Morphology and oil quality of introduced olive cultivars (Olea europaea L.) in southwest China

There are enormous benefits of olive cultivation in China. However, rare researches are reported about the morphological and oil qualitative characteristics of the introduced olive cultivars in southwest China. The characteristics of morphological and oil qualitative were investigated among seven introduced olive cultivars and an indigenous cultivar cultivated in southwest China. The results elucidated that all cultivars had adapted to a new environment and expressed unique characteristics. The Coratina, Koroneiki and Grossanne remained excellent oil cultivars with the fresh oil content of 20.42, 18.58 and 16.46%, respectively. The free acidity and peroxide value of olive oil were within the range of the extra virgin olive oil category. And the extracted olive oil was rich in unsaturated fatty acid, α-tocopherol, squalene, stigmasterol, β-sitosterol and phenolic compounds. Moreover, the olive cultivated in southwest China exhibited a higher content of moisture, oleic acid and unsaturated fatty acid compared to scientific studies. Therefore, the region of southwest China (Jintang), a new environment, was a potential for cultivation and development of olive in the future. In addition, the results can provide theoretical guidance for olive planting and cultivar selection in southwest China

Effects of Organic Phosphorus on Methylotrophic Methanogenesis in Coastal Lagoon Sediments With Seagrass (Zostera marina) Colonization

Methanogens are the major contributors of greenhouse gas methane and play significant roles in the degradation and transformation of organic matter. These organisms are particularly abundant in Swan Lake, which is a shallow lagoon located in Rongcheng Bay, Yellow Sea, northern China, where eutrophication from overfertilization commonly results in anoxic environments. High organic phosphorus content is a key component of the total phosphorus in Swan Lake and is possibly a key factor affecting the eutrophication and carbon and nitrogen cycling in Swan Lake. The effects of organic phosphorus on eutrophication have been well-studied with respect to bacteria, such as cyanobacteria, unlike the effects of organic phosphorus on methanogenesis. In this study, different sediment layer samples of seagrass-vegetated and unvegetated areas in Swan Lake were investigated to understand the effects of organic phosphorus on methylotrophic methanogenesis. The results showed that phytate phosphorus significantly promoted methane production in the deepest sediment layer of vegetated regions but suppressed it in unvegetated regions. Amplicon sequencing revealed that methylotrophicMethanococcoidesactively dominated in all enrichment samples from both regions with additions of trimethylamine or phytate phosphorus, whereas methylotrophicMethanolobusandMethanosarcinapredominated in the enrichments obtained from vegetated and unvegetated sediments, respectively. These results prompted further study of the effects of phytate phosphorus on two methanogen isolates,Methanolobus psychrophilus, a type strain,Methanosarcina mazei, an isolate from Swan Lake sediments. Cultivation experiments showed that phytate phosphorus could inhibit methane production byM. psychrophilusbut promote methane production byM. mazei. These culture-based studies revealed the effects of organic phosphorus on methylotrophic methanogenesis in coastal lagoon sediments and improves our understanding of the mechanisms of organic carbon cycling leading to methanogenesis mediated by organic phosphorus dynamics in coastal wetlands

Synergistic Adsorption of Polyaromatic Compounds on Silica Surfaces Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Adsorption on silica surfaces of polyaromatic compounds, N-(1-hexylhepyl)-N′-(5-carboxylicpentyl)-perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic bisimide (C5Pe) and N-(1-undecyldodecyl)-N′-(5-carboxylicpentyl)-perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic bisimide (C5PeC11), individually and their binary mixture in heptol (mixture of heptane and toluene as oil) solutions were studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The MD simulation results showed that C5Pe molecules tend to aggregate and form a large cluster rapidly in the oil phase, reducing the energy of the system. In contrast, C5PeC11 molecules with higher solubility tend to disperse in the system. As a result, C5PeC11 molecules exhibited a stronger adsorption than C5Pe molecules on silica surfaces. In the binary mixture system, the overall solubility is only slightly lower than that in the C5PeC11 system due to the association of C5Pe with C5PeC11 molecules through π–π stacking and T-stacking interactions, leading to more polyaromatic compounds available for adsorption onto silica surfaces. The enhanced adsorption of both polyaromatic compounds on silica surfaces clearly illustrates the synergy of adsorption in the mixed systems of C5Pe and C5PeC11 as compared with the systems of their individual species. The adsorption characteristics revealed in MD simulations were confirmed by QCM-D measurement and AFM imaging. The observed synergy of adsorption provides insights into molecular assembly at silica–oil interfaces for the fabrication of devices or sheds lights on petroleum processing

Reductive degradation of chloramphenicol by Geobacter metallireducens

Geobacter metallireducens is known to be capable of removing nitroaromatic compounds via an oxidation mode. However, little attention has been paid to investigate the reductive removal of chlorinated nitroaromatic compounds by G. metallireducens. In this study, G. metallireducens was used to reduce chloramphenicol (CAP), a typical chlorinated nitroaromatic antibiotic. Cyclic voltammograms and chronoamperometry highlighted a higher peak current for CAP reduction by G. metallireducens compared to the control without bacteria. G. metallireducens efficiently reduced CAP (20 mg/L) with acetate as the sole electron donor, and the removal efficiency reached (97.6 +/- 4.9)% within 6 d. Aromatic amine (AMCl2), AMCl (dechlorinated AMCl2) and AM (dechlorinated AMCl) were identified as reduction products by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. However, the removal efficiency declined to (25.0 +/- 3.6)% when the CAP dosage increased to 80 mg/L. Transcriptomic analysis indicated the significant upregulation of genes related to electron transfer, such as pilus assembly protein gene (2.8 folds), NADH-quinone oxidoreductase subunit K2 gene (4.5 folds) and many c-type cytochrome genes such as cytochrome c biogenesis protein ResB (Gmet 2901, 4.6 folds), cytochrome c (Gmet 0335, 4.4 folds) and cytochrome c7 (Gmet 2902, 3.4 folds). Furthermore, a gene related to chlorinated contaminant removal (Gmet 1046, 5.4 folds) was also upregulated, possibly resulting in enhanced CAP reduction. This work deepened our knowledge of the bioremediation ability of G. metallireducens with respect to environmental contaminants and provided a potential strategy to treat antibiotics with electrochemically active bacteria

Optimizing Total Phenolic and Oleuropein of Chinese Olive (Olea europaea) Leaves for Enhancement of the Phenols Content and Antioxidant Activity

China, as a contrary climate to the Mediterranean-climate region, is massive in planting olive (Olea europaea) cultivation as an important oil crop. Nonetheless, Chinese olive leaves have received little attention and there is little information about the phenols content. Therefore, in this study, a multiple-response optimization was performed to maximize the total phenolic and oleuropein content (TPC and OEC) by ultrasound-assisted extraction, and the aged and young leaves prepared from six Chinese cultivars from January to December were investigated concerning seven main phenolic composition. Under optimal conditions (power 260 W, time 10 min, liquid-solid ratio 30 mL/g, and 50% ethanol), the highest TPC (197.32 mg/g DM) and OEC (74.68 mg/g DM) were obtained. Findings revealed that the optimal olive leaves for phenolic compounds were the young leaves in spring and winter, being oleuropein and luteolin-4′-O-glucoside present in higher level, and the “Koroneiki” and “Jiufeng” cultivars were relatively stable. Furthermore, antioxidant potential of the phenol extract and oleuropein was also evaluated based on the reducing power and scavenging effect on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)and superoxide radical assays, and a higher antioxidant effect of oleuropein was observed compared to the phenol extract. In addition, oleuropein showed anticancer activity against HeLa cells, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (EC50) value of 0.19 mg/mL at 48 h. These findings revealed an attractive source of biological substances for further development and utilization of Chinese olive leaves

Health Status of the Elderly and Its Influence on Their Activities of Daily Living in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province

To investigate the activities of daily living (ADL) and influencing factors, this survey study was conducted in Shangrao of Jiangxi. A total of 1087 elderly subjects in a long-term care (LTC) program participated in this study and their physical function, cognitive ability, self-rated health, and chronic disease were recorded during March 2017 and April 2018. The ADL scale was used to evaluate the health status of the elderly. F-test and multiple linear regression showed that the average ADL of the participants was 15.12 ± 17.59. The incidence of visual and verbal impairment was 68.6% and 14.1%, respectively. Over 74% of the elderly had severe cognitive impairment; and the prevalence of chronic disease was 84.5%. Multivariate analysis revealed that age, education, BMI (Body Mass Index), low income, verbal and cognitive ability, visual status, health self-evaluation, and some chronic diseases were related to self-care ability (p < 0.05). In summary, this study revealed that the ADL score is lower in this region and identified several influencing factors. These new findings will be useful for the local government to enhance the current LTC program for the elderly population

Did the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake trigger a change in the conduct of research on seismic risk?

This study aims to address how the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake influenced knowledge generation and diffusion compared to the research stemming from the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake in the United States and the 1995 Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in Japan, for the three countries are exposed to high seismic risk. The findings show that (1) regarding research quantity, the influence of the Wenchuan Earthquake on disaster-related knowledge generation is just beginning compared with the gradual decreases in research on the other earthquakes; (2) regarding disciplinary development, the proportion of studies relating to the Wenchuan Earthquake in natural sciences and engineering technology is gradually decreasing, while the proportion of studies in medical science, social sciences and economics is increasing; (3) the quantity of earthquake-related studies is not solely related to the influence of a specific disaster but associated with the national financial support offered by the affected country. One reason why China experiences the high research output is that Chinese national finance strongly supports such research, similar to the United States and Japan. This phenomenon corresponds with the fact that the major research institutions in China are national institutions rather than universities. Finally, (4) interdisciplinary research on the Wenchuan Earthquake mainly involves interactions between natural sciences and engineering technology. Interactions between other disciplines need to be enhanced. Thus, this research argues that, although disaster knowledge generation and diffusion is imbalanced, the multidimensional nature of earthquakes has been recognized in the literature

The Effect of Extraction Methods on Preliminary Structural Properties and Antioxidant Activities of Polysaccharides from Lactarius vividus

Four polysaccharides (LVP-u, LVP-m, LVP-e, and LVP-h) were extracted from the fruiting bodies of Lactarius vividus by an ultrasonic-assisted extraction method, microwave-assisted extraction method, enzyme-assisted extraction method, and hot water extraction method, respectively. Then, the effect of extraction methods on yields, preliminary structural properties, and antioxidant activities was systematically investigated using the weighing method, chemical composition analysis, high-performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), radical scavenging, and metal ion chelating assays. Results demonstrated that the four L. vividus polysaccharides (LVPs) were all combined with protein, and the yield of LVP-u was higher than others. Molecular weight distribution, monosaccharide and amino acid compositions, and microstructures among the four LVPs were significantly different. Moreover, the LVPs showed significant antioxidant activities in a dose-dependent manner, and LVP-e demonstrated better antioxidant activities in superoxide anion radical scavenging activity assays and metal ion chelating activity assays, while LVP-u showed higher activity in its hydroxyl radical scavenging ability