Effect of 60Co-γ Irradiation on Postharvest Physiology and Lipid Nutrition of Fresh Hazelnuts

Fresh hazelnuts were treated by 60Co-γ irradiation (0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 kGy) and stored at (4.0 ± 0.5) ℃ for up to three months. Changes in physiological indexes and lipid nutrition were monitored during the storage period. The results showed that irradiation at a dose of 0.25–1.00 kGy delayed the decline in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity, and reduced the activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in fresh hazelnuts. The irradiation dose of 0.50 kGy was the most effective, and at the end of storage, the respiratory intensity, malondialdehyde (MDA) content and lipoxygenase activity of the irradiated sample decreased by 25.81%, 18.50% and 4.18% compared with those of the non-irradiated one, respectively. However, irradiation had no significant effect on fatty acid composition and content, peroxide value (POV) or acid value (AV). Principal component analysis (PCA) performed on fresh hazelnuts stored for 90 d also showed that 0.50 kGy 60Co-γ irradiation imparted the best storage quality to fresh hazelnuts. These results suggest that 60Co-γ irradiation can delay the senescence and effectively extend the shelf life by affecting the postharvest physiology of fresh hazelnuts

Study on mechanical and energy characteristics of coal samples under different unloading states

There are many types of coal seams in China, and the mining of protective layers will cause different rates of stress reduction in protected coal seams at different intervals. Therefore, experiments were conducted at different unloading rates to explore the strength, deformation, and energy characteristics of coal. Research findings: the AE (acoustic emission) signal of the coal body before unloading has a small range of changes and similar characteristics. After unloading begins, because of the different development rates of internal crack in the coal body under different unloading states, the AE signal of the coal body varies at different unloading rates. The maximum stress increases exponentially with the increase of unloading rate. It was found that the higher the unloading rate, the easier and earlier the coal sample is to be damaged. And it was discovered that the dissipated energy of the coal sample in the elastic stage is extremely low, and a large amount of total energy is converted into elastic energy and stored inside the coal sample. The dissipation energy increases during the plastic stage, while the trend of increasing elastic energy slows down. After the peak stage, the dissipated energy rapidly increases and the elastic energy decreases

Effect of Extreme Acid Combined with Heat Induction on Structure and Properties of Soybean Protein Isolate Microgel

Soybean protein isolate microgel (SPIM) was prepare by extreme acid combined with heat induction. The structural changes and molecular interactions of the protein, and the microstructure and gel properties of the microgel were explored by fluorescence spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy, and the effects of different heat induction temperatures (25, 45, 55, 65, 75 and 85 ℃) on the structure and properties of the microgel were evaluated. The results showed that the relative content of β-sheet increased during the formation of SPIM, and electrostatic interaction, hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding were involved in the self-assembly of microgels. In addition, with increasing temperature, the surface hydrophobicity index of SPIM increased first and then decreased, and that the thermal stability gradually increased. Compared with extreme acid, the specific surface area, emulsifying activity, emulsion stability and water-holding capacity of the microgel formed by extreme acid combined with heat induction at 75 ℃ were significantly increased (P < 0.05). Overall, extreme acid combined with heat induction is an effective method to regulate the structure and properties of protein microgels, and the quality of microgels can be improved by precise temperature control

Case report: Targeted sequencing facilitates the diagnosis and management of rare multifocal pure ground-glass opacities with intrapulmonary metastasis

IntroductionTreatments for multiple ground-glass opacities (GGOs) for which the detection rate is increasing are still controversial. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) may provide additional key evidence for differential diagnosis or optimal therapeutic schedules.Case presentationWe first reported a rare case in which more than 100 bilateral pulmonary GGOs (91.7% of the GGOs were pure GGOs) were diagnosed as both multiple primary lung cancer and intrapulmonary metastasis. We performed NGS with an 808-gene panel to assess both somatic and germline alterations in tissues and plasma. The patient (male) underwent three successive surgeries and received osimertinib adjuvant therapy due to signs of metastasis and multiple EGFR-mutated tumors. The patient had multiple pure GGOs, and eight tumors of four pathological subtypes were evaluated for the clonal relationship. Metastasis, including pure GGOs and atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, was found between two pairs of tumors. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) monitoring of disease status may impact clinical decision-making.ConclusionsSurgery combined with targeted therapies remains a reasonable alternative strategy for treating patients with multifocal GGOs, and NGS is valuable for facilitating diagnostic workup and adjuvant therapy with targeted drugs through tissue and disease monitoring via ctDNA

Molecular and biochemical investigations of the anti-fatigue effects of tea polyphenols and fruit extracts of Lycium ruthenicum Murr. on mice with exercise-induced fatigue

Background: The molecular mechanisms regulating the therapeutic effects of plant-based ingredients on the exercise-induced fatigue (EIF) remain unclear. The therapeutic effects of both tea polyphenols (TP) and fruit extracts of Lycium ruthenicum (LR) on mouse model of EIF were investigated.Methods: The variations in the fatigue-related biochemical factors, i.e., lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-2 (IL-2), and interleukin-6 (IL-6), in mouse models of EIF treated with TP and LR were determined. The microRNAs involved in the therapeutic effects of TP and LR on the treatment of mice with EIF were identified using the next-generation sequencing technology.Results: Our results revealed that both TP and LR showed evident anti-inflammatory effect and reduced oxidative stress. In comparison with the control groups, the contents of LDH, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, and IL-2 were significantly decreased and the contents of SOD were significantly increased in the experimental groups treated with either TP or LR. A total of 23 microRNAs (21 upregulated and 2 downregulated) identified for the first time by the high-throughput RNA sequencing were involved in the molecular response to EIF in mice treated with TP and LR. The regulatory functions of these microRNAs in the pathogenesis of EIF in mice were further explored based on Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses with a total of over 20,000–30,000 target genes annotated and 44 metabolic pathways enriched in the experimental groups based on GO and KEGG databases, respectively.Conclusion: Our study revealed the therapeutic effects of TP and LR and identified the microRNAs involved in the molecular mechanisms regulating the EIF in mice, providing strong experimental evidence to support further agricultural development of LR as well as the investigations and applications of TP and LR in the treatment of EIF in humans, including the professional athletes

Exonic remnants of whole-genome duplication reveal cis-regulatory function of coding exons

Using a comparative genomics approach to reconstruct the fate of genomic regulatory blocks (GRBs) and identify exonic remnants that have survived the disappearance of their host genes after whole-genome duplication (WGD) in teleosts, we discover a set of 38 candidate cis-regulatory coding exons (RCEs) with predicted target genes. These elements demonstrate evolutionary separation of overlapping protein-coding and regulatory information after WGD in teleosts. We present evidence that the corresponding mammalian exons are still under both coding and non-coding selection pressure, are more conserved than other protein coding exons in the host gene and several control sets, and share key characteristics with highly conserved non-coding elements in the same regions. Their dual function is corroborated by existing experimental data. Additionally, we show examples of human exon remnants stemming from the vertebrate 2R WGD. Our findings suggest that long-range cis-regulatory inputs for developmental genes are not limited to non-coding regions, but can also overlap the coding sequence of unrelated genes. Thus, exonic regulatory elements in GRBs might be functionally equivalent to those in non-coding regions, calling for a re-evaluation of the sequence space in which to look for long-range regulatory elements and experimentally test their activity