch and the final reward for each state using self-trained data. The data efficiency is enhanced by weighting exploration with parking trajectory returns, an adaptive exploration scheme, and experience augmentation with imaginary rollouts. Without human demonstrations, a novel training pipeline is also used to train the initial action guidance network and the state value network. Compared with path planning and path-following methods, the proposed integrated method can flexibly co-ordinate the longitudinal and lateral motion to park a smaller parking space in one maneuver. Its adaptability to changes in the vehicle model is verified by joint Carsim and MATLAB simulation, demonstrating that the algorithm converges within a few iterations. Finally, experiments using a real vehicle platform are used to further verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared with obtaining rewards using simulation, the proposed method achieves a better final parking attitude and success rate

Further study of Late Devonian seed plant Cosmosperma polyloba: its reconstruction and evolutionary significance

Abstract Background The earliest seed plants in the Late Devonian (Famennian) are abundant and well known. However, most of them lack information regarding the frond system and reconstruction. Cosmosperma polyloba represents the first Devonian ovule in China and East Asia, and its cupules, isolated synangiate pollen organs and pinnules have been studied in the preceding years. Results New fossils of Cosmosperma were obtained from the type locality, i.e. the Leigutai Member of the Wutong Formation in Fanwan Village, Changxing County, Zhejiang Province, South China. The collection illustrates stems and fronds extensively covered in prickles, as well as fertile portions including uniovulate cupules and anisotomous branches bearing synangiate pollen organs. The stems are unbranched and bear fronds helically. Fronds are dimorphic, displaying bifurcate and trifurcate types, with the latter possibly connected to fertile rachises terminated by pollen organs. Tertiary and quaternary rachises possessing pinnules are arranged alternately (pinnately). The cupule is uniovulate and the ovule has four linear integumentary lobes fused in basal 1/3. The striations on the stems and rachises may indicate a Sparganum-type cortex. Conclusions Cosmosperma further demonstrates diversification of frond branching patterns in the earliest seed plants. The less-fused cupule and integument of this plant are considered primitive among Devonian spermatophytes with uniovulate cupules. We tentatively reconstructed Cosmosperma with an upright, semi-self-supporting habit, and the prickles along stems and frond rachises were interpreted as characteristics facilitating supporting rather than defensive structures

The efficacy and safety of chemotherapy with or without anti‐PD‐1 for the first‐line treatment of advanced urothelial carcinoma

Abstract Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of first‐line anti‐PD‐1 combined with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in patients with advanced urothelial carcinoma (UC). Method Patients with advanced UC who received first‐line treatment of chemotherapy (n = 51, gemcitabine/paclitaxel [albumin‐bound] combined with platinum) or immunochemotherapy (n = 50, PD‐1 inhibitors plus chemotherapy) were enrolled. The efficacy and safety were analyzed between the two groups. Results This study included data from 101 patients, including 51 patients in the chemotherapy group and 50 patients in the immunochemotherapy group. The median progression‐free survival of the immunochemotherapy group was significantly longer than that of the chemotherapy group (11.5 vs. 7.17 m, HR = 0.56, p = 0.009). The two groups' overall survival showed no significant difference (20.3 vs. 17.8 m, p = 0.204). The objective response rates and the disease control rates of the two groups were 38.0% versus 49.0% (p = 0.26) and 88.0% versus 80.4% (p = 0.29). The incidence of adverse reactions (AEs) in the immunochemotherapy group and chemotherapy group were 90.0% and 84.3% (p = 0.394), respectively, and the incidence of Grade III–IV AEs were 32.0% and 35.3% (p = 0.726), respectively. Conclusion In the first‐line treatment of patients with advanced UC, anti‐PD‐1 therapy combined with chemotherapy might have better efficacy than chemotherapy alone, and AEs are similar between the two groups

Additional file 3: Figure S3. of Further study of Late Devonian seed plant Cosmosperma polyloba: its reconstruction and evolutionary significance

Interpretative line drawing showing synangiate pollen organs on fertile axes of Cosmosperma polyloba. (a) Anisotomous fertile rachises with terminal pollen organs in Fig. 7a. Conical prickles sparsely located along the fertile rachises sparsely. (b, c) Two stages of dÊgagement on pollen organs in Fig. 7d, e, respectively. (TIFF 1395 kb

Additional file 1: Figure S1. of Further study of Late Devonian seed plant Cosmosperma polyloba: its reconstruction and evolutionary significance

Interpretative line drawings showing branching pattern of Cosmosperma polyloba. Abbreviations: st, stem; pr, primary rachis; sr, secondary rachis; tr, tertiary rachis. (a) Stem, primary and secondary rachises and basal part of a tertiary rachis in Fig. 1h. (b) Bifurcate primary rachis, two secondary rachises, and a tertiary rachis bearing ultimate pinnae and conical prickles in Fig. 6c. (c) Secondary rachis with alternate tertiary rachises, ultimate pinnae and conical prickles in Fig. 6b. (d) Bifurcated primary rachis, two secondary rachises and alternate tertiary rachises with ultimate pinnae and conical prickles in Fig. 4a. (TIFF 2282 kb

Additional file 2: Figure S2. of Further study of Late Devonian seed plant Cosmosperma polyloba: its reconstruction and evolutionary significance

Interpretative line drawings showing frond and ultimate pinnae of Cosmosperma polyloba. Abbreviations same as in Figure S1. (a) Bifurcate primary rachis, two secondary rachises, and one tertiary rachis with 11 ultimate pinnae in Fig. 6a. (b-e) Ultimate pinnae in Fig. 6(c, left arrow), Fig. 6(c, right arrow), Fig. 6(b, arrow) and Fig. 4(c), respectively. Highly dissected and planate pinnules alternately arranged along the quaternary rachis. (TIFF 2025 kb

The association between urbanization and child height: a multilevel study in China

Abstract Background Recent economic development in China has been accompanied by well-documented health inequalities between regions. The impact of individual factors on child height has been widely studied, but the influence of community-level factors has not yet been fully studied. Methods The cross-sectional data of 1606 Chinese children aged 5–18 years from the China Health and Nutrition Survey 2011 were used. Multilevel analysis was used to examine the association of community factors (using urbanization index) with child height. Child height was measured following standardized procedures, and height-for-age Z scores were calculated as outcome variables. Datasets were presented at two levels: community variable (Level-2) was an urbanization index which is a composite score summarizing 12 community-level contextual factors. Individual variables (Level-1) were child gender, ethnicity, percentage of energy intake from protein, maternal height, maternal education level, and family income. Results Urbanization index was associated with child height. Among the 12 community-level factors, ‘education’ were positively associated with child height. Additionally, stratified analyses by age showed that ‘population density’ and ‘housing’ were positively significantly associated with the height of elder children (13–18 years). At the individual level, male sex, higher maternal height, higher maternal education levels, higher family income, and higher percentage of energy intake from protein, were significantly positively associated with child height. Conclusions Our findings point to the role of contextual factors that generate differences between regions in shaping the distribution of child physical health outcomes. Our study suggests that public health programs and policies for child’s physical development may need to combine individual-centered strategies and also approaches aimed at changing residential environments